Senate Concurrent Resolution 540

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 124, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT THE GOVERNOR CANNOT GRANT PARDONS FOR CERTAIN VIOLENT CRIMES AND TO REQUIRE PUBLICATION OF NOTICE BEFORE THE GOVERNOR PARDONS CERTAIN OTHER FELONY CRIMES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend Section 124, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 124. (1) In all criminal and penal cases, excepting those of treason * * *~~and~~, impeachment, and crimes specified in this section, the Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons, to remit fines, and in cases of forfeiture, to stay the collection until the end of the next session of the Legislature, and by and with the consent of the Senate to remit forfeitures. In cases of treason he shall have the power to grant reprieves, and by and with consent of the Senate, but may respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the Legislature; but no pardon shall be granted before conviction * * *.

(2) No person convicted of the crimes of capital murder, murder, capital rape, felony child abuse, kidnapping, or any crime under Sections 97-3-65, 97-3-95, 97-5-23 and 97-5-33 as an habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87 shall be eligible to receive a pardon, reprieve or commutation.

(3) No person convicted of the crimes of aggravated assault or aggravated domestic violence, Section 97-3-54.1, armed robbery, burglary of an occupied dwelling, felonious abuse of vulnerable adults, drive-by shooting, carjacking, the sale or manufacture of a controlled substance under the Uniform Controlled Substance Laws or sentenced with enhanced penalties shall be eligible for a pardon, reprieve or commutation by the Governor unless the person has served at least twenty (20) years of his sentence and the following requirements have been completed:

(a) The offender seeking a pardon, reprieve or commutation of sentence shall file a petition with the Governor's office and shall include in the petition a certified and authenticated copy of the notice published in the newspaper with the date of the publication and copies of the return receipts showing that a copy of the petition was mailed by certified mail return receipt requested to the victim or the victim's family representative, to the circuit court judge and the district attorney where the conviction occurred.

(b) The offender shall publish the notice in a newspaper in the county where the crime was committed and where the conviction occurred, and if no newspaper is published in the county, then in a newspaper in an adjoining county. The notice shall be published for thirty (30) days and shall contain the following information: date and location of crime, name of the felony committed, date and county of conviction.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2015, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that the Governor cannot grant pardons for certain violent crimes such as capital murder, murder, capital rape, felony child abuse and kidnapping. The amendment also provides that certain other violent crimes cannot be pardoned until notice is published for thirty (30) days in the county where the crime was committed."