SB2179_H_Cmte_Amend

SECTION 1. Section 45-3-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-3-51. Each * * * person employed as a law enforcement officer or agent by the Department of Public Safety who retires under the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System or the Public Employees' Retirement System, for superannuation or for reason of disability, or a beneficiary of such * * * law enforcement officer or agent who is killed in the line of duty, shall be allowed to retain, as his personal property, one (1) sidearm which was issued under authority of Section 45-3-19 or 41-29-159. Likewise, a beneficiary of any law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty shall be allowed to retain the officer's sidearm.

SECTION 2. Section 45-9-131, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-9-131. (1) Upon approval of the governing authority of the municipality or county, a member of any municipal or county law enforcement agency who retires under any state retirement system may be allowed to purchase, as his or her personal property, one (1) sidearm which was issued to the law enforcement officer by the law enforcement agency from which he or she retired or by whom he or she was employed at the time of death.

(2) * * *~~Upon~~ Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), upon approval of the director of a state agency, board or commission, a law enforcement officer employed by a state agency, board or commission who retires under any state retirement system may be allowed to purchase, as his or her personal property, one (1) sidearm which was issued to the law enforcement officer by a state agency, board or commission.

(3) * * *~~The~~ Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), the next of kin of a law enforcement officer who is killed in the line of duty is authorized to purchase the sidearm that was issued to the officer. The amount to be paid for any firearm purchased under the authority of this subsection shall be an agreed upon price as determined by the appropriate governmental authority who employed the officer.

(4) The amount to be paid for any firearm purchased under the authority of this section, except for any firearm purchased under subsection (3) of this section, shall be the fair market value of the firearm as determined by the appropriate governmental authority who employed the officer.

(5) This section does not apply to a law enforcement officer employed by the Department of Public Safety or a beneficiary of a law enforcement officer employed by the Department of Public Safety, who, pursuant to Section 45-3-51, may retain one (1) sidearm upon the officer's retirement or death in the line of duty.

SECTION 3. Section 77-7-345, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

77-7-345. (1) When not otherwise specifically provided, the Commissioner of Public Safety is authorized to make and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations to provide a voluntary program for inspection of commercial motor vehicles.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "commercial motor vehicle" has the meaning ascribed in Section 63-1-203.

(3) The regulations, if promulgated, will:

(a) Create a voluntary program for inspection of any combination of truck, truck tractor, trailer, semi-trailer or pole trailer, including each segment of a combined vehicle, that is used upon the highways or streets as a commercial motor vehicle for compliance with all applicable federal and state motor carrier safety regulations;

(b) Require that inspectors have access to the vehicle maintenance log;

(c) Prescribe a method of documentation to be displayed on the vehicle that is readily visible to an observer in the form of a decal or sticker, and require that the form of documentation prescribed must be kept on the vehicle;

(d) Require that inspection occur on an annual basis for participation in the program;

(e) Provide that inspection is not mandatory;

(f) Impose a reasonable inspection fee, which shall be deposited to the credit of the operating fund of the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety; and

(g) Specify that officers of the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division will retain all responsibility and authority to monitor and enforce violations under Section 77-7-335.

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SECTION 4. Section 97-3-54.7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-3-54.7. (1) In addition to any other civil or criminal penalties provided by law, any property used in the commission of a violation of this act shall be forfeited as provided herein.

(a) The following property shall be subject to forfeiture if used or intended for use as an instrumentality in or used in furtherance of a violation of this act:

(i) Conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles or vessels;

(ii) Books, records, telecommunication equipment, or computers;

(iii) Money or weapons;

(iv) Everything of value furnished, or intended to be furnished, in exchange for an act in violation and all proceeds traceable to the exchange;

(v) Negotiable instruments and securities;

(vi) Any property, real or personal, directly or indirectly acquired or received in a violation or as an inducement to violate;

(vii) Any property traceable to proceeds from a violation; and

(viii) Any real property, including any right, title and interest in the whole of or any part of any lot or tract of land used in furtherance of a violation of this act.

