Senate Bill 2370

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 93-15-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO GIVE A PARENT THE RIGHT FOR A TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS TO BE HEARD IN CHANCERY COURT; TO AMEND SECTION 93-15-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 93-15-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-15-105. (1) (a) The chancery court has original exclusive jurisdiction over all termination of parental rights proceedings except that a county court, when sitting as a youth court with jurisdiction of a child in an abuse or neglect proceeding, has * * *~~original exclusive~~ jurisdiction to hear a petition for termination of parental rights against a parent of that child.

(b) Within ten (10) days of a petition for involuntary termination of parental rights being filed in the county court sitting as a youth court, a parent may request that jurisdiction of the case be transferred to chancery court, whereupon the chancery court, and not the county court sitting as a youth court, shall hear the case.

(2) (a) Venue in a county court sitting as a youth court for termination of parental rights proceedings shall be in the county in which the court has jurisdiction of the child in the abuse or neglect proceedings. Venue in chancery court for termination of parental rights proceedings shall be proper either in the county in which the defendant resides, the child resides or in the county where an agency or institution having custody of the child is located.

(b) Transfers of venue shall be governed by the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

SECTION 2. Section 93-15-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-15-103. For purposes of this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly expressed by the context, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Abandonment" means any conduct by the parent, whether consisting of a single incident or actions over an extended period of time, that evinces a settled purpose to relinquish all parental claims and responsibilities to the child. Abandonment may be established by showing:

(i) For a child who is under three (3) years of age on the date that the petition for termination of parental rights was filed, that the parent has deliberately made no contact with the child for six (6) months;

(ii) For a child who is three (3) years of age or older on the date that the petition for termination of parental rights was filed, that the parent has deliberately made no contact with the child for at least one (1) year; or

(iii) If the child is under six (6) years of age, that the parent has exposed the child in any highway, street, field, outhouse, or elsewhere with the intent to wholly abandon the child.

(b) "Child" means a person under eighteen (18) years of age.

(d) "Desertion" means:

(i) Any conduct by the parent over an extended period of time that demonstrates a willful neglect or refusal to provide for the support and maintenance of the child; or

(ii) That the parent has not demonstrated, within a reasonable period of time after the birth of the child, a full commitment to the responsibilities of parenthood.

(e) "Home" means any charitable or religious corporation or organization or the superintendent or head of the charitable or religious corporation or organization organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi, any public authority to which has been granted the power to provide care for or procure the adoption of children by any Mississippi statute, and any association or institution engaged in placing children for adoption on July 1, 1955.

(f) "Interested person" means any person related to the child by consanguinity or affinity, a custodian or legal guardian of the child, a guardian ad litem representing the child's best interests, or an attorney representing the child's preferences under Rule 13 of the Uniform Rules of Youth Court Practice.

(g) "Minor parent" means any parent under twenty-one (21) years of age.

(h) "Parent" means a natural or adoptive parent of the child.

(i) "Permanency outcome" means achieving a permanent or long-term custodial arrangement for the custody and care of the child that ends the supervision of the Department of Human Services.

(j) "Qualified health professional" means a licensed or certified professional who is engaged in the delivery of health services and who meets all applicable federal or state requirements to provide professional services.

(k) "Qualified mental health professional" means a person with at least a master's degree in mental health or a related field and who has either a professional license or a Department of Mental Health credential as a mental health therapist.

(l) "Reunification" means the restoration of the parent's custodial rights in providing for the safety and welfare of the child which ends the supervision of the Department of Human Services.

(m) "Termination of parental rights" means the complete and irrevocable severance of the rights of the parent to the care and custody of the child and for making decisions affecting the child's health, safety, education or welfare.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.