House Bill 1408

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-5-305 AND 19-5-307, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE A MUNICIPALITY TO ESTABLISH AN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT; TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-313, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE MUNICIPALITY TO LEVY AN EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE CHARGE; TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-315, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE TWO OR MORE MUNICIPALITIES TO CREATE A SINGLE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 65-7-309, 65-7-311, AND 65-7-143, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-305. The board of supervisors of each county or the governing authorities of any municipality may create, by order duly adopted and entered on its minutes, an emergency communications district composed of all of the territory within the county or the municipality.

SECTION 2. Section 19-5-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-307. (1) When any district is created, the board of supervisors of the county or the governing authorities of the municipality creating such district may appoint a board of commissioners composed of seven (7) members to govern its affairs, and shall fix the domicile of the board at any point within the district. The members of the board shall be qualified electors of the district, two (2) of whom shall be appointed for terms of two (2) years, three (3) for terms of three (3) years, and two (2) for terms of four (4) years, dating from the date of the adoption of the ordinance creating the district. Thereafter, all appointments of the members shall be for terms of four (4) years.

(2) The board of commissioners shall have complete and sole authority to appoint a chairman and any other officers it may deem necessary from among the membership of the board of commissioners.

(3) A majority of the board of commissioners membership shall constitute a quorum and all official action of the board of commissioners shall require a quorum.

(4) The board of commissioners shall have authority to employ such employees, experts and consultants as it may deem necessary to assist the board of commissioners in the discharge of its responsibilities to the extent that funds are made available.

(5) In lieu of appointing a board of commissioners, the board of supervisors of the county or the governing authorities of the municipality may serve as the board of commissioners of the district, in which case it shall assume all the powers and duties of the board of commissioners as provided in Section 19-5-301 et seq.

(6) All emergency communications districts shall purchase, lease or lease-purchase equipment used to comply with the FCC Order, as defined in Section 19-5-333, from a products and equipment list maintained by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services; however, items not available from the list, or items which may be purchased at a lower price, shall be purchased in accordance with the Public Purchasing Law (Section 31-7-13).

SECTION 3. Section 19-5-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-313. (1) (a) Subject to the conditions prescribed under (b) of this subsection, the board of supervisors or governing authorities of a municipality may levy an emergency telephone service charge in an amount not to exceed One Dollar ($1.00) per residential telephone subscriber line per month, One Dollar ($1.00) per Voice over Internet Protocol subscriber account per month, and Two Dollars ($2.00) per commercial telephone subscriber line per month for exchange telephone service. Any emergency telephone service charge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed throughout the entirety of the district to the greatest extent possible in conformity with availability of such service in any area of the district. Those districts which exist on the date of enactment of Chapter 539, Laws of 1993, shall convert to the following structure for service charge levy: If the current charge is five percent (5%) of the basic tariff service rate, the new collection shall be Eighty Cents ($.80) per month per residential subscriber line and One Dollar and Sixty Cents ($1.60) per month per commercial subscriber line. The collections may be adjusted as outlined in Chapter 539, Laws of 1993, and within the limits set forth herein.

(b) If a municipality creates an emergency communications district, then the county may not levy the emergency telephone service charge, which is prescribed under paragraph (a) of this subsection, in the municipality that has created such district.

(2) If the proceeds generated by the emergency telephone service charge exceed the amount of monies necessary to fund the service, the board of supervisors or governing authorities of a municipality may authorize such excess funds to be expended by the municipality or county and the municipalities in the counties to perform the duties and pay the costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets, as provided by Section 65-7-143. The board of supervisors shall determine how the funds are to be distributed in the county and among municipalities in the county for paying the costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets; provided, however, if a municipality has created its own district, a municipality shall not receive such distribution from the county. The board of supervisors or governing authorities may temporarily reduce the service charge rate or temporarily suspend the service charge if the proceeds generated exceed the amount that is necessary to fund the service and/or to pay costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets. Such excess funds may also be used in the development of county or municipality or district communications and paging systems when used primarily for the alerting and dispatching of public safety entities and for other administrative costs such as management personnel, maintenance personnel and related building and operational requirements. Such excess funds may be placed in a depreciation fund for emergency and obsolescence replacement of equipment necessary for the operation of the overall 911 emergency telephone and alerting systems.

