MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Parker, Norwood, Frazier, Stone, Younger, Barnett, Blackwell, Jackson (11th)
AN ACT TO CREATE THE DUI MODERNIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY ACT; TO CREATE THE DUI INFORMATION EXCHANGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TASK FORCE; TO PROVIDE THE DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE; TO DESIGNATE STAFF TO ASSIST THE TASK FORCE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 45-27-7, 63-1-52, 63-11-37 AND 63-9-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR INCREASED COMMUNICATION IN THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE THROUGH USE OF IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) There is created the DUI Information Exchange Improvement Advisory Committee to address the problem of a lack of timely information regarding DUI arrests and convictions being available to law enforcement, prosecutors and courts. The Director of the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University shall appoint the chair. The other members shall be the following eighteen (18) persons:
(a) The Director of Management Information Systems, Department of Public Safety;
(b) The Director of the Driver Services Division, Department of Public Safety;
(c) The Director of the Criminal Information Center, Department of Public Safety;
(d) The Deputy Director, Mississippi Highway Patrol;
(e) The President of the Mississippi Municipal Court Clerks Association, or a designee;
(f) The President of The Mississippi Justice Court Clerks Association, or a designee;
(g) A municipal court prosecutor appointed by the President of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association;
(h) A county prosecutor appointed by the Mississippi Prosecutors Association;
(i) The Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, Mississippi Attorney General's Office;
(j) A representative of the Electronic Citation program appointed by the Director of the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University;
(k) The President of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police or a designee;
(l) The President of the Mississippi Sheriffs Association or a designee;
(m) The President of the Mississippi Municipal Judges Association or a designee;
(n) The President of the Justice Court Judges Association or a designee;
(o) The Director of the Administrative Office of Courts or a designee;
(p) A member appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety from the State Traffic Records Coordinating Committee, Office of the Highway Safety Division of Public Safety Planning;
(q) The State Defender of the Mississippi Office of Public Defender or a designee; and
(r) The Director of the Office of the Highway Safety Division of Public Safety Planning or a designee.
(2) At its first meeting, the advisory committee shall elect a vice chairman from its membership and shall adopt rules for transacting its business and keeping records. Members of the advisory committee shall serve without compensation.
(3) The duties of the committee shall be to:
(a) Make a comprehensive study of the flow of information between trial court clerks and judges, DUI prosecutors, the Driver Services Division of the Department of Public Safety, the Criminal Information Center of the Department of Public Safety, the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, and all law enforcement agencies in the state to improve the imposition of enhanced penalties for repeat DUI offenders.
(b) Make recommendations to implement electronic submission of all records.
(c) Report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor by December 1, 2016.
(4) The Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University shall provide staff to assist the committee in carrying out its duties required by this section.
(5) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2017.
SECTION 2. Section 45-27-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-27-7. (1) The Mississippi Justice Information Center shall:
(a) Develop, operate and maintain an information system which will support the collection, storage, retrieval and dissemination of all data described in this chapter, consistent with those principles of scope, security and responsiveness prescribed by this chapter.
(b) Cooperate with all criminal justice agencies within the state in providing those forms, procedures, standards and related training assistance necessary for the uniform operation of the statewide center.
(c) Offer assistance and, when practicable, instruction to all local law enforcement agencies in establishing efficient local records systems.
(d) Make available, upon request, to all local and state criminal justice agencies, to all federal criminal justice agencies and to criminal justice agencies in other states any information in the files of the center which will aid such agencies in the performance of their official duties. For this purpose the center shall operate on a twenty-four-hour basis, seven (7) days a week. Such information, when authorized by the director of the center, may also be made available to any other agency of this state or any political subdivision thereof and to any federal agency, upon assurance by the agency concerned that the information is to be used for official purposes only in the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension of criminal offenders.
(e) Cooperate with other agencies of this state, the crime information agencies of other states, and the national crime information center systems of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in developing and conducting an interstate, national and international system of criminal identification and records.
(f) Make available, upon request, to nongovernmental entities or employers certain information for noncriminal justice purposes as specified in Section 45-27-12.
