Bill Text: MS HB1361 | 2010 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: County court; establish in Pearl River County.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Failed) 2010-03-10 - Died On Calendar [HB1361 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HB1361-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representatives Frierson, Formby, Dedeaux
House Bill 1361
(As Passed the House)
AN ACT TO CREATE SECTION 9-9-18.2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH A COUNTY COURT IN PEARL RIVER COUNTY; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION OF THE COUNTY COURT JUDGE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COUNTY COURT OF PEARL RIVER COUNTY SHALL BE FUNDED BY THE PEARL RIVER COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 9-9-1, 9-9-36 AND 9-9-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 9-9-18.2, Mississippi Code of 1972:
9-9-18.2. (1) In order to relieve the crowded condition of the docket in the courts and in the youth court of Pearl River County and particularly to facilitate and make possible the trial and disposition of the large number of causes on the docket and in the youth court, there shall be a county court with one (1) county judge for Pearl River County, provided for and elected as herein set out.
(2) The county court of Pearl River County may, in the discretion of the county judge, be divided into civil, equity, criminal and youth court divisions as a matter of convenience by the entry of an order upon the minutes of the court.
(3) The initial holder of the judgeship created by this section shall be elected in the regular election of November 2010; candidates therefor shall qualify to run not later than sixty (60) days before that election. The person elected shall begin the term of office in January of 2011 at the same time as county judges generally, and there shall be no vacancy of the office before that time. Thereafter, the judge shall otherwise be elected, and any vacancy in office filled, as provided for county judges generally.
(4) The Board of Supervisors of Pearl River County may, in its discretion, set aside, appropriate and expend monies from the general fund to be used in the payment of salaries of the judge, clerks, reporters, officers and employees of the youth court division of the county court, including the related facilities of the youth court division of the county court, and such funds shall be expended for no other purposes. The county shall not be reimbursed for the amount of any such levy provided for by this section under the terms of the Homestead Exemption Law.
SECTION 2. Section 9-9-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
9-9-1. (1) There shall be an inferior court to be known as the county court in and for each of the following counties:
(a) Each county of the state wherein a county court is in existence on July 1, 1985;
(b) From and after January 1, 1987, each county that has a population exceeding fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants as shown by the latest federal decennial census; and
(c) The board of supervisors of any county having a population exceeding thirty-nine thousand (39,000) inhabitants as shown by the latest federal decennial census in which Highways 589 and 98 intersect shall have the option to establish a county court under the provisions of this section.
(2) (a) A county judge for a county that is required to establish a county court under subsection (1)(b) of this section shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county for the same term and in the same manner as provided for the election of circuit court judges at an election held at the same time as the next regular election of circuit court judges first occurring after the date upon which it can be determined that a county court is required under the provisions of subsection (1)(b) of this section to be established in such county.
(b) A county judge for a county electing to establish a county court under subsection (1)(c) of this section shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county in the same manner as provided for the election of circuit court judges at an election held at the November general election first occurring after the date when the board of supervisors spreads upon its minutes a resolution creating the county court. The term of the county court judge so elected shall begin on the first day of January following the November election, and shall end at the same time as for county court judges generally. Thereafter, the county court judge shall be elected and serve for a term as provided for county court judges generally.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not be construed so as to require that a county court be established in any county in which the board of supervisors has agreed and contracted with the board of supervisors of any other county or counties to support and maintain one (1) county court for such counties as provided in Section 9-9-3.
SECTION 3. Section 9-9-36, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
9-9-36. In any county in cases where an overcrowded docket justifies the same, any chancellor may assign to a county judge in that county only, for hearing and final disposition, any case, cause, hearing or motion, or any proceedings involved in the trial and final disposition thereof.
All orders in the cause, trial or hearing may be signed as follows: "_______________ County Judge and Acting Chancellor by assignment." No special order evidencing the assignment shall be entered on the minutes.
No compensation for those services shall be allowed the county judge, neither shall the county judge be compelled to accept any assignment except at his will. Furthermore, no assignment of any cause or hearing shall be made where counsel on both sides object to the assignment.
SECTION 4. Section 9-9-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
9-9-45. When hereafter any county of the state shall become eligible by reason of the growth in population, in assessed valuation and the existence therein of a municipality of the number of inhabitants all as specified in Section 9-9-1 of this chapter, it shall be the duty of the Governor, upon the determination by him of the facts aforesaid, to issue his public proclamation establishing a county court in the said county, and calling an election on a date to be fixed in said proclamation for the election of a county judge. The term of office of a county judge elected under this section and Section 9-9-39 shall expire thereafter at the same time at which there expires the regular terms of circuit judges and chancellors. When in the last year of any four-year judicial period any county has fallen below the requirements of eligibility as stated in Section 9-9-1 of this chapter, it shall be the duty of the Governor so to ascertain and proclaim, thereupon after the expiration of the then four-year term, the county court shall cease to exist in such county, unless by an election held under the provisions of Section 9-9-39 the said court be retained or reestablished.
SECTION 5. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
