MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Yates
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-5-3, 25-5-7, 25-5-9, 25-5-13, 25-5-15, 25-5-17, 25-5-19, 25-5-21, 25-5-23, 25-5-25, 25-5-27, 25-5-33 AND 25-5-35, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTIVE MUNICIPAL OFFICERS MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME REMOVAL PROCESS AS ELECTIVE COUNTY OFFICERS; TO AMEND SECTION 21-23-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE MUNICIPAL COURT SHALL HAVE JURISDICTION OVER ALL CASES REGARDING THE REMOVAL OF ELECTIVE MUNICIPAL OFFICERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-5-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-3. The Governor is hereby empowered, in accordance with the provisions of Section 139 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, through the procedure and under the regulations prescribed in Sections 25-5-3 through 25-5-37 and for the reasons and causes set forth, to remove any elective county or municipal officer in this state; and every elective officer of any county or municipality in this state may be removed from office by the Governor at any time when done in compliance with the regulations hereinafter set forth.
SECTION 2. Section 25-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-7. Before the Governor
shall consider the removal from a county office of any elective county officer or
a municipal office of any elective municipal officer, there shall be first
filed with him a petition signed by not less than thirty percent (30%) of the
qualified electors of said county or municipality demanding the removal
of * * * the
officer. Such petition shall contain a general statement, in not more than two
hundred (200) words, of the ground or grounds on which such removal is demanded,
which statement shall be for the information of the officer involved, for the information
of the council hereinafter provided, and for the information of the qualified
electors of the county or municipality.
All removal petitions with reference to only supervisors, justice court judges and constables must be signed by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the qualified electors of the beat or district from which they were originally elected.
Upon the request of any qualified elector, it shall be the duty of the county or municipality and district prosecuting attorney to advise such person as to the provisions of Sections 25-5-3 through 25-5-37 and how to comply with the same.
SECTION 3. Section 25-5-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-9. The removal petition shall be in substantially the following form:
REMOVAL PETITION FOR COUNTY OFFICER
(WARNING. - It is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment, for any person to sign any removal petition with any name other than his own, or knowingly to sign his name more than once to such petition, or knowingly to sign such petition when he is not a qualified elector.)
Date: ________
TO THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
We, the undersigned qualified electors of ________ County, State of Mississippi, respectfully demand that ________, holding the office of ________ in said county, be removed from office by the Governor for the following reasons, to wit: (Setting out the reasons for removal in not more than two hundred (200) words); that a special election, after lawful notice, be called to permit the qualified electors of said county to vote on the question of whether or not the said officer shall be removed;
That we each for himself say that: I am a qualified elector of said county, and my voting precinct is correctly written after my name, and that it was stated to me prior to the signing of said petition that after signing the same I would not be permitted to remove my name from said petition.
NAME VOTING PRECINCT
1. ____________________ _____________________
2. ____________________ _____________________
3. ____________________ _____________________
REMOVAL PETITION FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICER
(WARNING. - It is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment, for any person to sign any removal petition with any name other than his own, or knowingly to sign his name more than once to such petition, or knowingly to sign such petition when he is not a qualified elector.)
Date: ________
TO THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
We, the undersigned qualified electors of the City of ________ , State of Mississippi, respectfully demand that ________, holding the office of ________ in said municipality, be removed from office by the Governor for the following reasons, to wit: (Setting out the reasons for removal in not more than two hundred (200) words); that a special election, after lawful notice, be called to permit the qualified electors of said municipality to vote on the question of whether or not the said officer shall be removed;
That we each for himself say that: I am a qualified elector of said municipality, and my voting precinct is correctly written after my name, and that it was stated to me prior to the signing of said petition that after signing the same I would not be permitted to remove my name from said petition.
