MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2004 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representative Holland, Carlton
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-353, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IN CASES OF REPORTS OF FELONY CHILD ABUSE, THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES SHALL NOTIFY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN WHOSE JURISDICTION THE ABUSE OCCURRED, AND THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE SHALL CONDUCT THE CRIMINAL FORENSIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE REPORTED ABUSE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE SHALL DETERMINE THE QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING REQUIRED FOR THE FELONY CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATORS ASSIGNED TO DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICES; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-357, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IN CASES OF INVESTIGATIONS OF ABUSE BY THE YOUTH COURT INTAKE UNIT, IF IT APPEARS THAT OTHER CHILDREN IN THE SAME ENVIRONMENT ARE VICTIMS OF FELONY CHILD ABUSE, THE UNIT SHALL NOTIFY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN WHOSE JURISDICTION THE ABUSE OCCURRED TO INITIATE A CRIMINAL PRELIMINARY INQUIRY INTO THE MATTER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-353. (1) Any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, child care giver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a neglected child or an abused child, shall cause an oral report to be made immediately by telephone or otherwise and followed as soon thereafter as possible by a report in writing to the Department of Human Services, and immediately a referral shall be made by the Department of Human Services to the youth court intake unit, which unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357. Where appropriate, the Department of Human Services shall additionally make a referral to the youth court prosecutor. Upon receiving a report that a child has been sexually abused, or burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal law, the Department of Human Services shall immediately notify the district attorney's office and the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred. The Department of Human Services shall have the duty to provide the district attorney's office and the law enforcement agency all the names and facts known at the time of the report, and this duty shall be of a continuing nature. The qualified felony child abuse investigators of the district attorney’s office shall conduct the criminal forensic investigation into the reported felony child abuse, whether the abuse is in-home, out-of-home, caregiver, guardian, or institutional abuse, immediately upon receipt of the report. The law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred, the Department of Human Services, and the servicing Children’s Advocacy Center shall assist as needed with the criminal forensic investigation, grand jury hearings, and criminal trial of the case, if any. The Department of Human Services shall investigate cases of reported misdemeanor child abuse or neglect for the purposes of child welfare, children in need of supervision, children in need of special care, shelter needs and shelter hearings, custody, care, and maintenance hearings, delinquency matters, and the state central registry established under Section 43-21-257. The Department of Human Services shall advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases of abuse reported to the department within seventy-two (72) hours and shall update the report as information becomes available.
(2) Any report to the Department of Human Services shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parents or other persons responsible for his care, if known, the child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries and any other information that might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury and the identity of the perpetrator.
(3) The Department of Human Services shall maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or similar service for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of child abuse; provided that any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, child care giver, minister, law enforcement officer or public or private school employee who is required to report under subsection (1) of this section shall report in the manner required in subsection (1).
(4) Reports of abuse and neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the identity of the reporter is released to the district attorney's office, law enforcement agencies and the appropriate prosecutor under subsection (1). Reports made under this section to any district attorney's office, law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only, and no information from these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261. Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the district attorney's office, law enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267.
(5) All final dispositions of criminal investigations by the district attorney's office and law enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final dispositions of investigations by the Department of Human Services as described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the youth court. Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the Department of Human Services to the law enforcement agency and to the district attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the department:
(a) The name and address of the child;
(b) The names and addresses of the parents;
(c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator;
(d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse;
(e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused and any other information from the agency files or known to the social worker making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and
(f) What, if any, action is being taken by the Department of Human Services.
(6) In any investigation of a report made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined in Section 43-21-105(m), the Department of Human Services may request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany the department in its investigation, and in those cases, the law enforcement officer shall comply with the request.
(7) Anyone who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
(8) If a report is made directly to the Department of Human Services that a child has been abused or neglected in an out-of-home setting, a referral shall be made immediately to the district attorney's office and the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred * * *. The district attorney’s office in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred shall have primary responsibility to conduct the criminal forensic investigation into reported felony child abuse in all settings: in-home abuse, out-of-home abuse, alleged guardian felony abuse, reported institutional felony abuse, and reported felony level caregiver abuse. Law enforcement agencies and the Department of Human Services shall cooperate and assist as needed in the criminal investigation. The Attorney General's Office shall determine the qualifications and training required for the felony child abuse investigators assigned to the district attorney’s offices in the state. The Department of Human Services shall investigate the out-of-home setting report of abuse or neglect to determine whether the child who is the subject of the report, or other children in the same environment, comes within the jurisdiction of the youth court and shall report to the youth court the department's findings and recommendation as to whether the child who is the subject of the report or other children in the same environment require the protection of the youth court. * * * If the out-of-home setting is a licensed facility, an additional referral shall be made by the Department of Human Services to the licensing agency. The licensing agency shall investigate the report and shall provide the Department of Human Services, the law enforcement agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from that investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions taken.
SECTION 2. Section 43-21-357, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-357. (1) After receiving a report, the youth court intake unit shall promptly make a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the interest of the child, other children in the same environment or the public requires the youth court to take further action. As part of the preliminary inquiry, the youth court intake unit may request or the youth court may order the Department of Human Services, * * * any successor agency or any other qualified public employee to make an investigation or report concerning the child and any other children in the same environment, and present the findings thereof to the youth court intake unit. If the youth court intake unit receives a neglect or abuse report, the youth court intake unit shall immediately forward the complaint to the Department of Human Services to promptly make an investigation or report concerning the child and any other children in the same environment and promptly present the findings thereof to the youth court intake unit. If it is determined that reasonable cause exists to believe that the "other children" referred to in this subsection are victims of felony child abuse, the youth court intake unit shall immediately notify the district attorney’s office in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred to initiate a criminal preliminary inquiry into the matter. If it appears from the preliminary inquiry that the child or other children in the same environment are within the jurisdiction of the court, the youth court intake unit shall recommend to the youth court:
(a) That the youth court take no action;
(b) That an informal adjustment be made;
(c) The Department of Human Services, Office of Family and Children Services, monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;
(d) That the child is warned or counseled informally; or
(e) That a petition be filed.
(2) The youth court shall then, without a hearing:
(a) Order that no action be taken;
(b) Order that an informal adjustment be made;
(c) Order that the Department of Human Services, Office of Family and Children Services, monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;
(d) Order that the child is warned or counseled informally; or
(e) Order that a petition be filed.
(3) If the preliminary inquiry discloses that a child needs emergency medical treatment, the judge may order the necessary treatment.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.