House Bill 1556

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 17-13-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ANY INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT MADE BY A LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNIT TO PROVIDE POLICE PROTECTION TO A PUBLIC SCHOOL AS DESCRIBED SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; TO AMEND SECTION 17-13-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT MUNICIPALITIES MAY ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH A COUNTY UNDER THIS CHAPTER TO PROVIDE POLICE PROTECTION TO ANY PUBLIC SCHOOL LOCATED WITHIN EITHER THE MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY JURISDICTION; TO PROVIDE THAT All SUCH AGREEMENTS SHALL BE PASSED BY THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY AND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY; TO PROVIDE THAT WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DAYS OF THIS ACT, SUCH AGREEMENTS SHALL BE PRESENTED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND THE STATE AUDITOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 17-13-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

17-13-11. (1) Except as otherwise provided, every agreement made by a local governmental unit hereunder shall, prior to and as a condition precedent to its entry into force, be submitted to the Attorney General of this state who shall determine whether the agreement is in proper form and compatible with the laws of this state. However, any agreement made by a local governmental unit to provide police protection to a public school as described in Section 17-13-9, shall not be required to be submitted to the Attorney General. No agreement may be considered that does not cite the specific authority under which each of the local governing units involved may exercise the powers necessary to fulfill the terms of the joint agreement. The Attorney General shall approve any such agreement submitted to him hereunder unless he shall find that it does not meet the conditions set forth herein and elsewhere in the laws of this state and shall detail in writing, addressed to the governing bodies of the units concerned, the specific respects in which the proposed agreement fails to meet the requirements of law.

Failure to disapprove an agreement submitted hereunder within sixty (60) days of its submission shall constitute approval thereof.

(2) In the event that an agreement made pursuant to this chapter shall deal in whole or in part with the provision of services or facilities with regard to which an officer, unit or agency of the state government has constitutional or statutory powers of control, the agreement shall, as a condition precedent to its being in force, be submitted to the state officer, unit or agency having such power of control and shall be approved or disapproved by him or it as to all matters within his or its jurisdiction in the same manner and subject to the same requirements governing action of the Attorney General pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Prior to its being in force, an agreement made pursuant to this chapter shall be filed with the chancery clerk of each of the counties wherein a participating local governmental unit is located and with the Secretary of State. The chancery clerk and the Secretary of State shall preserve such agreements as public records and index and docket the same separate and apart from all other records in his office.

SECTION 2. Section 17-13-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

17-13-9. (1) Any agreement made hereunder shall specify the following:

(a) Its duration.

(b) Its purpose or purposes.

(c) The precise organization, composition, nature and powers of any separate legal or administrative entity created thereby; the specific citation of statutory authority vested in each of the local governmental units which is to be a party to the agreement.

(d) The manner of financing, staffing and supplying the joint or cooperative undertaking and of establishing and maintaining a budget therefor; provided that the treasurer and/or disbursing officer of one (1) of the local governmental units shall be designated in the agreement to receive, disburse and account for all funds of the joint undertaking as a part of the duties of the officer or officers.

(e) The permissible method or methods to be employed in accomplishing the partial or complete termination or amendment of the agreement and for disposing of property upon such partial or complete termination or amendment.

(f) The provision for administration, through a joint board or other appropriate means, of the joint or cooperative undertaking in the event that the agreement does not or may not establish a separate legal entity to conduct the joint or cooperative undertaking. In the case of a joint board, all local governmental units party to the agreement shall be represented.

(g) The manner of acquiring, holding and disposing of real and personal property used in the joint or cooperative undertaking in the event that the agreement does not or may not establish a separate legal entity to conduct the joint or cooperative undertaking.

(h) Any other necessary and proper matters.

(2) Any municipality may enter into an agreement with a county under this chapter to provide that sales of property for the nonpayment of taxes levied or the nonpayment of special assessments as provided in Section 21-19-11 by such municipality shall be made by the county tax collector at the county courthouse in the same manner as provided by law for sales of like property for unpaid county taxes, and that redemptions of property sold for taxes or special assessments levied by such municipality shall be made through the chancery clerk of the county.

(3) Municipalities having as a common border a road or street may enter into an agreement pursuant to this chapter for the provision of police protection and law enforcement within the right-of-way of the street or roadway. An interlocal agreement undertaken pursuant to this subsection shall make the following provisions concerning violations occurring within the area subject to the agreement:

(a) Joint or several enforcement of all penal laws of the State of Mississippi which are misdemeanors made a violation of city ordinance by operation of the provisions of Section 21-13-19;

(b) Prosecution in the municipal court of the municipality employing the officer who made the arrest or issued the citation; jurisdiction shall lie in either municipality, and no charge filed in either municipal court shall be dismissed because of improper venue or lack of jurisdiction asserted solely on the grounds that the violation did not actually occur in the jurisdiction in which it is being prosecuted if the violation occurred in either jurisdiction; and

(4) Municipalities may enter into an agreement with a county under this chapter to provide police protection to any public school located within either the municipal or county jurisdiction. All such agreements shall be passed by the governing authorities of the municipality and the board of supervisors of the county. Within thirty (30) days of the effective days of this act, such agreements shall be presented to the Attorney General, the Secretary of State and the State Auditor.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.