Senate Bill 2606

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 11-1-66.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO FURTHER REGULATE LIABILITY OF LANDOWNERS WHEN AN INVITEE IS INJURED ON THE LANDOWNER'S PROPERTY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 11-1-66.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

11-1-66.1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Landowners Protection Act."

(2) For any premises-liability actions brought under the laws of the State of Mississippi, no person who owns, leases, operates, maintains, or manages commercial or other real property in the State of Mississippi and no director, officer, employee, agent or independent contractor acting on behalf of any such person shall be civilly liable to any invitee who is injured on said property as the result of the willful, wanton or intentional tortious conduct of any third party who is not a director, officer, employee or agent of the person who owns, leases, operates, maintains or manages such commercial or other real property unless the injured party can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that:

(a) The conduct of said third party occurred on the property;

(b) The conduct of the person who owns, leases, operates, maintains or manages the property actively and affirmatively, with a degree of conscious decision-making, impelled the conduct of said third party; and

(3) For any civil actions brought under the laws of the State of Mississippi for the purpose of alleging liability for the injury of an invitee as described in subsection (2) of this section, an atmosphere of violence shall only be established by similar violent conduct:

(a) Which occurred three (3) or more times within three (3) years before the third party act at issue;

(b) Which took place only on the commercial or other real property where the acts of the third party occurred; and

(c) Which are based upon three (3) or more separate events or incidents that resulted in three (3) or more arraignments of an individual for a felony involving an act of violence.

(4) For any civil actions brought under the laws of the State of Mississippi for the purpose of alleging liability for the injury of an invitee as described in subsection (2) of this section, civil liability may not be based on the prior violent nature of the third party whose acts or omissions proximately caused the claimed injury or damage unless the person who owns, leases, operates, maintains or manages the property has actual, not constructive, knowledge of the prior violent nature of said third party.

(5) (a) For any premises-liability actions brought under the laws of the State of Mississippi, no person who owns, leases, operates, maintains or manages residential property in the State of Mississippi shall be civilly liable to any invitee who is injured on said property when that invitee has been invited onto the premises for the purpose of making repairs on the property.

(b) The provisions of this subsection shall apply whether or not the invitee is in privity of contract with the person who owns, leases, operates, maintains or manages the property.

( * * *56) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the remainder of this section or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

( * * *67) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter the provisions of Section 97-3-15.

( * * *78) For purposes of this section, "premises-liability action" means a civil action based upon the duty owed to someone injured on a landowner's premises as a result of conditions or activities on the land.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.