Senate Bill 2463

AN ACT TO ENACT THE RIGHT TO KNOW HOW SAFE WE ARE ACT OF 2025; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE ACT IS TO INCREASE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND SAFETY BY REQUIRING DISTRICT ATTORNEYS TO FILE REPORTS WITH THE GOVERNOR AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SUMMARIZING THE DECISIONS MADE BY EACH OFFICE AS INVESTIGATIONS OF CRIMES CONCLUDE; TO REQUIRE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS TO FILE AN ANNUAL REPORT WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; TO PRESCRIBE THE INFORMATION REQUIRED, AT A MINIMUM IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S REPORT; TO REQUIRE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO COMPILE THE REPORTS OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS INTO A UNIFORM, STATEWIDE REPORT WHICH SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Right to Know How Safe We Are Act of 2025."

(2) The purpose of this act is to increase public accountability and safety by requiring district attorneys to file reports with state policymakers summarizing the decisions made by each office as investigations of crimes conclude.

(3) Each district attorney's office shall file an annual report by March 1 of each year with the Governor and Attorney General and shall make the report available to the public upon request. Each report shall contain, at a minimum, for the previous year, aggregate, non-personally identifying data regarding the office's handling of cases in each category of offense including the office's:

(a) Intake process, including the number of arrests or referrals made for each category of offense and, of those:

(i) The number accepted for prosecution;

(ii) The number referred to diversion before charging; and

(iii) The number dismissed with a categorical description of why the case was so dismissed; and

(b) Disposals for each category of offense, including the number of cases:

(i) Disposed of by diversion program;

(ii) Adjudicated guilty by plea agreement, or dismissed due to a guilty plea to a different charge;

(iii) Dismissed for prosecution by another authority;

(iv) Dismissed due to suppression of evidence;

(v) Dismissed due to other legal defect;

(vi) Dismissed due to refusal of one or more witnesses to cooperate;

(vii) Dismissed for any other reason;

(viii) Adjudicated by trial to the court, with the number convicted; and

(ix) Adjudicated by jury trial, with the number convicted; and

(i) Sentenced to incarceration;

(ii) Sentenced to county jail with the average length of such sentence;

(iii) Sentenced to the state prison system, with the average length of such sentence; and

(iv) Sentenced to probation.

(4) (a) On or before May 1 of each year, The Attorney General shall compile a statewide report summarizing the information provided by each district attorney in a uniform fashion. The statewide report shall be:

(i) Sortable by crime and jurisdiction;

(ii) Available to the public; and

(iii) Submitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House who shall distribute the report to committees of jurisdiction.

(b) Each district attorney shall timely comply with any requests by the Attorney General to provide additional, disaggregated, or clarifying information in order to assist the Attorney General in compiling a uniform report.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.