House Bill 356

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SUPPLEMENTAL SALARY PAY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2023; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY CERTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WHO HAS BEEN EMPLOYED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR AT LEAST A YEAR SHALL BE ENTITLED TO ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION IN THE AMOUNT OF SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS PER MONTH; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH SUPPLEMENTAL SALARY SHALL BE PAID BY THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; TO PROVIDE THAT IF SUCH ADDITIONAL PAY IS DENIED TO A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, THEN SUCH OFFICER SHALL HAVE A CERTAIN RIGHT OF APPEAL; TO CREATE A BOARD OF REVIEW TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS OF ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL SALARY; TO CREATE A SPECIAL FUND ENTITLED THE "SUPPLEMENTAL SALARY PAY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT FUND"; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Supplemental Salary Pay for Law Enforcement Act of 2023."

SECTION 2. Whenever used in this act, the term:

(a) "Law enforcement officer" means any person employed full time by the state or any political subdivision thereof, who is duly sworn and vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of criminals and the enforcement of the criminal and traffic laws of this state and/or the ordinances of any political subdivision thereof. The term "law enforcement officer" also includes employees of the Department of Corrections who are designated as law enforcement officers by the Commissioner of Corrections pursuant to Section 47-5-54, those district attorney criminal investigators who are designated as law enforcement officers, the acting Commissioner of Public Safety, the acting Director of Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the acting Director of the Office of Homeland Security, and any employee of the Department of Public Safety designated by the commissioner who has previously served as a law enforcement officer and who would not otherwise be disqualified to serve in such capacity. However, the term "law enforcement officer" shall not mean or include any elected official or any person employed as a legal assistant to a district attorney in this state, compliance agents of the State Board of Pharmacy, or any person or elected official who, subject to approval by the board, provides some criminal justice related services for a law enforcement agency.

(b) "Employed full time" means any person, other than a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, who is receiving gross compensation for his or her duties as a law enforcement officer of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) or more per week or One Thousand Seventy-five Dollars ($1,075.00) or more per month; for a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, the term "employed full time" means a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer who is receiving gross compensation for his or her duties as a law enforcement officer of Four Hundred Seventy-five Dollars ($475.00) or more per week or Two Thousand Fifty Dollars ($2,050.00) or more per month.

(c) "Certified law enforcement officer" means any officer who has been certified by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training.

SECTION 3. (1) In addition to the compensation now paid by any law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state that employs one or more certified law enforcement officers on a full-time basis and who have been employed for a minimum of one (1) year with such agency shall be paid by the state extra compensation in the amount of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month for each full-time law enforcement officer and such payment shall be in addition to the compensation now paid to him or her by his or her employer out of self-generated revenue attributable to the agency employing such officers.

(2) If any certified law enforcement officer employed on a full-time basis transfers or begins employment with any other law enforcement agency, the officer shall receive credit for prior service with any such agency.

(3) Any law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state shall disclose, in writing, at the time the law enforcement officer is hired that such state supplemental pay is entitled to be received by an officer after completing one (1) year of service.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state shall be subject to penalty for reducing the portion of the salary that represents the state supplemental pay of any law enforcement officer whose salary has been enhanced pursuant to this act for one year by an amount not exceeding the amount of such enhancement.

SECTION 4. (1) In the event the additional pay authorized under this act is denied to any person previously receiving the same, such person shall have the right to an appeal to the board of review, created under Section 13 of this act, which may reinstate the additional pay, provided notice of such appeal is filed in writing with the board within thirty (30) days following the denial of the additional pay. The board shall hold a hearing and render a decision within thirty (30) days of the filing of the notice of appeal.

(2) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any person who receives additional pay out of state funds as provided for under this act shall continue to receive such additional state pay during any period of disability resulting from an injury sustained in the line of duty. The additional pay out of state funds shall continue to be paid to such person until such time that such person is determined to be permanently disabled and no longer able to return and perform the duties of his or her employment and is separated from his or her employment either through normal retirement or is determined to be eligible for disability retirement benefits.

SECTION 5. For purposes of this act the following classes of persons, whether or not duly commissioned as law enforcement officers or having the power to make arrests, shall not be deemed to be a law enforcement officer entitled to additional pay out of state funds:

(a) Personnel employed primarily to perform purely clerical or nonenforcement duties, including, but not necessarily restricted to, the following types of duties of persons: typographical; office machine operators; switchboard operators; filing clerks; steno clerks; stenographers; dog pound keepers; school crossing guards; and secretaries except those classified under the municipal fire and police civil service law and those classified as secretary to the chief of police in a classified municipal police employees civil service system or a classified municipal employees civil service system created by legislative act.