(b) (i) No property used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as a common carrier is subject to forfeiture under this section unless it appears that the owner or other person in charge of the property is a consenting party or privy to a violation of this act;

(ii) No property is subject to forfeiture under this section by reason of any act or omission proved by the owner thereof to have been committed or omitted without his knowledge or consent; if the confiscating authority has reason to believe that the property is a leased or rented property, then the confiscating authority shall notify the owner of the property within five (5) days of the confiscation or within five (5) days of forming reason to believe that the property is a leased or rented property;

(iii) Forfeiture of a property encumbered by a bona fide security interest is subject to the interest of the secured party if he neither had knowledge of nor consented to the act or omission.

(2) No property shall be forfeited under the provisions of this section, to the extent of the interest of an owner, by reason of any act or omission established by him to have been committed or omitted without his knowledge or consent.

(3) Seizure without process may be made if the seizure is incident to an arrest or a search under a search warrant or an inspection under an administrative inspection warrant.

(4) (a) When any property is seized under this section, proceedings shall be instituted within a reasonable period of time from the date of seizure or the subject property shall be immediately returned to the party from whom seized.

(b) A petition for forfeiture shall be filed by the Attorney General, the Department of Public Safety or a district attorney in the name of the State of Mississippi, the county, or the municipality, and may be filed in the county in which the seizure is made, the county in which the criminal prosecution is brought, or the county in which the owner of the seized property is found. Forfeiture proceedings may be brought in the circuit court or the county court if a county court exists in the county and the value of the seized property is within the jurisdictional limits of the county court as set forth in Section 9-9-21. A copy of the petition shall be served upon the following persons by service of process in the same manner as in civil cases:

(i) The owner of the property, if address is known;

(ii) Any secured party who has registered his lien or filed a financing statement as provided by law, if the identity of the secured party can be ascertained by the entity filing the petition by making a good faith effort to ascertain the identity of the secured party;

(iii) Any other bona fide lienholder or secured party or other person holding an interest in the property in the nature of a security interest of whom the seizing law enforcement agency has actual knowledge; and

(iv) Any person in possession of property subject to forfeiture at the time that it was seized.

(5) If the property is a motor vehicle susceptible of titling under the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Title Law and if there is any reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle has been titled, inquiry of the Department of Revenue shall be made as to what the records of the Department of Revenue show as to who is the record owner of the vehicle and who, if anyone, holds any lien or security interest that affects the vehicle.

(6) If the property is a motor vehicle and is not titled in the State of Mississippi, then an attempt shall be made to ascertain the name and address of the person in whose name the vehicle is licensed, and if the vehicle is licensed in a state which has in effect a certificate of title law, inquiry of the appropriate agency of that state shall be made as to what the records of the agency show as to who is the record owner of the vehicle and who, if anyone, holds any lien, security interest or other instrument in the nature of a security device that affects the vehicle.

(7) If the property is of a nature that a financing statement is required by the laws of this state to be filed to perfect a security interest affecting the property and if there is any reasonable cause to believe that a financing statement covering the security interest has been filed under the laws of this state, inquiry of the appropriate office designated in Section 75-9-501, shall be made as to what the records show as to who is the record owner of the property and who, if anyone, has filed a financing statement affecting the property.

(8) If the property is an aircraft or part thereof and if there is any reasonable cause to believe that an instrument in the nature of a security device affects the property, inquiry of the Mississippi Department of Transportation shall be made as to what the records of the Federal Aviation Administration show as to who is the record owner of the property and who, if anyone, holds an instrument in the nature of a security device which affects the property.

(9) If the answer to an inquiry states that the record owner of the property is any person other than the person who was in possession of it when it was seized, or states that any person holds any lien, encumbrance, security interest, other interest in the nature of a security interest, mortgage or deed of trust that affects the property, the record owner and also any lienholder, secured party, other person who holds an interest in the property in the nature of a security interest, or holder of an encumbrance, mortgage or deed of trust that affects the property is to be named in the petition of forfeiture and is to be served with process in the same manner as in civil cases.