NAME VOTING PRECINCT
1. ____________________ _____________________
2. ____________________ _____________________
3. ____________________ _____________________
SECTION 4. Section 25-5-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-13. Each and every petition, or separately circulated section thereof, containing signatures shall be verified on the last page thereof in substantially the following form:
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
County/Municipality of ________
I, ________, a qualified elector of said county/municipality do now state under oath that every person who signed the foregoing petition signed his or her name thereto in my presence, and that before the signing of said petition the signator was told that after signing the same his or her name could not be removed from said petition; that I believe that each has stated his or her name and precinct correctly, and that so far as I know each signer is a qualified elector of this county/municipality, and I further certify that the date appearing on the foregoing petition is the correct date on which the first signature was affixed to said petition or any section thereof.
(Signature) ______________
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this ________ day of ________, 20____.
_________________________
_________________________
SECTION 5. Section 25-5-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-15. Before the submission of the petitions to the Governor to be filed by him, all sections of the same shall be consolidated and delivered to the county registrar of the county in which the petition has been circulated or the municipal registrar of the municipality in which the petition has been circulated. No signatures shall be thereafter added. The county or municipal registrar shall compare the signatures of the persons appearing on said petition with the names of the qualified electors appearing on the poll books of said county or municipality, and shall attach to said petition, or to each section of the petition if the same has been circulated in sections, the following certificate:
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
County/Municipality of ________
I, ________, county/municipal registrar in and for the county/municipality and state aforesaid, do hereby certify that I have compared the signatures on the preceding sheets of the removal petition attached hereto, and to the best of my knowledge and belief the said petition (or section of petition) contains the signatures of ________ qualified electors of said county (or beat, as the case may be)/municipality, and I have drawn a line in red ink through the names of those signators who appear by the records in my office not to be qualified electors, or who have died. I further certify that as of the date of the petitions there were ________ qualified electors in this county (or beat, as the case may be)/municipality.
Given under my hand and seal of office, this the ________ day of ________, 20____.
________________
County/Municipal Registrar
SECTION 6. Section 25-5-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-17. Such certificate by the county or municipal registrar shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein and of the qualification of the electors whose signatures are thus certified. The Governor shall consider and count only those signatures on such petition as shall be so certified by the registrar; provided, however, that any officer sought to be removed or any citizen of the county or municipality shall have the privilege of submitting evidence in writing, under oath, to the Governor as to the question of whether or not any signator to the petition was in fact a qualified elector at the time of the signing of the petition, or has since died. The decision of the Governor as to whether or not any particular person was or was not a qualified elector at the time of the signing of the petition, or whether or not any particular person has since died, shall be final and shall not be subject to review. The status of the signator as to whether or not he or she was a qualified elector at the time of signing the petition shall be determined as of the date of the petition and not by any other date.
SECTION 7. Section 25-5-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-19. The county or municipal registrar shall not retain in his possession any such petition or any section thereof for a longer period than two (2) days for the first two hundred (200) signatures thereon and one (1) additional day for each two hundred (200) additional signatures or fraction thereof, and the time consumed in the examination of such petitions shall not be counted in determining the time between the signing and the filing of the petitions. At the expiration of the examination, the registrar shall forthwith file the same with the Governor, with his certificate attached, and shall obtain a written receipt for the same. The forms herein are not mandatory, but directory, and if substantially followed in any petition it shall be sufficient, disregarding clerical and technical errors. If the registrar be unable to examine the petition, he shall so certify the fact to the county or municipal election commissioners, who shall in the same manner and time perform all the functions herein required of the registrar. In the event the county or municipal registrar is the officer whose removal is sought by said petition, then said petition shall be delivered to one (1) of the county or municipal election commissioners of the county or municipality in which the petition has been circulated, and the county or municipal election commissioners of such county or municipality shall in the same manner and within the same time perform all functions herein required of the registrar. A fee of Five Cents (5¢) per signature shall be allowed for the aforesaid examination of said petitions, to be paid out of the general funds of the county or municipality upon due proof of said examination. Any registrar or any board of county or municipal election commissioners or member thereof who willfully fails or refuses to perform the duty or duties herein required of him or them shall be subject to a civil penalty of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), to be recovered in the chancery court of the county or the municipal court of the municipality by suit which may be filed by any qualified elector who signed said petition or any section thereof.
