Bill Text: MS HB1592 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Hazing; increase penalties and clarify the crime of.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [HB1592 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-HB1592-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representative Gibbs (72nd)
House Bill 1592
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE CRIME OF HAZING; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS FOR HAZING; TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR THE CRIME OF HAZING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 97-3-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-3-105. (1) For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Education institution" means any junior or community college, institution of higher learning or any postsecondary education institution in this state.
(b) (i) "Hazing" means any intentional or reckless act by a person acting alone or with others directed against another when both of the following apply:
1. The person knew or should have known that the act endangers the physical health or safety of the other person or causes severe emotional distress; and
2. The act was done as a result of an expression of interest, pledging, intake, initiation into, affiliation with, participation in, holding office in, obtaining or maintaining membership or obtaining or maintaining a certain status as a member of in any organization.
(ii) "Hazing" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following acts associated with an expression of interest, pledging, intake, initiation into, affiliation with, participation in, holding office in, or obtaining, maintaining membership or obtaining or maintaining a certain status as a member of in any organization:
1. Physical brutality, such as whipping, beating, paddling, striking, branding, electronic shocking, placing of a harmful substance on the body, or similar activity.
2. Physical activity, such as sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, or calisthenics, that subjects the other person to an unreasonable risk of harm or that endangers the physical or mental health or safety of the individual.
3. Activity involving consumption of food, liquid, or any other substance, including, but not limited to, an alcoholic beverage or drug, that subjects the individual to an unreasonable risk of harm or that endangers the physical or mental health or safety of the individual.
4. Activity that induces, causes, or requires an individual to perform a duty or task that involves the commission of a crime or an act of hazing.
5. Activity that coerces current or prospective members to use technological applications to transfer monies to another person for personal use, except for official organization requirements.
6. Activity that would subject forced prolonged exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the individual.
7. "Hazing" does not mean a physical or mental activity that is normal, customary, and reasonable for a person's training or participation in any band, athletic, physical education, military training, or similar program sanctioned by the education institution or that institution's athletics regulatory body or conference.
(c) "Organization" means a fraternity, sorority, association, corporation, order, society, corps, cooperative, club, service group, social group, band, spirit group, athletic team, or similar group whose members are primarily students at, or former students of, an education institution. "Organization" also includes the local, national or parent organization of which any of the underlying entities provided for in this paragraph is a sanctioned or recognized member at the time of the hazing. "Organization" does not mean or include the educational institution.
(d) "Pledging," also known as "recruitment," "intake" or "rushing," means any action or activity related to expressing interest in becoming a member, holding office in, maintaining membership in or obtaining a certain level of respect of the organization.
( * * *2) A person is guilty of hazing in the
first degree when, in the course of another person's expression of interest,
pledging, intake, initiation into or affiliation with, participation in,
holding office in, or obtaining or maintaining membership in, or obtaining or
maintaining a certain status as a member of any organization, he or she
intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk
of physical injury to such other person or a third person and thereby causes
such injury.
( * * *3) Any person violating the provisions
of this subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than Two
Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more
than six (6) months, or both.
( * * *4) (a) A person is guilty of
hazing in the second degree when, in the course of another person's expression
of interest, pledging, intake, initiation into or affiliation with,
participation in, holding office in, or obtaining or maintaining membership in,
or obtaining or maintaining a certain status as a member of any
organization, he or she intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct
which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a
third person.
( * * *5) Any person violating the provisions
of subsection (3) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more
than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
(6) It shall not be a defense to prosecution for a violation of this act that the person against whom the hazing was directed consented to or acquiesced in the hazing.
(7) The provisions of this act shall not be applied to the person who is the subject of the hazing, regardless of whether the person voluntarily allowed himself or herself to be hazed.
(8) The penalties provided in this act may be imposed in addition to any other penalty that may be imposed for any other criminal offense arising from the same incident or activity, and in addition to any penalty imposed by the organization.
( * * *9) The provisions of this section
shall be in addition to other criminal laws, and actions taken pursuant to this
section shall not bar prosecutions for other violations of criminal law.
(10) Nothing in this act precludes any civil remedy provided by law for any injury, incident or activity arising from violation of this act.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