(10) If the owner of the property cannot be found and served with a copy of the petition of forfeiture, or if no person was in possession of the property subject to forfeiture at the time that it was seized and the owner of the property is unknown, there shall be filed with the clerk of the court in which the proceeding is pending an affidavit to such effect, whereupon the clerk of the court shall publish notice of the hearing addressed to "the Unknown Owner of _______________," filling in the blank space with a reasonably detailed description of the property subject to forfeiture. Service by publication shall contain the other requisites prescribed in Section 11-33-41, and shall be served as provided in Section 11-33-37, for publication of notice for attachments at law.

(11) No proceedings instituted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall proceed to hearing unless the judge conducting the hearing is satisfied that this section has been complied with. Any answer received from an inquiry required by this section shall be introduced into evidence at the hearing.

(12) (a) An owner of a property that has been seized shall file an answer within thirty (30) days after the completion of service of process. If an answer is not filed, the court shall hear evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture and forfeit the property to the seizing law enforcement agency. If an answer is filed, a time for hearing on forfeiture shall be set within thirty (30) days of filing the answer or at the succeeding term of court if court would not be in session within thirty (30) days after filing the answer. The court may postpone the forfeiture hearing to a date past the time any criminal action is pending against the owner upon request of any party.

(b) If the owner of the property has filed an answer denying that the property is subject to forfeiture, then the burden is on the petitioner to prove that the property is subject to forfeiture. However, if an answer has not been filed by the owner of the property, the petition for forfeiture may be introduced into evidence and is prima facie evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture. The burden of proof placed upon the petitioner in regard to property forfeited under the provisions of this chapter shall be by a preponderance of the evidence.

(c) At the hearing any claimant of any right, title or interest in the property may prove his lien, encumbrance, security interest, other interest in the nature of a security interest, mortgage or deed of trust to be bona fide and created without knowledge or consent that the property was to be used so as to cause the property to be subject to forfeiture.

(d) If it is found that the property is subject to forfeiture, then the judge shall forfeit the property. However, if proof at the hearing discloses that the interest of any bona fide lienholder, secured party, other person holding an interest in the property in the nature of a security interest, or any holder of a bona fide encumbrance, mortgage or deed of trust is greater than or equal to the present value of the property, the court shall order the property released to him. If the interest is less than the present value of the property and if the proof shows that the property is subject to forfeiture, the court shall order the property forfeited.

(13) Unless otherwise provided herein, all personal property which is forfeited under this section shall be liquidated and, after deduction of court costs and the expense of liquidation, the proceeds shall be divided as follows:

(a) If only one (1) law enforcement agency participates in the underlying criminal case out of which the forfeiture arises, fifty percent (50%) of the proceeds shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer and deposited in the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund, and fifty percent (50%) shall be deposited and credited to the budget of the participating law enforcement agency.

(b) If more than one (1) law enforcement agency participates in the underlying criminal case out of which the forfeiture arises, fifty percent (50%) of the proceeds shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer and deposited in the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund, twenty-five percent (25%) of the proceeds shall be deposited and credited to the budget of the law enforcement agency whose officers initiated the criminal case and twenty-five percent (25%) shall be divided equitably between or among the other participating law enforcement agencies, and shall be deposited and credited to the budgets of the participating law enforcement agencies. In the event that the other participating law enforcement agencies cannot agree on the division of their twenty-five percent (25%), a petition shall be filed by any one of them in the court in which the civil forfeiture case is brought and the court shall make an equitable division.

(14) All money forfeited under this section shall be divided, deposited and credited in the same manner as provided in subsection (13).

(15) All real estate forfeited under the provisions of this section shall be sold to the highest and best bidder at a public auction for cash, the auction to be conducted by the chief law enforcement officer of the initiating law enforcement agency, or his designee, at such place, on such notice and in accordance with the same procedure, as far as practicable, as is required in the case of sales of land under execution at law. The proceeds of the sale shall first be applied to the cost and expense in administering and conducting the sale, then to the satisfaction of all mortgages, deeds of trust, liens and encumbrances of record on the property. The remaining proceeds shall be divided, forwarded and deposited in the same manner as provided in subsection (13).