SECTION 8. Section 25-5-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-21. When said petitions shall have been filed with the Governor, within ten (10) days of the filing thereof the Governor shall cause true copies thereof (photostatic copies being sufficient) to be personally delivered by some officer of the county or municipality, designated in writing by the Governor, to the officer sought to be removed, and shall in like manner and form cause to be personally served on said officer a notice to appear, if he desires, at a time to be fixed by the Governor to show cause, if any he can, why the question of his removal should not be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors as hereinafter provided, which said notice shall be served upon said officer at least twenty (20) days prior to the date when his appearance is required. The place of hearing shall be the county courthouse of the county in which the officer resides.
SECTION 9. Section 25-5-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-23. At the time and
place designated in said notice, the Governor shall cause to be convened a
removal council to hear and determine whether there is substantial basis for
a removal election consistently with the provisions of Sections 25-5-3 through
25-5-37. The removal council shall * * * be composed of three (3) chancery judges
appointed by the Governor when the removal is for a county elected officer, and
three (3) municipal judges appointed by the Governor when the removal is for a municipal
elected officer * * *; * * * no member of either removal council
shall reside in the district in which the officer under question resides * * *. The senior chancellor or senior municipal
judge shall serve as the presiding judge of the council. The hearing herein
provided may continue from day to day and be recessed from time to time, as in
the discretion of the council may be ordered. The qualified electors of the
county or municipality shall likewise be given notice by proclamation of
the Governor of the time and place of such hearing. Any interested citizen or
citizens may likewise appear at said time and place and make such
representations to the council as, in the discretion of the council, may be
material to the issues involved. The council shall promulgate rules for such
hearings, which shall be in writing, but all representations shall be made
under oath, to be administered by some member of the council. It shall not be
necessary that a stenographic record be kept of such representations, either
for or against removal, but the testimony taken shall be heard as nearly as
practicable in compliance with the usually applicable rules of evidence. All
decisions of the council on any question, preliminary or final, including the
question of whether just cause for an election has been shown, shall be final
and not subject to review.
The elective officer concerned shall be entitled to be represented by counsel of his choice at said hearing.
SECTION 10. Section 25-5-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-25. The council shall keep minutes of its final judgments, and the disposition of each petition shall be recorded therein. If it be the judgment of the council that sufficient cause has not been shown to justify the removal of the officer, then the petition shall be dismissed and no new petition shall be filed or entertained for a period of one (1) year from the date of the order dismissing the petition.
If, however, the council
shall be of the opinion that sufficient cause has been shown to justify the
removal of the officer, then notice to the qualified electors of the county or
municipality involved shall be given, in accordance with the general election
laws of the State of Mississippi in the matter of filling vacancies in county or
municipal offices, that an election shall be held in said county or municipality
to determine the question of whether or not * * * the official shall be
removed from office.
SECTION 11. Section 25-5-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-27. The officer named in the removal petition shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the results of said special removal election shall be officially proclaimed. If, however, the officer named in the petition for removal shall offer his resignation before the issuance of the proclamation for the holding of special removal election, it shall be accepted, shall take effect on the date it is offered, and the vacancy shall be filled as provided by law for the filling of any vacancy in an elective county or municipal office. The officer who either resigns or is removed shall not be eligible to fill the vacancy caused by his removal or resignation, or serve as deputy in the office from which he resigns or is removed.
