Bill Text: MS HB1557 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Crime Stoppers Programs; establish requirements and designate Commissioner of Public Safety as Director of Advisory Council.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-05 - Died In Committee [HB1557 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-HB1557-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B; Appropriations A
By: Representative Shanks
House Bill 1557
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 45-39-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN FINANCIAL AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR LOCAL CRIME STOPPERS PROGRAMS; TO AMEND SECTION 45-39-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY TERMS OF OFFICE OF MEMBERS OF THE CRIME STOPPERS ADVISORY COUNCIL WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY; TO AMEND SECTION 45-39-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DESIGNATE THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE ADVISORY COUNCIL; TO AMEND SECTION 45-39-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DECLARE RECORDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY RELATING TO REPORTS OF CRIMINAL ACTS THAT ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND NOT DISCOVERABLE UNLESS THE RECORDS CONTAIN EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE, AND TO EXEMPT SUCH RECORDS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RECORDS ACT OF 1983; TO AMEND SECTION 45-39-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR REPORTING CRIMINAL ACTS TO BE OPERATED CONTINUOUSLY ON A STATEWIDE BASIS; TO AMEND SECTION 45-39-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE LOCAL SURCHARGES ASSESSED BY COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES IN SUPPORT OF CRIME STOPPERS PROGRAMS TO BE DEPOSITED INTO THE STATE CRIME STOPPERS FUND FOR DISBURSEMENT BACK TO PARTICIPATING COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 45-39-19, Mississippi Code of 1972:
45-39-19. A local crime stoppers program must meet the following requirements:
(a) Receipt of a 501(c)(3) determination letter from the United States Internal Revenue Service;
(b) Annual submission to the Department of Public Safety of proof of compliance with federal requirements for maintaining the program's status as a nonprofit entity; and
(c) Submission of audited financial statements to the Department of Public Safety every two (2) years.
SECTION 2. Section 45-39-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-39-3. There is * * * created within the Department of Public
Safety the Crime Stoppers Advisory Council. The council shall be composed of
five (5) persons appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the
Senate. At least three (3) of the foregoing appointees shall be persons who
have participated in a local crime stoppers program. Each member of the
council shall serve for a term of two (2) years * * *.
At * * * the
first meeting after the beginning of each new state fiscal year, the council
shall elect from among its members a chairman * * *.
Each member of the council shall receive per diem in the amount established in
Section 25-3-69 * * * for each day or portion thereof spent discharging his
duties under this chapter and shall receive mileage and expenses as provided in
Section 25-3-41 * * *.
Expenses of the council
shall be paid by the Department of Public Safety out of the State Crime
Stoppers Fund * * *
created in Section 45-39-5(4).
SECTION 3. Section 45-39-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-39-5. (1) The * * * Commissioner of Public Safety * * * shall serve
as the Director of the Crime Stoppers Advisory Council. The Department of Public
Safety shall adopt regulations establishing the authority and
responsibilities of the director.
(2) The council shall:
(a) * * * Encourage and assist in the
creation of local crime stoppers programs;
(b) Foster the detection of crime and encourage persons to report information about criminal acts;
(c) Encourage news and other media to promote local crime stoppers programs and to inform the public of the functions of the council;
(d) Assist local crime stoppers programs in forwarding information about criminal acts to the appropriate law enforcement agencies; and
(e) Help law enforcement agencies detect and combat crime by increasing the flow of information to and between law enforcement agencies.
(3) The * * * department may adopt rules to * * * assist the council in carrying out
its duties under this chapter.
(4) The assessments
collected under subsection (5) of Section 99-19-73, * * * and any other funds
as may be made available through contributions from private or public sources,
shall be deposited in a * * *special fund that is * * * created in the State Treasury and
designated the State Crime Stoppers Fund. Monies deposited in the fund shall
be expended by the Department of Public Safety, with the advice of the
council, pursuant to appropriation therefor by the Legislature, for the
authorized purposes of the State Crime Stoppers Program established under this
chapter, including, but not limited to, providing reward monies for individuals
who legitimately report crime activity. Any such funds paid to such individuals
shall be kept confidential by the council, and any audit of the fund and the
expenditures of the council shall provide for the confidentiality of any
expenditures to such individuals. The Department of Public Safety shall have
the authority to accept, budget and expend for any proper expenses of the Crime
Stoppers Advisory Council any special source funds made available to the Crime
Stoppers Program, subject to the approval of the Department of Finance
and Administration and in accordance with procedures for federal fund
escalations as established in Section 27-104-21.
