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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Ladner
HOUSE BILL NO. 1024
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-3-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO INVESTIGATE THE DEATH 2
OF ANY FORMER OR SITTING LOCAL, MUNICIPAL, COUNTY OR STATE 3
OFFICIAL UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO NAME THE PROVISIONS OF 4
THIS ACT THE "REPRESENTATIVE ASHLEY HENLEY INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY 5
ACT"; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Section 45-3-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 8
amended as follows: 9
45-3-21. (1) The powers and duties of the Highway Safety 10
Patrol shall be, in addition to all others prescribed by law, as 11
follows: 12
(a) To enforce all of the traffic laws, rules and 13
regulations of the State of Mississippi upon all highways of the 14
state highway system and the rights-of-way of such highways; 15
provided, however, that if any person commits an offense upon the 16
state highway system and be pursued by a member of the Highway 17
Safety Patrol, such patrol officer may pursue and apprehend such 18
offender upon any of the highways or public roads of this state, 19
or to any other place to which such offender may flee. 20
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(b) To enforce all rules and regulations of the 21
commissioner promulgated pursuant to legal authority. 22
(c) When so directed by the Governor, to enforce any of 23
the laws of this state upon any of the highways or public roads 24
thereof. 25
(d) Upon the request of the Department of Revenue, and 26
with the approval of the Governor, to enforce all of the 27
provisions of law with reference to the registration, license and 28
taxation of vehicles using the highways of this state, and 29
relative to the sizes, weights and load limits of such vehicles, 30
and to enforce the provisions of all other laws administered by 31
the Department of Revenue upon any of the highways or public roads 32
of this state; and for such purpose the Highway Safety Patrol 33
shall have the authority to collect and receive all taxes which 34
may be due under any of such laws, and to report and remit same to 35
the Department of Revenue in the manner required by law, or the 36
rules and regulations of the Department of Revenue. 37
(e) Upon request of the Commercial Transportation 38
Enforcement Division within the Department of Public Safety, and 39
when so instructed by the commissioner, to enforce the Mississippi 40
Motor Carrier Regulatory Law of 1938 and rules and regulations 41
promulgated thereunder. 42
(f) To arrest without warrant any person or persons 43
committing or attempting to commit any misdemeanor, felony or 44
breach of the peace within their presence or view, and to pursue 45
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and so arrest any person committing such an offense to and at any 46
place in the State of Mississippi where he may go or be. Nothing 47
herein shall be construed as granting the Mississippi Highway 48
Safety Patrol general police powers. 49
(g) To aid and assist any law enforcement officer whose 50
life or safety is in jeopardy. Additionally, officers of the 51
Highway Safety Patrol may arrest without warrant any fugitive from 52
justice who has escaped or who is using the highways of the state 53
in an attempt to flee. With the approval of the commissioner or 54
his designee, officers of the Highway Safety Patrol may assist 55
other law enforcement agencies in manhunts for convicted felons 56
who have escaped and/or for alleged felons where there is probable 57
cause to believe that the person being sought committed the felony 58
and a felony had actually been committed. 59
(h) To cooperate with the State Forest Service by 60
reporting all forest fires. 61
(i) Upon request of the sheriff or his designee, or 62
board of supervisors of any county or the chief of police or mayor 63
of any municipality, and when so instructed by the commissioner or 64
his designee, to respond to calls for assistance in a law 65
enforcement incident; such request and action shall be noted and 66
clearly reflected on the radio logs of both the Mississippi 67
Highway Safety Patrol district substation and that of the 68
requesting agency, entered on the local NCIC terminal, if 69
available, and a request in writing shall follow within 70
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forty-eight (48) hours. Additionally, the time of commencement 71
and termination of the specific law enforcement incident shall be 72
clearly noted on the radio logs of both law enforcement agencies. 73
(2) The Legislature declares that the primary law 74
enforcement officer in any county in the State of Mississippi is 75
the duly qualified and elected sheriff thereof, but for the 76
purposes of this subsection there is hereby vested in the 77
Department of Public Safety, in addition to the powers hereinabove 78
mentioned and the other provisions of this section under the terms 79
and limitations hereinafter mentioned and for the purpose of 80
insuring domestic tranquility and for the purpose of preventing or 81
suppressing, or both, crimes of violence, acts and conduct 82
calculated to, or which may, provoke or lead to violence and/or 83
incite riots, mobs, mob violence, a breach of the peace, and acts 84
of intimidation or terror, the powers and duties to include the 85
enforcement of all the laws of the State of Mississippi relating 86
to such purposes, to investigate any violation of the laws of the 87
State of Mississippi and to aid in the arrest and prosecution of 88
persons charged with violating the laws of the State of 89
Mississippi which relate to such purposes. Investigators of the 90
Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety shall 91
have general police powers to enforce all the laws of the State of 92
Mississippi. All officers of the Department of Public Safety 93
charged with the enforcement of the laws administered by that 94