SECTION 12. Section 25-5-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-33. The election commissioners of the county or municipality, or a quorum thereof, shall meet at the office of the county or municipal registrar at 9:00 a.m. of the day following the special removal election, and shall then proceed to canvass, tabulate, and certify the results of the election as now provided by the general election laws of the State of Mississippi. The certificate of said results, showing the total votes cast for the removal of the officer, the total votes cast against the removal of the officer, and the total number of qualified electors in the county or supervisors district or municipality in which said election was held, shall be forwarded to the Governor. If a majority of all qualified electors of said county or supervisors district or municipality in which said election shall have been held shall not have voted in said election, either for or against the removal, or if a majority of the qualified electors voting in the election shall oppose removal, the officer shall not be removed and shall not thereafter during his term of office be subject to another removal election. If a majority of all qualified electors of said county or supervisors district or municipality in which said election shall have been held have voted either for or against removal, and if a majority of the qualified electors voting in said election shall vote for the removal of the officer, then the Governor shall issue his proclamation declaring the office vacant, removing said officer, and appointing a suitable person to fill the vacancy until the same can be filled in a special election to be held not more than sixty (60) days after the aforesaid proclamation of the Governor. No officer shall be subject to a removal petition until he shall have served at least one (1) year of his term.
SECTION 13. Section 25-5-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-5-35. A person desiring to contest the proclaimed results of a special removal election may, within twenty (20) days after said proclamation, file a petition in the office of the clerk of the chancery court of the county or the clerk of the municipal court of the municipality, setting forth the grounds upon which the election is contested. The chancellor or municipal judge shall forthwith be notified in writing of the filing of such petition and shall forthwith fix a day, not less than ten (10) nor more than twenty (20) days distant, for hearing the contest. If the contest shall be filed by a citizen who voted in the removal election, process according to law for hearings in vacation shall be served on the officer sought to be removed. If the petition be filed by the officer sought to be removed, process in like manner and form shall be had on any one (1) of the citizens shown to have circulated the removal petition or any section thereof. On the day fixed, at the county or municipal courthouse, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Central Standard Time, some chancellor of a district other than that of the county of the contest or municipal judge of a district other than that of the municipality of the contest, to be designated in writing by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, shall proceed to hear and determine the contest under the laws applicable to general elections. No question shall be considered or adjudicated by the chancellor or municipal judge on such appeal except that of whether the election was lawfully held in compliance with the general election laws of the State of Mississippi, and mere irregularities not affecting the final result shall not serve to invalidate the election. In those cases where the chancellor or municipal judge adjudicates that the election was not lawfully held within the requirements of the general election laws of the state, then, subject to the right of appeal herein prescribed, he shall fix the date of another election on the same question and shall direct the county or municipal election commissioners to proceed accordingly. Appeals from the decree of the chancery or municipal court may be taken to the Supreme Court, but such appeal shall be perfected within fifteen (15) days from the date of the decree sought to be appealed. The Supreme Court shall treat the same as a preference case to be determined with all reasonable expedition. Upon order of the Chief Justice, such appeals may be heard and determined at a time when the court otherwise would be in recess. Pending final determination of the contest, no appeal to the chancery court, municipal court or to the Supreme Court shall supersede the proclaimed results of a special removal election.
SECTION 14. Section 21-23-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-23-7. (1) The municipal
judge shall hold court in a public building designated by the governing authorities
of the municipality, or may hold court in an adult detention center as provided
under this subsection, and may hold court every day except Sundays and legal holidays
if the business of the municipality so requires; provided, however, the municipal
judge may hold court outside the boundaries of the municipality but not more than
within a sixty-mile radius of the municipality to handle preliminary matters and
criminal matters such as initial appearances and felony preliminary hearings. The
municipal judge may hold court outside the boundaries of the municipality but not
more than within a one-mile radius of the municipality for any purpose; however,
a municipal judge may hold court outside the boundaries of the municipality more
than within a one-mile radius of the municipality when accepting a plea of a defendant
at an adult detention center within the county. The municipal judge shall have
the jurisdiction to hear and determine, without a jury and without a record of the
testimony, all cases charging violations of the municipal ordinances and state misdemeanor
laws made offenses against the municipality and to punish offenders therefor as
may be prescribed by law. Except as otherwise provided by law, criminal proceedings
shall be brought by sworn complaint filed in the municipal court. Such complaint
shall state the essential elements of the offense charged and the statute or ordinance
relied upon. Such complaint shall not be required to conclude with a general averment
that the offense is against the peace and dignity of the state or in violation of
the ordinances of the municipality. He may sit as a committing court in all felonies
committed within the municipality, and he shall have the power to bind over the
accused to the grand jury or to appear before the proper court having jurisdiction
to try the same, and to set the amount of bail or refuse bail and commit the accused
to jail in cases not bailable. The municipal judge is a conservator of the peace
within his municipality. He may conduct preliminary hearings in all violations
of the criminal laws of this state occurring within the municipality, and any person
arrested for a violation of law within the municipality may be brought before him
for initial appearance. The municipal court shall have jurisdiction of any case
remanded to it by a circuit court grand jury. The municipal court shall have civil
jurisdiction over actions filed pursuant to and as provided in Chapter 21,
Title 93, * * *
Mississippi Code of 1972, the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. The municipal
court shall have jurisdiction over all cases regarding the removal of elective municipal
officers as provided in Sections 25-5-1 through 25-5-37.