(5) The * * * Department of Public Safety shall * * * require audited financial
statement reporting from any local crime stoppers program receiving any type of
public funding, including, but not limited to, surcharges, assessments, fees or
other funds paid directly to a local crime stoppers program by a municipal or
county agency * * *.
SECTION 4. Section 45-39-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-39-7. (1) Council and the Department of Public Safety records relating to reports of criminal acts are confidential and exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.
(2) Evidence of a communication between a person submitting a report of a criminal act to the council or a local crime stoppers program and the person who accepted the report on behalf of the council or local crime stoppers program is not admissible in a court or an administrative proceeding whether the evidence is held by the council or a local crime stoppers program or is held by a telecommunication service provider.
(3) Records of the council,
the Department of Public Safety, or a local crime stoppers program concerning
a report of criminal activity and records of a telecommunication service
provider relating to a report made to the council or to a local crime stoppers
program may not be compelled to be produced before a court or other tribunal
except on the motion of a criminal defendant to the court in which the offense
is being tried that the records or report contain evidence that is exculpatory
to the defendant in the trial of that offense. On motion of a defendant under
this subsection, the court may subpoena the records or report. The court shall
conduct an in-camera inspection of materials produced under subpoena to
determine whether the materials contain evidence that is exculpatory to the defendant.
If the court determines that the materials produced contain evidence that is
exculpatory to the defendant, the court shall present the evidence to the
defendant in a form that does not disclose the identity of the person who was
the source of the evidence, unless the state or federal Constitution requires
the disclosure of that person's identity. The court shall execute an affidavit
accompanying the disclosed materials swearing that, in the opinion of the
court, the materials disclosed represent the exculpatory evidence the defendant
is entitled to receive under this section. The court shall return to the
council, Department of Public Safety, or * * * local crime stoppers program materials
that are produced under this section but not disclosed to the defendant. The
council, Department of Public Safety, or local crime stoppers program
shall store the materials until the conclusion of the criminal trial and the
expiration of the time for all direct appeals in the case.
SECTION 5. Section 45-39-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-39-11. The council shall
establish and operate a statewide toll-free telephone service * * * for
reporting to the council information about criminal acts * * * twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven
(7) days per week. The council shall forward the information received to
appropriate law enforcement agencies or local crime stoppers programs.
SECTION 6. Section 45-39-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-39-17. In addition to
any other monetary penalties and other penalties imposed by law, any county or
municipality, by ordinance, may assess an additional surcharge in
an amount not to exceed Two Dollars ($2.00) on each person upon whom a county,
justice or municipal court imposes a fine or other penalty for any misdemeanor
other than offenses relating to vehicular parking or registration if there is
established, to the benefit of the citizens of the county or municipality,
a local Crime Stoppers Program which is not authorized to receive funds under
local and private legislation. The proceeds from the surcharge may be used * * * only to fund that
county's or municipality's support of the local Crime Stoppers Program as
authorized by Section 45-39-15 * * *. The proceeds from
the surcharge imposed by this section shall be deposited into * * * the State Crime Stoppers Fund. The
Department of Public Safety shall promulgate rules and procedures relating
to the administration of the * * * fund and the disbursement of monies in
the fund to participating counties and municipalities. The maximum amount that
a county or municipality may receive from the * * * fund shall be an amount equal to the
deposits made into the fund by that entity, less one percent (1%) to be
retained by the * * * Department of Public Safety to
defray the costs of administering the * * * fund. Interest earned on the * * * fund shall remain in the fund and shall
be used by the * * * Department of Public Safety to
further defray the costs of administering the * * * fund.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.