(16) (a) Any state, county or municipal law enforcement agency may maintain, repair, use and operate for official purposes all property described in subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section that has been forfeited to the agency if it is free from any interest of a bona fide lienholder, secured party or other party who holds an interest in the property in the nature of a security interest. The state, county or municipal law enforcement agency may purchase the interest of a bona fide lienholder, secured party or other party who holds an interest so that the property can be released for its use. If the property is a motor vehicle susceptible of titling under the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Title Law, the law enforcement agency shall be deemed to be the purchaser, and the certificate of title shall be issued to it as required by subsection (9) of this section.

(b) (i) If a vehicle is forfeited to or transferred to a sheriff's department, then the sheriff may transfer the vehicle to the county for official or governmental use as the board of supervisors may direct.

(ii) If a vehicle is forfeited to or transferred to a police department, then the police chief may transfer the vehicle to the municipality for official or governmental use as the governing authority of the municipality may direct.

(c) If a motor vehicle forfeited to a state, county or municipal law enforcement agency becomes obsolete or is no longer needed for official or governmental purposes, it may be disposed of in accordance with Section 19-7-5 or in the manner provided by law for disposing of municipal property.

(17) The forfeiture procedure set forth in this section is the sole remedy of any claimant, and no court shall have jurisdiction to interfere therewith by replevin, injunction, supersedeas or in any other manner.

SECTION 5. (1) There is established the State Medical Examiner Task Force as a successor entity to the State Medical Examiner Advisory Council created under Section 41-61-55(3). The task force is comprised of the following nine (9) members:

(a) The State Health Officer or the officer's designee;

(b) The Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine or the dean's designee;

(d) The Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee;

(e) The President of the Mississippi Coroners and Medical Examiners Association or the president's designee;

(f) The President of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association or the president's designee;

(g) The President of the Mississippi Public Defenders Association or the president's designee;

(h) The President of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police or the president's designee; and

(i) The President of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association or the president's designee.

Each member of the task force serves at the pleasure of the head of the member's agency or appointing authority.

(2) The members of the task force shall elect a member annually to serve as chair. A member may not serve as chair more than two (2) consecutive years. The chair shall call meetings of the task force and shall cause written notice of the meetings to be furnished to members of the task force at least thirty (30) days before the date of a meeting.

(3) Members of the task force must serve without compensation.

(4) The task force shall meet at least once annually.

(5) The first meeting of the task force must be held before September 30, 2024. Notice of the time and place of the first meeting must be provided to each member of the task force no less than sixty (60) days before the scheduled meeting.

(6) Before December 31 of each year, the task force shall prepare and submit an annual report containing recommendations and advice to the Legislature. The report must include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(a) Identification of needs and means to improve the investigation of deaths affecting the public interest while using best practices;

(b) Identification of state medical examiner resources; and

SECTION 6. Section 41-61-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-61-55. (1) There is hereby created the position of State Medical Examiner, under the supervision of the Commissioner of Public Safety and within the Office of Forensic Laboratories. The State Medical Examiner shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety subject to review by the dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine and the State Health Officer. The State Medical Examiner may be discharged only for good cause by the Commissioner of Public Safety.

(2) The State Medical Examiner must obtain a license to practice medicine in Mississippi and be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. The State Medical Examiner may also be designated as the Chief Medical Examiner.

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SECTION 7. Section 45-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-1-3. (1) When not otherwise specifically provided, the commissioner is authorized to make and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations to be coordinated, and carry out the general provisions of the Highway Safety Patrol and Driver's License Law of 1938.

(2) The commissioner shall have the authority to administer oaths.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with written approval from the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, the commissioner may enter into a lease or sublease agreement for space in the Department of Public Safety headquarters building with a third party for the purpose of providing services and assistance to the department and its employees. Any funds generated from a lease or sublease under this subsection must be deposited into a special fund that is managed by the department for general public safety purposes and to offset any costs of the department in operating and maintaining that space. Unexpended funds remaining in the special fund may not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned or investment earnings on amounts in the fund must be deposited into the special fund.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024, and shall stand repealed June 30, 2024.