Senate Bill 2837

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-3-7 AND 99-5-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE AN ARRESTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER TO CHECK THE PROTECTION ORDER REGISTRY STATUS OF THE SUSPECT IN A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 99-3-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-3-7. (1) An officer or private person may arrest any person without warrant, for an indictable offense committed, or a breach of the peace threatened or attempted in his presence; or when a person has committed a felony, though not in his presence; or when a felony has been committed, and he has reasonable ground to suspect and believe the person proposed to be arrested to have committed it; or on a charge, made upon reasonable cause, of the commission of a felony by the party proposed to be arrested. And in all cases of arrests without warrant, the person making such arrest must inform the accused of the object and cause of the arrest, except when he is in the actual commission of the offense, or is arrested on pursuit.

(2) Any law enforcement officer may arrest any person on a misdemeanor charge without having a warrant in his possession when a warrant is in fact outstanding for that person's arrest and the officer has knowledge through official channels that the warrant is outstanding for that person's arrest. In all such cases, the officer making the arrest must inform such person at the time of the arrest the object and cause therefor. If the person arrested so requests, the warrant shall be shown to him as soon as practicable.

(3) (a) Any law enforcement officer shall arrest a person with or without a warrant when he has probable cause to believe that the person has, within twenty-four (24) hours of such arrest, knowingly committed a misdemeanor which is an act of domestic violence or knowingly violated provisions of an ex parte protective order, protective order after hearing or court-approved consent agreement entered by a chancery, circuit, county, justice or municipal court pursuant to the Protection from Domestic Abuse Law, Sections 93-21-1 through 93-21-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, or a restraining order entered by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction to protect an applicant from domestic violence.

(b) If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that two (2) or more persons committed a misdemeanor which is an act of domestic violence as defined herein, or if two (2) or more persons make complaints to the officer, the officer shall attempt to determine who was the principal aggressor. The term principal aggressor is defined as the party who poses the most serious ongoing threat, or who is the most significant, rather than the first, aggressor. The officer shall presume that arrest is not the appropriate response for the person or persons who were not the principal aggressor. If the officer affirmatively finds more than one (1) principal aggressor was involved, the officer shall document those findings.

(c) To determine who is the principal aggressor, the officer shall consider the following factors, although such consideration is not limited to these factors:

(i) Evidence from the persons involved in the domestic abuse;

(ii) The history of domestic abuse between the parties, the likelihood of future injury to each person, and the intent of the law to protect victims of domestic violence from continuing abuse;

(iii) Whether one (1) of the persons acted in self-defense; and

(iv) Evidence from witnesses of the domestic violence.

(d) A law enforcement officer shall not base the decision of whether to arrest on the consent or request of the victim.

(e) A law enforcement officer's determination regarding the existence of probable cause or the lack of probable cause shall not adversely affect the right of any party to independently seek appropriate remedies.

(4) (a) Any person authorized by a court of law to supervise or monitor a convicted offender who is under an intensive supervision program may arrest the offender when the offender is in violation of the terms or conditions of the intensive supervision program, without having a warrant, provided that the person making the arrest has been trained at the Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy established under Section 45-5-1 et seq., or at a course approved by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "intensive supervision program" means an intensive supervision program of the Department of Corrections as described in Section 47-5-1001 et seq., or any similar program authorized by a court for offenders who are not under jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.

(5) As used in subsection (3) of this section, the phrase "misdemeanor which is an act of domestic violence" shall mean one or more of the following acts between current or former spouses or a child of current or former spouses, persons living as spouses or who formerly lived as spouses or a child of persons living as spouses or who formerly lived as spouses, a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or someone similarly situated to the defendant, persons who have a current or former dating relationship, or persons who have a biological or legally adopted child together:

(a) Simple domestic violence within the meaning of Section 97-3-7;

(b) Disturbing the family or public peace within the meaning of Section 97-35-9, 97-35-11, 97-35-13 or 97-35-15; or

(6) Any arrest made pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall be designated as domestic assault or domestic violence on both the arrest docket and the incident report. Any officer investigating a complaint of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence who finds probable cause that such an offense has occurred within the past twenty-four (24) hours shall file an affidavit on behalf of the victim(s) of the crime, regardless of whether an arrest is made within that time period. If the crime is reported or investigated outside of that twenty-four-hour period, the officer may file the affidavit on behalf of the victim. In the event the officer does not file an affidavit on behalf of the victim, the officer shall instruct the victim of the procedure for filing on his or her own behalf.

(7) After making an arrest for a misdemeanor that is an act of domestic violence, the arresting law enforcement officer shall check the status of the accused in the Mississippi Protection Order Registry authorized under Section 93-21-21 and shall inform the judge or conservator of the peace setting bail of the existence of any domestic abuse protection order against the accused which shall then be considered when determining appropriate bail.

( * * *78) A law enforcement officer shall not be held liable in any civil action for an arrest based on probable cause and in good faith pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, or failure, in good faith, to make an arrest pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

( * * *89) The authority for the State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal and deputy state fire marshals to make arrests shall be governed by the provisions of Section 45-11-1.

SECTION 2. Section 99-5-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-5-11. (1) All justice court judges and all other conservators of the peace are authorized, whenever a person is brought before them charged with any offense not capital for which bail is allowed by law, to take the recognizance or bond of the person, with sufficient sureties, in such penalty as the justice court judge or conservator of the peace may require, for his appearance before the justice court judge or conservator of the peace for an examination of his case at some future day. And if the person thus recognized or thus giving bond fails to appear at the appointed time, it shall be the duty of the justice court judge or conservator of the peace to return the recognizance or bond, with his certificate of default, to the court having jurisdiction of the case, and a recovery may be had therein by scire facias, as in other cases of forfeiture. The justice court judge or other conservator of the peace shall also issue an alias warrant for the defaulter.

(2) In circumstances involving an offense against any of the following: (a) a current or former spouse of the accused or child of that person; (b) a person living as a spouse or who formerly lived as a spouse with the accused or a child of that person; (c) a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or someone similarly situated to the accused; (d) a person who has a current or former dating relationship with the accused; or (e) a person with whom the accused has had a biological or legally adopted child, the justice court judge or other conservator of the peace shall * * * consider the existence of a domestic abuse protection order against the accused * * *~~shall be considered~~ when determining appropriate bail.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.