(3) No such service charge shall be imposed upon more than twenty-five (25) exchange access facilities or Voice over Internet Protocol lines per person per location. Trunks or service lines used to supply service to CMRS providers shall not have a service charge levied against them. Every billed service user shall be liable for any service charge imposed under this section until it has been paid to the service supplier. The duty of the service supplier to collect any such service charge shall commence upon the date of its implementation, which shall be specified in the resolution for the installation of such service. Any such emergency telephone service charge shall be added to and may be stated separately in the billing by the service supplier to the service user.

(4) The service supplier shall have no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of any emergency telephone service charge. However, the service supplier shall annually provide the board of supervisors or the governing authorities and board of commissioners with a list of the amount uncollected, together with the names and addresses of those service users who carry a balance that can be determined by the service supplier to be nonpayment of such service charge. The service charge shall be collected at the same time as the tariff rate or, for nontariff services, at the time of payment, in accordance with the regular billing practice of the service supplier. Good faith compliance by the service supplier with this provision shall constitute a complete defense to any legal action or claim which may result from the service supplier's determination of nonpayment and/or the identification of service users in connection therewith.

(5) The amounts collected by the service supplier attributable to any emergency telephone service charge shall be due the county or municipal treasury monthly. The amount of service charge collected each month by the service supplier shall be remitted to the county or municipality no later than sixty (60) days after the close of the month. A return, in such form as the board of supervisors of the governing authorities of a municipality and the service supplier agree upon, shall be filed with the county or municipality, together with a remittance of the amount of service charge collected payable to the county or municipality. The service supplier shall maintain records of the amount of service charge collected for a period of at least two (2) years from date of collection. The board of supervisors or governing authorities of a municipality and board of commissioners shall receive an annual audit of the service supplier's books and records with respect to the collection and remittance of the service charge. From the gross receipts to be remitted to the county or municipality, the service supplier shall be entitled to retain as an administrative fee, an amount equal to one percent (1%) thereof. From and after March 10, 1987, the service charge is a county or municipal fee and is not subject to any sales, use, franchise, income, excise or any other tax, fee or assessment and shall not be considered revenue of the service supplier for any purpose.

(6) In order to provide additional funding for the district, the board of commissioners may receive federal, state, county or municipal funds, as well as funds from private sources, and may expend such funds for the purposes of Section 19-5-301 et seq.

SECTION 4. Section 19-5-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-309. (1) The digits "911" shall be the primary emergency telephone number, but the involved agencies may maintain a separate secondary backup number and shall maintain a separate number for nonemergency telephone calls.

(2) The use of the digits "911" shall become the standard telephone number for public access to the various emergency services within the State of Mississippi by the year 1995. The implementation of this service shall be effected in all counties or municipalities not currently operating a "911" system according to the following guidelines:

(a) Those counties or municipalities not currently in the process of installing "911," or currently using "911" emergency telephone service, which have a population greater than fifteen thousand (15,000) residents shall, when so authorized by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors of the county or municipality voting on the proposal in an election held for that purpose, take the steps necessary to implement Enhanced 911 within such county or municipality using the guidelines for implementation set forth in this act;

(b) Those counties or municipalities not currently in the process of installing "911," or currently using "911" emergency telephone service, which have a population less than fifteen thousand (15,000) residents shall, when so authorized by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors of the county or municipality voting on the proposal in an election held for that purpose, install either "Basic 911" or "Enhanced 911" using the guidelines for implementation set forth in House Bill No. 901, 1993 Regular Session [Laws, 1993, Ch. 536].

