Bill Text: MS SB2412 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Municipal judges; remove maximum limit on number of in certain cities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-02-04 - Died In Committee [SB2412 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-SB2412-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Blount
Senate Bill 2412
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 21-23-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE LIMIT ON THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MUNICIPAL JUDGES IN CITES OF A CERTAIN SIZE; TO AMEND SECTION 21-23-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 21-23-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-23-3. Except as
otherwise provided in this section, in all municipalities having a
population of ten thousand (10,000) or more, according to the latest available
federal census, there shall be a municipal judge and a prosecuting attorney,
who shall be appointed by the governing * * * authority of the
municipality at the time provided for the appointment of other officers. The
municipal governing * * *
authority may appoint one (1) additional municipal judge, who shall
exercise the same authority and prerogatives of the office, regardless of the
presence or absence of the other municipal judge. Except as otherwise provided
in Section 21-23-5, a municipal judge shall be a qualified elector of the
county in which the municipality is located and shall be an attorney-at-law. * * * Municipal judges and the prosecuting attorney shall receive a salary,
to be paid by the municipality, and to be fixed by the governing * * * authority of the
municipality.
In any proceeding in which a
conflict of interest arises for the prosecuting attorney, or any other reason
dictates that he recuse himself, the mayor of the municipality may appoint a
special prosecuting attorney for that particular proceeding. * * * The special prosecuting attorney
shall be compensated for his services in the same manner and amount as allowed
under Section 21-23-7 for appointed counsel for indigent persons.
* * * However, the governing * * *
authority of any
municipality having a population in excess of ten thousand (10,000) persons
according to the latest available federal census and situated in a county
having an area in excess of nine hundred thirty-five (935) square miles and
having a county court may, in * * * its discretion, follow the
provisions * * *
set out in Section 21-23-5 for municipalities having a population of less than
ten thousand (10,000).
* * * The governing * * *
authority of any
municipality having a population in excess of fifty thousand (50,000) according
to the latest federal decennial census may, in * * * its discretion, provide for the appointment
of not more than six (6) municipal judges for * * * the municipality, each of whom
shall exercise the same authority and prerogatives of * * * his office, regardless of the
presence or absence of the other municipal judges.
The governing authority of any municipality having a population in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000) according to the latest federal decennial census may, in its discretion, provide for the appointment of a sufficient number of municipal judges for the municipality, each of whom shall exercise the same authority and prerogatives of his office, regardless of the presence or absence of the other municipal judges.
SECTION 2. Section 21-23-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-23-5. In any municipality
having a population of less than ten thousand (10,000) according to the latest
available federal census, it shall be discretionary with the governing * * * authority of the
municipality as to whether * * * a municipal judge or a prosecuting
attorney, or both, shall be appointed. If the * * * governing authority of any
municipality having a population of less than twenty thousand (20,000)
according to the latest available federal census
appoints a municipal judge, * * * the judge may be a licensed attorney
of * * * the
county, a licensed attorney of a county adjacent to * * * that county or a justice court
judge of * * *
the county or a county adjacent to that county. In all
municipalities where a municipal judge is not appointed, the mayor, or mayor
pro tempore, shall be the municipal judge, but he shall not receive additional
compensation from the municipality for such service.
The Mississippi Judicial
College of the University of Mississippi Law Center shall conduct, if funds are
available, courses of training and education for mayors and mayors pro tempore
who serve as municipal judges. This course of training shall be known as the
Municipal Judges Training Course and it shall consist of at least twelve (12)
hours of training. The content of the course of training * * * and when and where it is to be
conducted * * *
shall be determined by the said Judicial College consistent with the need. A
certificate of completion shall be furnished those mayors who complete the full
course. No mayor elected or reelected for a term of office after July 1, 1979,
except one who has been admitted to practice law in this state, shall serve as
municipal judge unless he has completed the course of training prescribed
herein. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply if funds are
unavailable for such training courses.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.
