Senate Bill 2229

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 55-23-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT THE MISSISSIPPI VETERANS MEMORIAL STADIUM COMMISSION FROM CHARGING JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY ANY FEE FOR THE USE OF THE STADIUM AT ATHLETIC EVENTS WHEN THE UNIVERSITY IS THE HOME OR VISITING TEAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 55-23-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

55-23-9. The commission shall operate the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium and to that end may employ such agents and employees as may be required in connection therewith. It may enter into contracts for the use of the stadium, and fix the amount of the compensation therefor, and collect the same when due. The commission may take any action authorized in Section 55-23-8 relating to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium and the property described in Section 55-23-8.

All monies and revenues, including the amusement tax imposed upon the sale of tickets for admission to the stadium, and all other events on stadium property and all monies arising from other use of stadium property, including that realized from the sale of concessions, shall be paid by the commission to the State Treasurer, to be placed to the credit of a special fund to be known as the "Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Operating Fund" and any references in the laws to the "Mississippi Memorial Stadium Fund" or the "Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Fund" shall mean the "Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Operating Fund" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Any interest earned on amounts deposited in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Operating Fund shall be credited to such special fund. Provided, however, that twenty-five percent (25%) of all profits realized by the commission from the sale of concessions at athletic events when Jackson State University is the home team shall be deposited to the credit of a special auxiliary fund and authorized for expenditure by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning exclusively for the support of intercollegiate athletics at such university. Provided further, that the commission shall not charge Jackson State University any fee for the use of the stadium at athletic events when Jackson State University is the home or visiting team, and any operating expenses incurred by the commission for the use of stadium property at such events shall be paid from the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Operating Fund. All expenses incident to the operation and upkeep of the facilities and property managed by the commission shall be paid out of the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Operating Fund by warrants drawn by the Department of Finance and Administration, which shall be issued on the requisition of the commission.

All tickets sold to an event conducted in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium shall have printed in an appropriate and prominent place thereon the words A.C. "Butch" Lambert Field.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.