(b) Personnel whose compensation for the performance of law enforcement work is not paid solely from municipal or tribal funds, except town marshals, city marshals, and constables employed and paid partially by the municipality or tribe and partially by the parish; or

SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the state shall not be liable for any action of the officers based on the payments of the supplemental pay provided for under this act.

SECTION 7. For the payment of the supplemental salaries provided under this act, there is hereby created a special fund in the State Treasury, to be known as the "Supplemental Salary Pay for Law Enforcement Fund." The fund shall consist of monies appropriated by an act of the Legislature, to which the appropriations hereinafter made shall be credited, and the funds so credited shall be and remain dedicated to the payment of such supplemental salaries, as provided under this act.

SECTION 8. (1) The funds appropriated and dedicated as herein provided shall be disbursed upon warrants approved and certified by any law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state of the respective agencies of law enforcement officers under the provisions of this act, and the warrants shall have attached to them a detailed list of the names of the individuals for whose benefit any particular warrant is drawn and such other information as the Department of Finance and Administration may require.

(2) If a person who is required to sign a warrant fails to sign it, the person shall forward by certified mail to the Department of Finance and Administration a letter which includes a justification for the failure to sign the warrant and supporting documentation. The board of review may approve a warrant that does not include all required signatures.

SECTION 9. Any law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state shall forward the approved and certified warrants to the Department of Finance and Administration and, on the basis of such warrants, the Department of Finance and Administration shall issue payments in accordance with the provisions of this act.

SECTION 10. Any law enforcement agency of the state or any law enforcement agency of a political subdivision of the state employing the individuals entitled to additional compensation from the state under the provisions of this act and who is charged with the responsibility of preparing the payrolls for such individuals, shall include the additional compensation paid by the state to such individuals in the calculation and deduction from the pay of such individuals the sums required by state or federal law to be withheld by an employer, such as federal income tax and social security tax or contributions to state or local retirement systems. Any officials so charged with withholding sums from the pay of the individuals shall be further charged with the responsibility of transmitting the sums so withheld in accordance with the law or laws requiring the withholding.

SECTION 11. The additional compensation paid by the state to individuals as authorized under this act shall be included in the calculation and computation of the total wages paid to the individual in the determination of employer contributions to any retirement system or pension fund of which the individual may be a member as well as in the determination of retirement eligibility and benefits which may accrue to the individual under any retirement system or pension fund, as well as in the determination of any other employee benefits, sick leave, or disability pay to which the individual might be entitled with the exception of workers' compensation benefits.

SECTION 12. Any reduction of the salary of any individual, which salary is in effect on July 1, 2023, whether by the governing authority or by any pay plan under the provisions of any civil service law, or otherwise, shall be void where it is made solely by reason of the additional compensation by the state under this act. Any appropriation made by the Legislature which results in a salary adjustment to the state supplemental pay program under this act shall not have the effect of reducing or replacing any base salary or benefits paid by the local governing authority from other sources.

SECTION 13. (1) There is hereby created a board of review which shall be composed of nine (9) members as follows:

(a) The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration or his or her designee.

(b) A member of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, appointed by the president of the association.

(d) A member of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officer's Association, appointed by the association's president.

(e) A member of the Mississippi Board on Officer Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training, appointed by the Governor.

(f) A member of the Mississippi Municipal League, appointed by the executive director of the league.

(g) A member of the Mississippi Constables Association, appointed by the president of the association.

(h) A member of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association, appointed by the president of the association.

(i) A member of the Mississippi State Troopers Association, appointed by the Governor.

(2) Members of the board of review shall serve for terms of four (4) years, with no member being appointed for more than three (3) consecutive terms. Vacancies on the board of review shall be filled by appointment in like manner for the balance of the unexpired term and each member shall serve until his or her successor is appointed in like manner for the balance of an unexpired term and each member shall serve until his or her successor is appointed.

(3) Whenever any question arises as to the eligibility of any person to receive additional pay out of state funds as provided under this act, the question thereof, together with all of the facts relating thereto, shall be submitted to the board of review, created under this section, for determination, and the decision of the board with regard to eligibility shall be final.

(4) If it is determined by the board of review, as established by this section, that supplemental salaries are due to eligible recipients for back periods of time, the board shall certify to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that such payment is due. Upon receipt of such certification, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee may, in its discretion, approve payment of all or a portion of such supplemental salary from the special fund created under Section 7 of this act; however, no payment shall be made to any one recipient in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) at any one time.

SECTION 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.