Senate Bill 2184

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE CRIME OF ENDANGERMENT OF A CHILD BY KNOWINGLY CAUSING OR PERMITTING THE CHILD TO BE PRESENT WHERE ANY PERSON IS SELLING, MANUFACTURING OR POSSESSING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES SHALL BE A FELONY WHERE THE OFFENSE RESULTS IN SUBSTANTIAL HARM TO THE CHILD'S PHYSICAL, MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL HEALTH OR IN DEATH TO THE CHILD; TO PROVIDE FOR THE CRIME OF CHEMICAL ENDANGERMENT OF EXPOSING A CHILD; TO PROVIDE CRIMINAL PENALTIES; TO PROVIDE THAT THE CRIME OF CHEMICAL ENDANGERMENT OF A CHILD SHALL BE A FELONY WHERE THE OFFENSE RESULTS IN SUBSTANTIAL HARM TO THE CHILD'S PHYSICAL, MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL HEALTH OR IN DEATH TO THE CHILD; TO EXEMPT A MOTHER WHO EXPOSES HER UNBORN CHILD TO CERTAIN MEDICINES TAKEN PURSUANT TO PRESCRIPTION OR TAKEN AS DIRECTED OR RECOMMENDED BY A PHYSICIAN FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY; TO DEFINE TERMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child shall have been committed by the youth court shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) For the purpose of this section, * * * a the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(i) "Chemical substance" means a substance intended to be used as a precursor in the manufacture of a controlled substance, or any other chemical intended to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance. Intent under this subitem may be demonstrated by the substance's use, quantity, manner of storage, or proximity to other precursors, or to manufacturing equipment.

(ii) "Child" * * * is means a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not considered a child for the purposes of this * * * ~~statute~~ section.

(iii) "Controlled substance" means that term as defined in Section 41-29-105(f).

(iv) "Paraphernalia" means that terms as defined in Section 41-29-105(v).

(c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in youth court.

(d) If the child's deprivation of necessary clothing, shelter, health care or supervision appropriate to the child's age results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.

(e) A parent, legal guardian or other person who knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child is guilty of neglect of a child and may be sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in the following circumstances:

(a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly:

(i) Burn any child;

(ii) Physically torture any child;

(iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way interfere with any child's breathing;

(iv) Poison a child;

(v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to sustain life or growth;

(vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child;

(b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly:

(i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child;

(ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) about the face or head with a closed fist;

(iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in the face or head;

(iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this subparagraph (iv);

(i) Strike any child on the face or head;

(ii) Disfigure or scar any child;

(iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child;

(d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or (c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.

(e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, and external or internal swelling of any body organ.

(f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent disfigurement, permanent scarring, or any internal bleeding or internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any bodily function.

(g) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection.

(h) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) of this subsection.

(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section.

(4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance * * * is guilty of child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(b) If the * * * ~~endangerment~~ offense under paragraph (a) of this subsection results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one (1) year nor more than twenty (20) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), or both.

(c) If the offense under paragraph (a) of this subsection results in the death of the child, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than five (5) years nor more than thirty (30) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00), or both.

(5) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers a child's person or health by knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally causing or permitting a child to be exposed to, to ingest or inhale, or to have contact with a controlled substance, chemical substance, or paraphernalia is guilty of chemical endangerment of exposing a child and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(b) If the offense under paragraph (a) of this subsection results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one (1) year nor more than twenty (20) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), or both.

(6) (a) No person shall violate subsection (5)(a) of this section by exposing an unborn child to any of the following:

(i) A prescription medication if the person was the mother of the unborn child, and she was, or there is a good faith belief that she was, taking that medication pursuant to a lawful prescription to benefit her health or the health of the unborn child.

(ii) A nonprescription FDA approved medication or substance if the person was the mother of the unborn child, and she was, or there is a good faith belief that she was, taking that medication or substance as directed or recommended by a physician or a health care provider acting within the authorized scope of his or her license to benefit her health or the health of the unborn child.

(b) No person shall be criminally liable under any Mississippi law for the assistance or conduct of exposing an unborn child to a medication or substance if his or her assistance or conduct is allowed or accepted under paragraph (a) of this subsection.

( * * *57) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section.

( * * *68) After consultation with the Department of Child Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a specified period of time at any approved public or private treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time.

( * * *79) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless introduced as an exhibit to his testimony.

( * * *810) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the youth court.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.