SECTION 5. Section 19-5-311, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-311. The emergency telephone system shall, when so authorized by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors of the county or municipality voting on the proposal in an election held for that purpose, be designed to have the capability of utilizing at least one (1) of the following three (3) methods in response to emergency calls:

(a) "District dispatch method," which is a telephone service to a centralized dispatch center providing for the dispatch of an appropriate emergency service unit upon receipt of a telephone request for such services and a decision as to the proper action to be taken, including an E911 system.

(b) "Relay method," which is a telephone service whereby pertinent information is noted by the recipient of a telephone request for emergency services and is relayed to appropriate public safety agencies or other providers of emergency services for dispatch of an emergency service unit.

(c) "Transfer method," which is a telephone service which receives telephone requests for emergency services and directly transfers such requests to an appropriate public safety agency or other provider of emergency services.

The board of commissioners shall select the method which it determines to be the most feasible for the county or municipality.

SECTION 6. Section 19-5-315, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-315. (1) All provisions of Section 19-5-301 et seq., with the exception of Section 19-5-307, shall be construed to amend, repeal or supersede any local and private act under which a county or municipality has, prior to the effective date of Section 19-5-301 et seq., established an emergency communications district.

(2) The governing authorities of any municipality which has established an emergency communications district under the provisions of a local and private act enacted prior to the effective date of Section 19-5-301 et seq., may merge such district with the district established by the county in which the municipality is located, by order duly adopted and entered on the minutes of the governing authority and after the board of supervisors has duly adopted and entered on its minutes a similar order. After the county and the municipal districts have been merged, the local and private act for such municipality shall be of no force or effect.

(3) Two (2) or more counties or two (2) or more municipalities may, by order duly adopted and entered on their minutes, establish a single emergency communications district to be composed of all of the territory within such counties or municipalities provided that before the establishment thereof the board of supervisors of each of * * * ~~such~~ the counties or governing authorities of each of the municipalities has established an emergency communications district for its county or municipality in accordance with Section 19-5-305. When two (2) or more counties or municipalities have established a single emergency communications district for the counties or municipalities as provided under this subsection, the board of commissioners of the district shall consist of the members of the board of supervisors of each of such counties or such municipalities or seven (7) members from each county or municipality to be appointed as provided in Section 19-5-307.

SECTION 7. Section 65-7-143, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

65-7-143. (1) All streets and roads of any municipality or county, and all other roads, highways or streets of this state that are not otherwise officially named or numbered shall be assigned a number and said roads, highways or streets shall henceforth be, for official purposes, known and referenced by an assigned number. In addition, the State Aid Division of the * * *~~State Highway~~ Department of Transportation is further authorized to name or identify such roads, highways or streets by the names of individuals, subject to the approval of the appropriate governing authorities.

(2) The designation appearing in the * * *~~Highway~~ Department of Transportation Road Inventory developed by the * * *~~State Highway~~ Department of Transportation for each county and municipality shall constitute the official designation for counties and municipalities from and after July 1, 1988, unless prior to said date the board of supervisors of a county or the governing authority of a municipality adopts an ordinance duly spread upon its minutes adopting an official map or otherwise officially designates or names the public streets, roads and highways within its jurisdiction.

(3) Nothing herein shall be construed to require the marking of roads or the provision of road or street name signs; however, the boards of supervisors of the several counties and the governing authorities of any municipality may accept donations of money, materials, labor or other assistance to provide for the marking of streets, roads and highways.

(4) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit local governing authorities from naming, renaming or accepting named streets or roads as public ways in their discretion; however, any such action constituting an addition or change to the official county or municipal map shall be by ordinance duly adopted and spread upon the minutes of the governing authority, a certified copy of which shall be transmitted to the * * *~~State Highway~~ Department of Transportation.

(5) The boards of supervisors and governing authorities of municipalities are hereby authorized to expend excess funds as provided by Section 19-5-313 for paying the costs of identifying roads, highways and streets.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.