(2) In the discretion of the court, where the objects of justice would be more likely met, as an alternative to imposition or payment of fine and/or incarceration, the municipal judge shall have the power to sentence convicted offenders to work on a public service project where the court has established such a program of public service by written guidelines filed with the clerk for public record. Such programs shall provide for reasonable supervision of the offender and the work shall be commensurate with the fine and/or incarceration that would have ordinarily been imposed. Such program of public service may be utilized in the implementation of the provisions of Section 99-19-20, and public service work thereunder may be supervised by persons other than the sheriff.
(3) The municipal judge may solemnize marriages, take oaths, affidavits and acknowledgments, and issue orders, subpoenas, summonses, citations, warrants for search and arrest upon a finding of probable cause, and other such process under seal of the court to any county or municipality, in a criminal case, to be executed by the lawful authority of the county or the municipality of the respondent, and enforce obedience thereto. The absence of a seal shall not invalidate the process.
(4) When a person shall be charged with an offense in municipal court punishable by confinement, the municipal judge, being satisfied that such person is an indigent person and is unable to employ counsel, may, in the discretion of the court, appoint counsel from the membership of The Mississippi Bar residing in his county who shall represent him. Compensation for appointed counsel in criminal cases shall be approved and allowed by the municipal judge and shall be paid by the municipality. The maximum compensation shall not exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for any one (1) case. The governing authorities of a municipality may, in their discretion, appoint a public defender(s) who must be a licensed attorney and who shall receive a salary to be fixed by the governing authorities.
(5) The municipal judge of any municipality is hereby authorized to suspend the sentence and to suspend the execution of the sentence, or any part thereof, on such terms as may be imposed by the municipal judge. However, the suspension of imposition or execution of a sentence hereunder may not be revoked after a period of two (2) years. The municipal judge shall have the power to establish and operate a probation program, dispute resolution program and other practices or procedures appropriate to the judiciary and designed to aid in the administration of justice. Any such program shall be established by the court with written policies and procedures filed with the clerk of the court for public record. Subsequent to original sentencing, the municipal judge, in misdemeanor cases, is hereby authorized to suspend sentence and to suspend the execution of a sentence, or any part thereof, on such terms as may be imposed by the municipal judge, if (a) the judge or his or her predecessor was authorized to order such suspension when the sentence was originally imposed; and (b) such conviction (i) has not been appealed; or (ii) has been appealed and the appeal has been voluntarily dismissed.
(6) Upon prior notice to the municipal prosecuting attorney and upon a showing in open court of rehabilitation, good conduct for a period of two (2) years since the last conviction in any court and that the best interest of society would be served, the court may, in its discretion, order the record of conviction of a person of any or all misdemeanors in that court expunged, and upon so doing the said person thereafter legally stands as though he had never been convicted of the said misdemeanor(s) and may lawfully so respond to any query of prior convictions. This order of expunction does not apply to the confidential records of law enforcement agencies and has no effect on the driving record of a person maintained under Title 63, Mississippi Code of 1972, or any other provision of said Title 63.
