MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Bell (65th)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-39-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE PRACTICE LIMITATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF CAPITAL POST-CONVICTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 99-39-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-39-107. The Office of
Capital Post-Conviction Counsel shall * * * represent
of inmates under sentence of death in post-conviction proceedings and ancillary
matters related directly to post-conviction review of their convictions and
sentences and other activities explicitly authorized in statute. The Office
of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel also may represent indigent parties not
sentenced to death in post-conviction if the director determines that there is
a statutorily alive claim ripe for post-conviction review and that the office
has the resources to undertake the representation. Representation by the
office or by private counsel under appointment by the office will end upon the
filing of proceeding for federal habeas corpus review or for appointment of
counsel to represent the defendant in federal habeas corpus proceedings.
However, the office may continue representation in federal habeas corpus
proceedings. In capital cases, * * * the office or a staff attorney employed by
the office shall be appointed by a federal court to represent the inmate in
federal habeas corpus proceedings. In such event, the office or the employee
attorney shall apply to the federal court for compensation and expenses and
shall upon receipt of payments by the federal court pay all sums received over
to the office for deposit in the Special Capital Post-Conviction Counsel Fund
as provided in Section 99-39-117, from which all expenses for investigation and
litigation shall be disbursed. Representation in post-conviction proceedings
shall further include representation of the inmate from the exhaustion of all
state and federal post-conviction litigation until execution of the sentence or
an adjudication resulting in either a new trial or a vacation of the death
sentence. The attorneys appointed to serve in the Office of Capital Post-Conviction
Counsel shall devote their entire time to the duties of the office, shall not
represent any persons in other litigation, civil or criminal, nor in any other
way engage in the practice of law, and shall in no manner, directly or
indirectly, participate in the trial of any person charged with capital murder
or direct appeal of any person under sentence of death in the state, nor engage
in lobbying activities for or against the death penalty. Any violation of this
provision shall be grounds for termination from employment, in the case of the
director, by the Governor, and in the case of other attorneys, by the director,
with approval of the Chief Justice.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.