MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) Fillingane
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE METHOD OF EXECUTION OF A PERSON SENTENCED TO DEATH; TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DESIGNATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE EXECUTIONER; TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE EXECUTION PROCEDURES AND DISPOSITION OF THE BODY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 99-19-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-19-51. (1) At the
sole discretion of the Commissioner of Corrections, the manner of
inflicting the punishment of death shall be by one (1) of the following: (a)
the * * *
intravenous * * * injection
of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity into the body; (b) nitrogen hypoxia;
(c) electrocution; or (d) firing squad, until death is pronounced by the
county coroner where the execution takes place or by a licensed physician
according to accepted standards of medical practice. * * * Upon receipt of the warrant of execution from the Mississippi
Supreme Court, the Commissioner of Corrections, within seven (7) days, must provide
written notice to the condemned person of the manner of execution.
* * *
( * * *2) The Commissioner of Corrections has
the authority and discretion to select and obtain the substances and the means
necessary to carry out an execution, and * * * shall adopt and promulgate protocols,
rules and regulations as the commissioner deems necessary to administer and
implement the provisions of this section.
( * * *3) (a) The Commissioner of
Corrections shall select an execution team to assist the State Executioner
and his deputies. * * * The execution team * * * shall consist
of those persons, * * * including all medical personnel,
who provide direct support for the administration of lethal chemicals * * *, those
individuals involved in assisting in the execution in any capacity, * * *
and those personnel assigned to specific duties related to an execution.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "supplier of lethal injection chemicals" means a supplier or suppliers of lethal injection chemicals located within the State of Mississippi.
(c)
The identities of the State Executioner and his deputies, all members of
the execution team, a supplier of lethal injection chemicals, and * * * those witnesses listed in Section 99-19-55(2) who attend as
members of the victim's family or designated by the condemned * * * person shall at
all times remain confidential, and the information is exempt from disclosure
under the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, Title 25,
Chapter 61, Mississippi Code of 1972.
( * * *4) Notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, any portion of any record of any kind that could identify
a person as being a current or former State Executioner or his deputies, a
member of an execution team * * *, a current or former supplier of
lethal injection chemicals, or those witnesses listed in Section 99-19-55(2) who
attend as members of the victim's family or designated by the condemned
person * * *, shall at all times be confidential, exempt, and protected
from disclosure, but the remainder of the record shall not be protected unless
otherwise provided by law. A court shall preserve the secrecy of all confidential
and exempt information described in this section by reasonable means, which may
include granting protective orders, holding in-camera hearings, sealing the
records of the action, and ordering any person involved in the litigation not
to disclose such information without prior court approval.
( * * *5) Notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, if the State Executions or his deputies, a member
of the execution team or supplier of lethal injection chemicals is licensed by
a board or department, the licensing board or department shall not censure,
reprimand, suspend, revoke, or take any other disciplinary action against the
person's license because the person participated in a lawful execution. Any
person or institution assisting with or participating in carrying out an
execution in accordance with this statute shall be presumed to be acting in
good faith. Any person or institution acting in good faith in connection with
carrying out an execution shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal,
that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. The State Executioner and his deputies,
and all members of the execution team perform their respective functions as
official duties on behalf of the state or any agency of the state.
SECTION 2. Section 99-19-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-19-53. (1) The Governor shall appoint the State Executioner who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor and until his successor shall have been duly appointed to replace him.
(2) The State Executioner, or his duly authorized representative, shall supervise and inflict the punishment of death as the same is hereby provided. All duties and necessary acts pertaining to the execution of a convict shall be performed by the Commissioner of Corrections except where such duties and actions are vested in the State Executioner. The State Executioner shall receive for his services in connection therewith compensation in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) plus all actual and necessary expenses for each such execution, to be paid by the county where the crime was committed. The county of conviction shall likewise pay the fees of the attending physician or physicians in attendance. The Executioner may appoint not more than two (2) deputies who shall be paid One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) per execution and mileage as authorized by law, to be paid by the county where the crime was committed, to assist in the infliction of the punishment of death. The Executioner may appoint such other assistants as may be required; however, such assistants shall not be entitled to compensation or travel expenses. The State Executioner and his deputies may waive compensation, per diem or travel expenses.
