House Bill 380

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 11-11-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT THE CONSOLIDATION OF CAUSES OF ACTION WHERE VENUE IS NOT PROPER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 11-11-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

11-11-3. Civil actions of which the circuit court has original jurisdiction shall be commenced in the county in which the defendant or any of them reside or in the county where the cause of action may occur or accrue and, if the defendant is a domestic corporation, in the county in which said corporation is domiciled or in the county where the cause of action may occur or accrue, except where otherwise provided, and except actions of trespass on land, ejectment and actions for the statutory penalty for cutting and boxing trees and firing woods and actions for the actual value of trees cut which shall be brought in the county where the land or some part thereof is situated. If a civil action is brought in an improper county, such action may be transferred to the proper county pursuant to Section 11-11-17.

No cause of action from a county which is the same subject matter of an action which has been filed in another county shall be consolidated with the other cause of action if the venue of such action is not otherwise proper.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2002.