(g) Institute necessary measures in the design, implementation and continued operation of the justice information system to ensure the privacy and security of the system. Such measures shall include establishing complete control over use of and access to the system and restricting its integral resources and facilities and those either possessed or procured and controlled by criminal justice agencies. Such security measures must meet standards developed by the center as well as those set by the nationally operated systems for interstate sharing of information.
(h) Provide data processing for files listing motor vehicle drivers' license numbers, motor vehicle registration numbers, wanted and stolen motor vehicles, outstanding warrants, identifiable stolen property and such other files as may be of general assistance to law enforcement agencies; provided, however, that the purchase, lease, rental or acquisition in any manner of "computer equipment or services," as defined in Section 25-53-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be subject to the approval of the Mississippi Information Technology Services.
(i) Maintain a field coordination and support unit which shall have all the power conferred by law upon any peace officer of this state.
(j) Coordinate standardization of reporting and flow of information between all judges, clerks, prosecutors, the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, and law enforcement agencies involved in the arrest, prosecution and conviction of DUI offenders and DUI repeat offenders.
(2) The department, including the investigative division or the center, may:
(a) Obtain and store fingerprints, descriptions, photographs and any other pertinent identifying data from crime scenes and on persons who:
(i) Have been or are hereafter arrested or taken into custody in this state:
1. For an offense which is a felony;
2. For an offense which is a misdemeanor;
3. As a fugitive from justice; or
(ii) Are or become habitual offenders; or
(iii) Are currently or become confined to any prison, penitentiary or other penal institution; or
(iv) Are unidentified human corpses found in the state; or
(v) Have submitted fingerprints for conducting criminal history record checks.
(b) Compare all fingerprint and other identifying data received with that already on file and determine whether or not a criminal record is found for such person, and at once inform the requesting agency or arresting officer of those facts that may be disseminated consistent with applicable security and privacy laws and regulations. A record shall be maintained for a minimum of one (1) year of the dissemination of each individual criminal history, including at least the date and recipient of such information.
(c) Establish procedures to respond to those individuals who file requests to review their own records, pursuant to Sections 45-27-11 and 45-27-12, and to cooperate in the correction of the central center records and those of contributing agencies when their accuracy has been successfully challenged either through the related contributing agencies or by court order issued on behalf of an individual.
(d) Retain in the system the fingerprints of all law enforcement officers and part-time law enforcement officers, as those terms are defined in Section 45-6-3, and of all applicants to law enforcement agencies.
(3) There shall be a presumption that a copy of any document submitted to the center in accordance with the provisions of Section 45-27-9 that has been processed as set forth in this chapter and subsequently certified and provided by the center to a law enforcement agency or a court shall be admissible in any proceeding without further authentication unless a person objecting to that admissibility has successfully challenged the document under the provisions of Section 45-27-11.
SECTION 3. Section 63-1-52, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-1-52. (1) Whenever the Commissioner of Public Safety suspends, cancels or revokes the driver's license or driving privileges of any person, notice of the suspension, cancellation or revocation shall be given to such person by the commissioner, or his duly authorized agent, in the manner provided in subsection (2) of this section and at the time provided in subsection (3) of this section or in the manner and at the time provided in subsection (4) of this section.
(2) Notice shall be given in the following manner:
(a) In writing, (i) by
United States Certificate of Mail; or (ii) by personal service at the person's
address as it appears on the driving record maintained by the Department of
Public Safety or at the person's last-known address; or (iii) by
personal notice being given by any law enforcement officer of this state or any
duly authorized agent of the Commissioner of Public Safety on forms prescribed
and furnished by the Commissioner of Public Safety; whenever a person's
driver's license or driving privileges are suspended, revoked or cancelled in
accordance with the Mississippi Driver License Compact Law, the Mississippi
Implied Consent Law, the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law or * * * subsection (2)(c), (2)(d),
(2)(e) or (2)(f) of Section 63-1-53.
