House Bill 1731

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEFRAYING THE EXPENSES OF THE OFFICE OF CAPITAL DEFENSE COUNSEL OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2005.

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

SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Office of Capital Defense Counsel of the State of Mississippi for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004, and ending June 30, 2005$ 664,154.00.

SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Office of Capital Defense Counsel of the State of Mississippi for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the office for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004, and ending June 30, 2005$ 120,000.00.

SECTION 3. With the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 1, the following positions are authorized:

AUTHORIZED POSITIONS:

Permanent: Full Time 9

Part Time 0

Time-Limited: Full Time 0

Part Time 0

Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law.

No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds which are being used for salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are withdrawn and no longer available.

SECTION 4. The funds authorized herein shall be used to fund all operations of the agency with the following prohibitions:

(1) The agency shall not fill any current or future vacant positions;

(2) The agency shall not take any action to promote or otherwise award salary increases through reallocation, reclassification, realignment, education benchmark, career ladder, or any other means to increase salaries of employees or positions except as allowed under the provisions set forth in House Bill No. 1279, 2004 Regular Legislative Session;

(3) The agency shall not expend funds for out-of-state travel except as allowed under the provisions set forth in House Bill No. 1279, 2004 Regular Legislative Session;

(4) The agency shall not expend funds for the purchase of or contract for cellular phones, two-way radios or pagers, except for support of employees in the Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Narcotics as recommended by Information Technology Services or as allowed under the provisions set forth in House Bill No. 1279, 2004 Regular Legislative Session;

(5) The agency shall not expend funds to publish or distribute any annual reports or other publications;

(6) The agency shall not expend funds for public relation activities regarding the functions, programs or services of the agency except as allowed under the provisions set forth in House Bill No. 1279, 2004 Regular Legislative Session;

(7) The agency shall not advertise the functions, programs or services of the agency except that the Mississippi Development Authority is authorized to expend funds for advertising to carry out the purposes of key programs administered by the authority;

(8) The agency shall not expend funds for staff development or training services;

(9) The agency shall not expend funds for the purchase of new or replacement equipment or furniture, excluding lease purchase payments on agreements in effect upon passage of this appropriation bill, except as allowed under the provisions set forth in House Bill No. 1279, 2004 Regular Legislative Session.

SECTION 5. It is the intention of the Legislature that none of the funds appropriated above shall be expended unless members of the Mississippi House of Representatives and Mississippi Senate are notified at least five (5) days prior to a public ceremony announcing the award of any grant in their district or any public announcement or ceremony regarding the groundbreaking or opening of a facility, roadway or bridge for which the Legislature has made funds available. Any signage regarding any public event or any new facility, roadway or bridge shall include the following language: "Funds were made available for this project by the Mississippi State Legislature."

SECTION 6. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Office of Capital Defense Counsel shall maintain complete accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal Year 2004. It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2006 shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail provided during the Fiscal Year 2005 budget request process.

SECTION 7. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Director of the Office of Capital Defense Counsel shall have the authority to accept, budget and expend any source funds, not to exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00). Such funds are to be escalated in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Finance and Administration in a manner consistent with escalation of federal funds.

SECTION 8. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.