MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) McDaniel, Jackson (11th), Simmons (12th), Watson, Hill, Jackson (15th)
AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS "KAREN'S LAW"; TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE MAXIMUM IMPRISONMENT FOR PERSONS WHO WERE OVER THE AGE OF 21 WHEN CONVICTED OF THE HOMICIDE OF A CHILD OF A CERTAIN AGE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 97-3-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-3-25. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person convicted of manslaughter shall be fined in a sum not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or imprisoned in the county jail not more than one (1) year, or both, or in the custody of the Department of Corrections not less than two (2) years, nor more than twenty (20) years.
(2) Any person convicted of manslaughter for a violation of Section 97-3-27 relating to homicide during the commission of a felony, Section 97-3-29 relating to homicide during the commission of a misdemeanor, or Section 97-3-35 relating to killing without malice in the heat of passion, but only if the killing was intentional and not accidental, shall be imprisoned in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not to exceed thirty (30) years if the perpetrator was over the age of twenty-one (21) years and the victim was a child under eighteen (18) years of age.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.