Senate Bill 2296

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-9-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE WIRELESS RADIO COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM TO AUTHORIZE EXPENDITURE OF THOSE FUNDS TO ENABLE A LOCAL AGENCY'S PARTICIPATION IN THE E-CITE PROGRAM FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF CITATIONS; TO MANDATE ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WITH AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 63-11-30 TO TRANSITION TO AN ELECTRONIC CITATION SYSTEM COMPATIBLE WITH THE ELECTRONIC CITATION SYSTEM USED BY THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL; TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO CREATE AND MAINTAIN A STATEWIDE, UNIFIED CRIMINAL HISTORY TO ALLOW LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND PROSECUTORS TO QUICKLY OBTAIN UP-TO-DATE, ACCURATE INFORMATION AS TO CERTAIN PRIOR OFFENSES; TO CREATE THE E-CITATION TRANSITION AND OPERATION FUND; TO TRANSFER FUNDS THAT ARE DEPOSITED INTO THE INTERLOCK DEVICE FUND DURING FISCAL YEARS 2019 AND 2020 INTO THE E-CITATION TRANSITION AND OPERATION FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 63-9-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-9-31. (1) (a) (i) In addition to any other monetary penalties and other penalties imposed by law, any county, municipality or the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Patrol which participates in a wireless radio communications program approved by the applicable governing * * *~~authorities~~ authority or that provides for the filing of traffic tickets by computer or electronic means may assess an additional surcharge in an amount not to exceed Ten Dollars ($10.00) on each person upon whom a court imposes a fine or other penalty for each violation of Title 63, Mississippi Code of 1972, except offenses relating to vehicular parking or registration.

(ii) On all citations issued by Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol officers, a surcharge in the amount of Ten Dollars ($10.00) shall be collected by the court and deposited as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(b) The proceeds from the surcharge on citations issued by county and municipal law enforcement officers or the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Patrol may be used by a county or municipality only to fund that * * * entity's: (i) participation in the wireless radio communications program by funding public safety wireless communications systems and related computer and communications equipment; (ii) participation in filing traffic tickets by computer or electronic means as provided in Section 63-9-21; or (iii) both (i) and (ii), in the discretion of the governing authority of the entity. The proceeds from the surcharge on citations issued by Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol officers shall be used as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(c) All proceeds from the surcharge imposed by this subsection shall be deposited into a special fund in the Department of Public Safety's Office of Public Safety Planning. The Office of Public Safety Planning shall promulgate rules and procedures relating to the administration of the special fund and the disbursement of monies in the fund to participating governmental entities. The maximum amount that a governmental entity may receive from the special fund shall be an amount equal to the deposits made into the fund by that entity, less one percent (1%) to be retained by the Office of Public Safety Planning to defray the costs of administering the special fund. Interest earned on the special fund shall remain in the fund and shall be used by the Office of Public Safety Planning to further defray the costs of administering the special fund.

(2) Deposits into the special fund resulting from citations issued by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol shall be utilized as follows: Fifty percent (50%) of the deposits into the special fund shall be used to automate the citations issued by Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol officers (including the transmittal of citations to the justice court, retrieval of the disposition from the justice court, and updating the driver's records) and fifty percent (50%) of the deposits into the special fund shall be used for the purpose of funding wireless communications and related computer equipment and computer software, subject to the approval of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services.

(3) (a) Approval of a wireless radio communications program must be given by the applicable governing * * * ~~authorities~~ authority when:

( * * *ai) The program includes the sharing of support facilities including, but not limited to, towers, shelters and microwave by participating entities; or

( * * *bii) The program includes the establishment of a mutual aid system using common radio frequency channels between participating entities; or

( * * *ciii) The program sets forth a feasible methodology that utilizes the radio frequency spectrum in an efficient manner.

( * * *4b) Participating counties, municipalities, the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Patrol and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol must provide notification of facilities available for interoperability to the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services annually.

( * * *5c) Counties and municipalities and the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Patrol participating in a wireless radio communications program and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol must comply with competitive bidding requirements prescribed in Section 31-7-13 and are encouraged to utilize an open architecture, nonproprietary system.

* * *

SECTION 2. (1) All law enforcement agencies with authority to enforce the provisions of Section 63-11-30 shall transition to an electronic citation system that is compatible with the electronic citation system used by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and complete the transition no later than July 1, 2021. The system must be one that uses software that can be installed on a conventional laptop and used by law enforcement officers to quickly and accurately issue a citation, print a copy for the violator, and transfer the citation to the appropriate court system via a central repository.

The Commissioner of Public Safety may authorize appropriate law enforcement agencies to obtain a single electronic citation unit for the entry of information about violations of Section 63-11-30 into the centrally maintained data bank at the agency's central station if the agency cannot realistically fund equipment to be installed in every law enforcement vehicle.

(2) The State Fiscal Officer shall transfer sufficient funds that are deposited into the Interlock Device Fund created by Section 63-11-33 during fiscal years 2019 and 2020 to the credit of the E-Citation Transition and Operation Fund, to equal but not to exceed the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) for each of those fiscal years. This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2020.

SECTION 3. The Criminal History Information Center of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, no later than January 1, 2020, must create and maintain a statewide, unified criminal history to allow law enforcement officers and prosecutors to quickly obtain, at a minimum, the up-to-date, accurate information required to charge and prosecute a second or subsequent offense under Section 63-11-30.

SECTION 4. There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the E-Citation Transition and Operation Fund. The purpose of the fund shall be to provide funding for the technical support by the Department of Public Safety as law enforcement agencies transition to an electronic citation system that is compatible with the electronic citation system used by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol. Monies from the fund shall be distributed by the State Treasurer upon warrants issued by the Department of Public Safety. The fund shall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal-year limitations, and shall consist of:

(a) Monies appropriated by the Legislature to the fund;

(b) The interest accruing to the fund; and

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after May 1, 2019.