agency, for the purposes herein set forth, shall have full power 95
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to investigate, prevent, apprehend and arrest law violators 96
anywhere in the state, and shall be vested with the power of 97
general police officers in the performance of their duties. The 98
officers of the Department of Public Safety are authorized and 99
empowered to carry and use firearms and other weapons deemed 100
necessary in the discharge of their duties as such and are also 101
empowered to serve warrants and subpoenas issued under the 102
authority of the State of Mississippi. The Governor shall be 103
authorized to offer and pay suitable rewards to persons aiding in 104
the investigation, apprehension and conviction of persons charged 105
with acts of violence, or threats of violence or intimidation or 106
acts of terrorism. The additional powers herein granted to or 107
vested in the Department of Public Safety or any of its officers 108
or employees by this section, excepting investigating powers, and 109
those powers of investigators who shall have general police power, 110
being the investigators in the Bureau of Investigation of the 111
Department of Public Safety, shall not be exercised by the 112
Department of Public Safety, or any of its officers or employees, 113
except upon authority and direction of the Governor or Acting 114
Governor, by proclamation duly signed, in the following instances, 115
to wit: 116
(a) When requested by the sheriff or board of 117
supervisors of any county or the mayor of any municipality on the 118
grounds that mob violence, crimes of violence, acts and conduct of 119
terrorism, riots or acts of intimidation, or either, calculated to 120
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or which may provoke violence or incite riots, mobs, mob violence, 121
violence, or lead to any breach of the peace, or either, and acts 122
of intimidation or terror are anticipated, and when such acts or 123
conduct in the opinion of the Governor or Acting Governor would 124
provoke violence or any of the foregoing acts or conduct set out 125
in this subsection, and the sheriff or mayor, as the case may be, 126
lacks adequate police force to prevent or suppress the same. 127
(b) Acting upon evidence submitted to him by the 128
Department of Public Safety, or other investigating agency 129
authorized by the Governor or Acting Governor to make such 130
investigations, because of the failure or refusal of the sheriff 131
of any county or mayor of any municipality to take action or 132
employ such means at his disposal, to prevent or suppress the 133
acts, conduct or offenses provided for in subsection (1) of this 134
section, the Governor or Acting Governor deems it necessary to 135
invoke the powers and authority vested in the Department of Public 136
Safety. 137
(c) Acting when any elected or appointed public 138
official of the state, or elected or appointed public official of 139
any county, municipality, or political subdivision of this state 140
is killed or the circumstances of the official's death are 141
questionable; or acting when any former elected or former 142
appointed public official of the state, or of any county, 143
municipality, or political subdivision of this state is killed or 144
the circumstances of the former official's death are questionable. 145
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The provisions of this paragraph (c) shall be known and referred 146
to as the "Representative Ashley Henley Investigation Authority 147
Act." 148
( * * *d) The Governor or Acting Governor is hereby 149
authorized and empowered to issue his proclamation invoking the 150
powers and authority vested by this paragraph, as provided in 151
paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, and when the Governor 152
or Acting Governor issues said proclamation in accordance 153
herewith, said proclamation shall become effective upon the 154
signing thereof and shall continue in full force and effect for a 155
period of ninety (90) days, or for a shorter period if otherwise 156
ordered by the Governor or Acting Governor. At the signing of the 157
proclamation by the Governor or Acting Governor, the Department of 158
Public Safety and its officers and employees shall thereupon be 159
authorized to exercise the additional power and authority vested 160
in them by this paragraph. The Governor and Acting Governor may 161
issue additional proclamations for periods of ninety (90) days 162
each under the authority of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 163
subsection (2). 164
(3) All proclamations issued by the Governor or Acting 165
Governor shall be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State on 166
the next succeeding business day. 167
(4) It is not the intention of this section to vest the wide 168
powers and authority herein provided for, as general powers of the 169
Department of Public Safety, and the same are not hereby so 170
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ST: The Ashley Henley Investigation Authority
Act; create.
vested, but to limit these general powers to cases and incidents 171
wherein it is deemed necessary to prevent or suppress the offenses 172
and conditions herein mentioned in this and other subsections of 173
this section, and under the terms and conditions hereinabove 174
enumerated, it being the sense of the Legislature that the prime 175
duties of the Department of Public Safety are to patrol the 176
highways of this state and enforce the highway safety laws. 177
(5) Patrol officers shall have no interest in any costs in 178
the prosecution of any case through any court; nor shall any 179
patrol officer receive any fee as a witness in any court held in 180
this state, whether a state or federal court. 181
(6) Provided, however, that the general police power vested 182
by virtue of the terms of subsection (2) of this section is solely 183
for the purposes set out in said subsection. 184
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 185
and after July 1, 2026. 186