(b) In writing, by
United States first class mail, whenever a person's driver's license or driving
privileges are suspended, revoked or cancelled in accordance with the
Mississippi Commercial Driver's License Law, the Youth Court Law, Chapter 23 of
Title 43, Mississippi Code of 1972, Section 63-1-45, Section 63-1-51, * * * subsection (2)(g), (2)(h) or
(2)(i) of Section 63-1-53 or Section 63-9-25.
(3) Notice shall be given at the following time:
(a) Before suspension,
revocation or cancellation, whenever a person's driver's license or driving
privileges are suspended, revoked or cancelled in accordance with the
Mississippi Driver License Compact Law, the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety
Responsibility Law or * * *
subsection (2)(c), (2)(d), (2)(e) or (2)(f) of Section 63-1-53.
(b) Unless otherwise
specifically provided for by law, at the time of suspension, revocation or
cancellation, whenever a person's driver's license or driving privileges are
suspended, revoked or cancelled in accordance with the Mississippi Commercial
Driver's License Law, the Mississippi Implied Consent Law, the Youth Court Law,
Chapter 23 of Title 43, Mississippi Code of 1972, Section 63-1-45, Section 63-1-51, * * * subsection (2)(g), (2)(h) or
(2)(i) of Section 63-1-53 or Section 63-9-25.
(4) Whenever the
Commissioner of Public Safety suspends, revokes or cancels the driver's license
or driving privileges of any person in accordance with some provision of law
other than a provision of law referred to in subsections (2) and (3) of this
section, and the manner and time for giving notice is not provided for in such
law, then notice of such suspension, revocation or cancellation shall be given
in the manner and at the time provided for under * * * subsections (2)(b) and (3)(b)
of this section.
(5) The commissioner shall ensure that access to driver records is available in all cases in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice, particularly as it affects enhanced penalties for repeat DUI offenders.
SECTION 4. Section 63-11-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-11-37. (1) It
shall be the duty of the * * *trial judge clerk of the trial court, upon conviction
of * * * a
person under Section 63-11-30, to mail or otherwise deliver in a method
prescribed by the commissioner a true and correct copy of the traffic ticket,
citation or affidavit evidencing the arrest that resulted in the conviction and
a certified copy of the abstract of the court record within five (5)
days to the Commissioner of Public Safety at Jackson, Mississippi. The trial
judge in municipal and justice courts shall show on the docket and the trial
judge in courts of record shall show on the minutes:
(a) Whether * * * a chemical test was given and the
results of the test, if any;
(b) * * * Whether conviction was based in
whole or in part on the results of such a test.
(2) (a) The abstract of the court record shall show the date of the conviction, the results of the test if there was one, and the penalty, so that a record of same may be made by the Department of Public Safety.
(b) The department is the custodian of records of conviction for violations of this chapter, and the record maintained by the department of a person's arrests and convictions, when certified by the department, is a self-authenticating record.
(3) For the purposes of Section 63-11-30, a bond forfeiture shall operate as and be considered as a conviction.
(4) A trial court clerk who fails to provide a true and correct copy of the traffic ticket, citation or affidavit evidencing the arrest that resulted in the conviction and a copy of the abstract of the court record within five (5) days as required in subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a civil violation and shall be fined One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), for which civil fine the clerk bears sole and personal responsibility. Each instance of failure is a separate violation.
SECTION 5. Section 63-9-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-9-21. (1) This section shall be known as the Uniform Traffic Ticket Law.
(2) All traffic tickets, except traffic tickets filed electronically as provided under subsection (8) of this section, shall be printed in the original and at least two (2) copies and such other copies as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Safety. All traffic tickets shall be uniform as prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Attorney General, except as otherwise provided in subsection (3)(b) and except that the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Attorney General may alter the form and content of traffic tickets to meet the varying requirements of the different law enforcement agencies. The Commissioner of Public Safety and the Attorney General shall prescribe a separate traffic ticket, consistent with the provisions of subsection (3)(b) of this section, to be used exclusively for violations of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law, and the commissioner shall ensure that technology systems are in place for immediate transfer of all information concerning tickets, citations, affidavits, arrests, continuances and convictions in the enforcement of the Implied Consent Law to allow for the free flow of information and timely entry into the National Crime Information Center database no later than January 1, 2017.