(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (6) of this section, a person who was convicted in municipal court of a misdemeanor before reaching his twenty-third birthday, excluding conviction for a traffic violation, and who is a first offender, may utilize the provisions of Section 99-19-71, to expunge such misdemeanor conviction.
(8) In the discretion of the court, a plea of nolo contendere may be entered to any charge in municipal court. Upon the entry of a plea of nolo contendere the court shall convict the defendant of the offense charged and shall proceed to sentence the defendant according to law. The judgment of the court shall reflect that the conviction was on a plea of nolo contendere. An appeal may be made from a conviction on a plea of nolo contendere as in other cases.
(9) Upon execution of a sworn complaint charging a misdemeanor, the municipal court may, in its discretion and in lieu of an arrest warrant, issue a citation requiring the appearance of the defendant to answer the charge made against him. On default of appearance, an arrest warrant may be issued for the defendant. The clerk of the court or deputy clerk may issue such citations.
(10) The municipal court shall have the power to make rules for the administration of the court's business, which rules, if any, shall be in writing filed with the clerk of the court and shall include the enactment of rules related to the court's authority to issue domestic abuse protection orders pursuant to Section 93-21-1 et seq.
(11) The municipal court shall have the power to impose punishment of a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or six (6) months imprisonment, or both, for contempt of court. The municipal court may have the power to impose reasonable costs of court, not in excess of the following:
Dismissal of any affidavit, complaint or charge
in municipal court...................................... $ 50.00
Suspension of a minor's driver's license in lieu of
conviction............................................. $ 50.00
Service of scire facias or return "not found"....... $ 20.00
Causing search warrant to issue or causing
prosecution without reasonable cause or refusing to
cooperate after initiating action....................... $ 100.00
Certified copy of the court record................. $ 5.00
Service of arrest warrant for failure to answer
citation or traffic summons............................. $ 25.00
Jail cost per day - actual jail cost paid by the municipality but not to exceed......................................... $ 35.00
Service of court documents related to the filing
of a petition or issuance of a protection from domestic
abuse order under Chapter 21,
Title 93, * * *
Mississippi Code of 1972 ....................................................... $
25.00
Any other item of court cost....................... $ 50.00
No filing fee or such cost shall be imposed for the bringing of an action in municipal court.
(12) A municipal court judge shall not dismiss a criminal case but may transfer the case to the justice court of the county if the municipal court judge is prohibited from presiding over the case by the Canons of Judicial Conduct and provided that venue and jurisdiction are proper in the justice court. Upon transfer of any such case, the municipal court judge shall give the municipal court clerk a written order to transmit the affidavit or complaint and all other records and evidence in the court's possession to the justice court by certified mail or to instruct the arresting officer to deliver such documents and records to the justice court. There shall be no court costs charged for the transfer of the case to the justice court.
(13) A municipal court judge shall expunge the record of any case in which an arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was dismissed or the charges were dropped, there was no disposition of such case or the person was found not guilty at trial.
(14) For violations of municipal ordinances related to real property, the municipal judge shall have the power to order a defendant to remedy violations within a reasonable time period as set by the judge, and at the discretion of the judge, the judge may simultaneously authorize the municipality, at its request, the option to remedy the violation itself, through the use of its own employees or its contractors, without further notice should the defendant fail to fully do so within the time period set by the judge. Subsequent to the municipality remedying the violation, the municipality may petition the court to assess documented cleanup costs to the defendant, and, if, following a hearing on such petition, the judge determines (a) the violations were not remedied by the defendant within the time required by the court, (b) that the municipality remedied the violation itself after such time period expired and (c) that the costs incurred by the municipality were reasonable, the court may assess the costs to the defendant as a judgement, which may be enrolled in the office of the circuit clerk.
SECTION 15. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.