(3) Any infliction of the punishment of death by administration of the required lethal substance or substances in the manner required by law shall not be construed to be the practice of medicine or nursing. Any pharmacist is authorized to dispense drugs to the State Executioner or the Commissioner of Corrections without a prescription for the purpose of this chapter.
(4) The State Executioner shall be custodian of all equipment and supplies involved in the infliction of the death penalty. All expenses for the maintenance and protection of the property, together with operating expenses, which as a practical matter cannot be allocated to the county of conviction, shall be paid out of funds designated by law for that purpose or out of the general support fund of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
(5) The State Executioner shall receive the per diem compensation authorized in Section 25-3-69 in addition to actual and necessary expenses, including mileage as authorized by law, for each day, not to exceed three (3) days each month, spent in maintaining the equipment and supplies involved in the infliction of the death penalty or preparing for an execution which does not occur. Such payments shall be paid out of funds designated by law for that purpose or out of the general support fund of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
* * *
SECTION 3. Section 99-19-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-19-55. (1) Whenever any
person shall be condemned to suffer death for any crime for which such person
shall have been convicted in any court of any county of this state, such
punishment shall be inflicted at 6:00 p.m. or as soon as possible thereafter
within the next twenty-four (24) hours at an appropriate place designated by
the Commissioner of Corrections * * *. All male persons convicted of a capital
offense wherein the death sentence has been imposed shall be immediately
committed to the Department of Corrections and transported to * * * a maximum security cell block * * *. All female persons convicted
of a capital offense wherein the death sentence has been imposed shall be
immediately committed to the Department of Corrections and housed in an
appropriate facility designated by the Commissioner of Corrections. Upon final
affirmance of the conviction, the punishment shall be imposed in the manner
provided by law. The State Executioner or his duly authorized deputy shall
supervise and perform such execution.
(2) When a person is
sentenced to suffer death in the manner provided by law, it shall be the duty
of the clerk of the court to deliver forthwith to the Commissioner of Corrections
a warrant for the execution of the condemned person. It shall be the duty of
the commissioner forthwith to notify the State Executioner of the date of the
execution and it shall be the duty of the * * * State Executioner, or any person
deputized by him in writing, in the event of his physical disability, as
hereinafter provided, to be present at such execution, to perform the same, and
have general supervision over said execution. In addition to the above
designated persons, the Commissioner of Corrections shall secure the presence
at such execution of the sheriff, or his deputy, of the county of conviction,
at least one (1) but not more than two (2) physicians or the county coroner
where the execution takes place, and bona fide members of the press, not to exceed
eight (8) in number, and at the request of the condemned, such ministers of the
gospel, not exceeding two (2), as * * * the condemned person shall name.
The Commissioner of Corrections shall also name to be present at the execution such * * * members of the
execution team deemed by him to be necessary to * * * ensure proper security. No
other persons shall be permitted to witness the execution, except the
commissioner may permit the condemned person to designate two (2) * * *
witnesses, * * * and two (2) members of the victim's * * * family as witnesses, if * * * requested by the condemned person. * * * The Governor may designate,
for good cause shown, * * * two (2) additional persons of good and reputable character to
witness an execution. No person shall be allowed to take photographs or other
recordings of any type during the execution. The absence of the sheriff, or
deputy, after due notice to attend, shall not delay the execution.
(3) * * *
The Commissioner of Corrections, or his duly authorized representative, and
the physician or physicians or county coroner who witnessed such execution
shall prepare and sign officially a certificate setting forth the time and
place thereof and that * * * the condemned person was then and there
executed in conformity to the sentence of the court and the provisions of
Sections 99-19-51 through 99-19-55, * * * which certificate
shall be filed with the clerk of the court where the conviction of the criminal
was had, and the clerk shall subjoin the certificate to the record of the conviction
and sentence.
(4) The body of the person so executed shall be released immediately by the State Executioner, or his duly authorized representative, to the relatives of the dead person, or to such friends as may claim the body. The Commissioner of Corrections shall have sole charge of burial in the event the body is not claimed as aforesaid, and his discretion in the premises shall be final. The Commissioner of Corrections may donate the unclaimed body of an executed person to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for scientific purposes. The county of conviction shall bear the reasonable expense of burial in the event the body is not claimed by relatives or friends or donated to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.