(3) (a) Every traffic ticket issued by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, county patrol officer, municipal police officer or State Highway Patrol officer for any violation of traffic or motor vehicle laws shall be issued on the uniform traffic ticket or uniform implied consent violation ticket consisting of an original and at least two (2) copies and such other copies as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Safety.
(b) The traffic ticket, citation or affidavit issued to a person arrested for a violation of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law shall contain a place for the trial judge hearing the case or accepting the guilty plea, as the case may be, to sign, stating that the person arrested either employed an attorney or waived his right to an attorney after having been properly advised of his right to have an attorney. If the person arrested employed an attorney, the name, address and telephone number of the attorney shall be entered or written on the ticket, citation or affidavit.
(c) Every traffic ticket shall show, among other necessary information, the name of the issuing officer, the name of the court in which the cause is to be heard, and the date and time the person is to appear to answer the charge. The ticket shall include information that will constitute a complaint charging the offense for which the ticket was issued, and when duly sworn to and filed with a court of competent jurisdiction, prosecution may proceed thereunder.
(d) The traffic ticket shall contain a space to include the current address and current telephone number of the person being charged. It shall not contain a space to include the social security number of the person being charged.
(4) All traffic tickets, except traffic tickets filed electronically under subsection (8) of this section, shall be bound in book form, shall be consecutively numbered and each traffic ticket shall be accounted for to the officer issuing such book. The traffic ticket books shall be issued to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, constables and county patrol officers by the chancery clerk of their respective counties, to each municipal police officer by the clerk of the municipal court, and to each State Highway Patrol officer by the Commissioner of Public Safety.
(5) The chancery clerk, clerk of the municipal court and the Commissioner of Public Safety shall keep a record of all traffic ticket books issued and to whom issued, accounting for all books printed and issued. All traffic tickets submitted electronically shall be filed automatically with the Commissioner of Public Safety and either the clerk of the municipal court or clerk of the justice court using the system of electronic submission for the purpose of maintaining a record of account as prescribed by this subsection (5).
(6) The original traffic ticket, unless the traffic ticket is filed electronically as provided under subsection (8) of this section, shall be delivered by the officer issuing the traffic ticket to the clerk of the court to which it is returnable to be retained in that court's records and the number noted on the docket. However, if a ticket is issued and the person is incarcerated based upon the conduct for which the ticket was issued, the ticket shall be filed with the clerk of the court to which it is returnable no later than 5:00 p.m. on the next business day, excluding weekends and holidays, after the date and time of the person's incarceration; however, failure to timely file the traffic ticket shall not be grounds for dismissal of the traffic ticket and shall not prevent the person's release from incarceration. The officer issuing the traffic ticket shall also give the accused a copy of the traffic ticket. The clerk of the court shall file a copy with the Commissioner of Public Safety within forty-five (45) days after judgment is rendered showing such information about the judgment as may be required by the commissioner or, in cases in which no judgment has been rendered, within one hundred twenty (120) days after issuance of the ticket. Other copies that are prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be filed or retained as may be designated by the commissioner. All copies shall be retained for at least two (2) years.
(7) Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punishable by a fine of not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(8) (a) Law enforcement officers and agencies may file traffic tickets, including tickets issued for a violation of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law, by computer or electronic means if the ticket conforms in all substantive respects, including layout and content, as provided under subsections (2) or (3)(b) of this section. The provisions of subsection (4) of this section requiring tickets bound in book form do not apply to a ticket that is produced by computer or electronic means. Information concerning tickets produced by computer or electronic means shall be available for public inspection in substantially the same manner as provided for the uniform tickets described in subsection (2) of this section.
(b) The defendant shall be provided with a paper copy of the ticket. A law enforcement officer who files a ticket electronically shall be considered to have certified, signed and sworn to the ticket and has the same rights, responsibilities and liabilities as with all other tickets issued pursuant to this section.
SECTION 6. Section 1 of this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and the remainder of this act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.