MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2014 Regular Session

To: Judiciary, Division A

By: Senator(s) Tindell

Senate Bill 2791

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 63-11-5 AND 63-11-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE OFFICERS AUTHORIZED TO PERFORM BREATHALIZER TESTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 63-11-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     63-11-5.  (1)  Any person who operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways, public roads and streets of this state shall be deemed to have given his consent, subject to the provisions of this chapter, to a chemical test or tests of his breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration * * *.  A person shall give his consent to a chemical test or * * *tests of his breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the presence in his body of any other substance which would impair a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle.  The test or tests shall be administered at the direction of any * * * highway patrol officer, any sheriff or his duly commissioned deputies, any police officer in any incorporated municipality, any national park ranger, any officer of a state-supported institution of higher learning campus police force if such officer is exercising this authority in regard to a violation that occurred on campus property, or any security officer appointed and commissioned pursuant to the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Security Officer Law of 1978officer authorized under Section 63-11-19 if * * * such the officer is exercising this authority in regard to a violation that occurred within the limits of the * * *Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, officer's jurisdiction when * * *such the officer has reasonable grounds and probable cause to believe that the person was driving or had under his actual physical control a motor vehicle upon the public streets or highways of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any other substance which had impaired * * *such the person's ability to operate a motor vehicle.  No such test shall be administered by any person who has not met all the educational and training requirements of the appropriate course of study prescribed by the Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training; * * *provided, however, * * *that sheriffs and elected chiefs of police shall be exempt from * * *such the educational and training requirement.  No * * *such breath tests shall be given by any officer or any agency to any person within fifteen (15) minutes of consumption of any substance by mouth.

     (2)  If the officer has reasonable grounds and probable cause to believe * * *such the person to have been driving a motor vehicle upon the public highways, public roads, and streets of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, * * *such the officer shall inform * * *such the person that his failure to submit to * * *such the chemical test or tests of his breath shall result in the suspension of his privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon the public streets and highways of this state for a period of ninety (90) days in the event * * * such  the person has not previously been convicted of a violation of Section 63-11-30, or, for a period of one (1) year in the event of any previous conviction of * * * suchthe person under Section 63-11-30.

     (3)  The traffic ticket, citation or affidavit issued to a person arrested for a violation of this chapter shall conform to the requirements of Section 63-9-21(3)(b), and, if filed electronically, shall conform to Section 63-9-21(8).

     (4)  Any person arrested under the provisions of this chapter shall be informed that he has the right to telephone for the purpose of requesting legal or medical assistance immediately after being booked for a violation under this chapter.

     (5)  The Commissioner of Public Safety and the State Crime Laboratory created pursuant to Section 45-1-17 are hereby authorized from and after the passage of this section to adopt procedures, rules and regulations, applicable to the Implied Consent Law.

     SECTION 2.  Section 63-11-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     63-11-19.  A chemical analysis of the person's breath, blood or urine, to be considered valid under the provisions of this section, shall have been performed according to methods approved by the State Crime Laboratory created pursuant to Section 45-1-17 and the Commissioner of Public Safety and performed by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the State Crime Laboratory for making * * *such the analysis.  The State Crime Laboratory and the Commissioner of Public Safety are authorized to approve satisfactory techniques or methods * * *, to ascertain the qualifications and competence of individuals to conduct * * *such the analyses, and to issue permits which shall be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the State Crime Laboratory.  The State Crime Laboratory shall not approve the permit required herein for any law enforcement officer other than a member of the State Highway Patrol, a sheriff or his deputies, a city policeman, an officer of a state-supported institution of higher learning campus police force, a security officer appointed and commissioned pursuant to the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Security Officer Law of 1978, a national park ranger, a national park ranger technician, a military policeman stationed at a United States military base located within this state other than a military policeman of the Army or Air National Guard or of Reserve Units of the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps, a marine law enforcement officer employed by the Department of Marine Resources, or a conservation officer employed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.  The permit given a marine law enforcement officer shall authorize * * *such the officer to administer tests only for violations of Sections 59-23-1 through 59-23-7.  The permit given a conservation officer shall authorize * * *such the officer to administer tests only for violations of Sections 59-23-1 through 59-23-7 and for hunting related incidents resulting in injury or death to any person by discharge of a weapon as provided under Section 49-4-31.

     The State Crime Laboratory shall make periodic, but not less frequently than quarterly, tests of the methods, machines or devices used in making chemical analysis of a person's breath as shall be necessary to ensure the accuracy thereof, and shall issue its certificate to verify the accuracy of the same.

     SECTION 3.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.