MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Wiggins, Barrett
AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 45-1-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH IS THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT SETS OUT THE SALARY SCHEDULE OF OFFICERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY PATROL AND THE MISSISSIPPI BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 45-3-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH IS THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT ESTABLISHES THE "DAVID R. HUGGINS ACT," FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 45-1-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
45-1-12. (1) The salaries of all officers of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol who have completed the course of instruction in an authorized highway patrol training school on general law enforcement, and are serving as a sworn officer of the Highway Patrol in the enforcement of the laws of the State of Mississippi, including service in any other division of the Department of Public Safety, and the sworn law enforcement officers of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale for officers salaries as provided in this subsection:
Department of Public Safety Sworn Officers Salary Schedule
Rank Years of Experience
Less than 4 Over 4 Over 8 Over 12
Trooper 46,950
Trooper FC 49,700
Corporal 52,450
Sergeant 55,200
Rank Years of Experience
Over 16 Over 20 Over 24 Over 29
Staff Sgt. 57,950
Sr. Staff Sgt. 60,700
Sgt. 1st Class 63,700
66,800
Rank Years of Experience
Over 5 Over 10 Over 15 Over 20 Over 25 Over 29
Master Sgt.
60,700 63,450 66,200 68,950 71,700 74,450
Lieutenant
69,750 72,500 75,250 78,000 80,750 83,750
Captain
82,000 85,000 88,000 91,000 94,000
Major
94,000 97,000 100,000 103,000
Lt. Colonel
103,000 106,000 109,000 112,000
Colonel
119,500 119,500 119,500 119,500
Department of Public Safety/MS Bureau of Narcotics
Sworn Officers Salary Schedule
Rank Years of Experience
Less than 4 Over 4 Over 8 Over 12
LE-Agent I 46,950
LE-Agent II 49,700
LE-Agent III 52,450
LE-Agent IV 55,200
Rank Years of Experience
Over 16 Over 20 Over 24 Over 29
LE-Agent V 57,950
LE-Agent VI 60,700
Rank Years of Experience
Over 7 Over 12 Over 17 Over 22 Over 27 Over 32
Lieutenant
69,750 72,500 75,250 78,000 80,750 83,750
Captain
82,000 85,000 88,000 91,000 94,000
Major
94,000 97,000 100,000 103,000
Lt. Colonel
103,000 106,000 109,000 112,000
Colonel
119,500 119,500 119,500 119,500
(2) All sworn officers in the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a salary in accordance with the above scale. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any rank of any sworn officer not based upon a merit-based promotion or years of experience shall be at the will and pleasure of the appointing authority as approved by the State Personnel Board. The rank and years of experience of each sworn officer to be used in establishing the salary shall be determined by the rank and years of experience on July 1 of the current fiscal year.
(3) For purposes of applying the rank designation to the above scale, the following job classifications of the State Personnel Board shall be applicable for the Mississippi Highway Patrol:
Rank Job Classes
(a) Trooper DPS-Highway Patrol Officer I
LE-Investigator II
(b) Trooper First Class DPS-Highway Patrol Officer II
LE-Investigator III
(c) Corporal DPS-Highway Patrol Officer III
LE-Investigator IV
(d) Sergeant DPS-Highway Patrol Officer IV
LE-Investigator V
(e) Staff Sergeant DPS-Highway Patrol Officer V
(f) Senior Staff Sergeant DPS-Highway Patrol Officer VI
Tech Spec
(g) Master Sgt/Sgt. F/C DPS-Assistant Inspector
DPS-Highway Patrol Officer VII
DPS-Investigator I
DPS-Supv. Driver Serv.
(h) Lieutenant DPS-Air Operations Officer
DPS-Dir. Corr. Intelligence
DPS-Dist. Executive Officer
DPS-Regional Supv. Driver. Serv.
DPS-Branch Director
LE-Dir/Training
LE-Dist. Investigator
(i) Captain DPS-Staff Officer (MHP)
(j) Major DPS-Bureau Director II
(k) Lt. Colonel DPS-Deputy Administrator;
DPS-Chief of Staff
(l) Colonel/Chief of Patrol Dir-Office of MS Hwy Safety Patrol
(4) For purposes of applying the rank designation to the above scale, the following job classifications of the State Personnel Board shall be applicable for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics:
Rank Job Classes
(a) Agents LE-Agent I
LE-Agent II
LE-Agent III
LE-Agent IV
LE-Agent V
LE-Agent VI
(b) Lieutenant BN-District Investigator (LT)
(c) Captain BN-District Commander
(d) Major BN-Bureau Director II
Office Director I
(e) Lt. Colonel BN-Deputy Administrator
(f) Colonel Director, Bureau of Narcotics
(5) In any fiscal year after July 1, 2015, in the event the Legislature provides across-the-board salary increases to state employees whose compensation is paid from the State General Fund and subject to specific appropriation therefor by the Legislature, the State Personnel Board shall revise the salary scale above to provide the same percentage or dollar amount increase as has been appropriated for other state employees.
(6) It shall be the duty of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to file with the Legislative Budget Office and the State Fiscal Officer such data and information as may be required to enable the said Legislative Budget Office and State Fiscal Officer to budget and distribute the funds necessary to compensate the sworn officers of the Department of Public Safety according to the requirements of the salary scale. Such data and information so filed may be revised from time to time as necessitated to reflect the current number and experience of sworn officers employed by the department.
(7) The Commissioner of Public Safety, with approval by the State Personnel Board, is authorized to set the salaries equitably of sworn law enforcement officers assigned to the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division and Capitol Police based upon the pay scale contained in this section.
SECTION 2. Section 45-3-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
45-3-7. (1) The commissioner is authorized to employ not exceeding six hundred fifty (650) persons as a Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol within the Department of Public Safety. All positions and salaries heretofore authorized and set by statute under the commissioner shall after April 20, 1981, be made part of the State Personnel System and shall be governed by the laws, rules and regulations thereof.
(2) The commissioner shall grant an additional One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month for special flying assignments to patrol officers who are licensed commercial pilots.
(3) It is the direction of the Legislature that all Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nonexempt sworn officers of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol who are working one hundred seventy-one (171) hours in a twenty-eight-day work cycle be compensated based on the annual salary established by the State Personnel Board for a one-hundred-sixty-hour per month schedule divided by two thousand eighty-seven and one hundred forty-three one thousandths (2,087.143), for an hourly rate, to be multiplied by two thousand two hundred twenty-three (2,223) or one hundred seventy-one (171) hours in a twenty-eight-day work cycle for a new annual salary. All hours worked over one hundred seventy-one (171) hours in a twenty-eight-day schedule shall be governed by the FLSA or other special compensation plan. All realignments after July 1, 2010, shall be calculated using this formula. This subsection shall be known as the "David R. Huggins Act."
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.