Secretary of State; authorize investigative staff to carry firearms.

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To: State Affairs
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Barnett

HOUSE BILL NO. 1471

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-37-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
AUTHORIZE EMPLOYEES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE WHO ARE AUTHORIZED 2
BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO PERFORM INVESTIGATIVE OR REGULATORY 3
FUNCTIONS TO CARRY FIREARMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 97-37-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
amended as follows: 7
97-37-7. (1) (a) It shall not be a violation of Section 8
97-37-1 or any other statute for pistols, firearms or other 9
suitable and appropriate weapons to be carried by duly constituted 10
bank guards, company guards, watchmen, railroad special agents or 11
duly authorized representatives who are not sworn law enforcement 12
officers, agents or employees of a patrol service, guard service, 13
or a company engaged in the business of transporting money, 14
securities or other valuables, while actually engaged in the 15
performance of their duties as such, provided that such persons 16
have made a written application and paid a nonrefundable permit 17
fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) to the Department of Public 18
Safety. 19
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(b) No permit shall be issued to any person who has 20
ever been convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any 21
other state or of the United States. To determine an applicant's 22
eligibility for a permit, the person shall be fingerprinted. If 23
no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the 24
fingerprints shall be forwarded by the Department of Public Safety 25
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal 26
history record check. The department shall charge a fee which 27
includes the amounts required by the Federal Bureau of 28
Investigation and the department for the national and state 29
criminal history record checks and any necessary costs incurred by 30
the department for the handling and administration of the criminal 31
history background checks. In the event a legible set of 32
fingerprints, as determined by the Department of Public Safety and 33
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cannot be obtained after a 34
minimum of three (3) attempts, the Department of Public Safety 35
shall determine eligibility based upon a name check by the 36
Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and a Federal Bureau of 37
Investigation name check conducted by the Mississippi Highway 38
Safety Patrol at the request of the Department of Public Safety. 39
(c) A person may obtain a duplicate of a lost or 40
destroyed permit upon payment of a Fifteen Dollar ($15.00) 41
replacement fee to the Department of Public Safety, if he 42
furnishes a notarized statement to the department that the permit 43
has been lost or destroyed. 44
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(d) (i) No less than ninety (90) days prior to the 45
expiration date of a permit, the Department of Public Safety shall 46
mail to the permit holder written notice of expiration together 47
with the renewal form prescribed by the department. The permit 48
holder shall renew the permit on or before the expiration date by 49
filing with the department the renewal form, a notarized affidavit 50
stating that the permit holder remains qualified, and the renewal 51
fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00); honorably retired law enforcement 52
officers shall be exempt from payment of the renewal fee. A 53
permit holder who fails to file a renewal application on or before 54
its expiration date shall pay a late fee of Fifteen Dollars 55
($15.00). 56
(ii) Renewal of the permit shall be required every 57
four (4) years. The permit of a qualified renewal applicant shall 58
be renewed upon receipt of the completed renewal application and 59
appropriate payment of fees. 60
(iii) A permit cannot be renewed six (6) months or 61
more after its expiration date, and such permit shall be deemed to 62
be permanently expired; the holder may reapply for an original 63
permit as provided in this section. 64
(2) It shall not be a violation of this or any other statute 65
for pistols, firearms or other suitable and appropriate weapons to 66
be carried by Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks law 67
enforcement officers, employees of the Secretary of State who are 68
authorized by the Secretary of State to perform investigative or 69
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regulatory enforcement functions, railroad special agents who are 70
sworn law enforcement officers, investigators employed by the 71
Attorney General, criminal investigators employed by the district 72
attorneys, all prosecutors, public defenders, investigators or 73
probation officers employed by the Department of Corrections, 74
employees of the State Auditor who are authorized by the State 75
Auditor to perform investigative functions, or any deputy fire 76
marshal or investigator employed by the State Fire Marshal, while 77
engaged in the performance of their duties as such, or by fraud 78
investigators with the Department of Human Services, or by judges 79
of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit, 80
chancery, county, justice and municipal courts, or by coroners. 81
Before any person shall be authorized under this subsection to 82
carry a weapon, he shall complete a weapons training course 83
approved by the Board of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and 84
Training. Before any criminal investigator employed by a district 85
attorney shall be authorized under this section to carry a pistol, 86
firearm or other weapon, he shall have complied with Section 87
45-6-11 or any training program required for employment as an 88
agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A law enforcement 89
officer, as defined in Section 45-6-3, shall be authorized to 90
carry weapons in courthouses in performance of his official 91
duties. A person licensed under Section 45-9-101 to carry a 92
concealed pistol, who (a) has voluntarily completed an 93
instructional course in the safe handling and use of firearms 94
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offered by an instructor certified by a nationally recognized 95
organization that customarily offers firearms training, or by any 96
other organization approved by the Department of Public Safety, 97
(b) is a member or veteran of any active or reserve component 98
branch of the United States of America Armed Forces having 99
completed law enforcement or combat training with pistols or other 100
handguns as recognized by such branch after submitting an 101
affidavit attesting to have read, understand and agree to comply 102
with all provisions of the enhanced carry law, or (c) is an 103
honorably retired law enforcement officer or honorably retired 104
member or veteran of any active or reserve component branch of the 105
United States of America Armed Forces having completed law 106
enforcement or combat training with pistols or other handguns, 107
after submitting an affidavit attesting to have read, understand 108
and agree to comply with all provisions of Mississippi enhanced 109
carry law shall also be authorized to carry weapons in courthouses 110
except in courtrooms during a judicial proceeding, and any 111
location listed in subsection (13) of Section 45-9-101, except any 112
place of nuisance as defined in Section 95-3-1, any police, 113
sheriff or highway patrol station or any detention facility, 114
prison or jail. For the purposes of this subsection (2), 115
component branch of the United States Armed Forces includes the 116
Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Marine Corps, or the Army 117
National Guard, the Army National Guard of the United States, the 118
Air National Guard or the Air National Guard of the United States, 119
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as those terms are defined in Section 101, Title 10, United States 120
Code, and any other reserve component of the United States Armed 121
Forces enumerated in Section 10101, Title 10, United States Code. 122
The department shall promulgate rules and regulations allowing 123
concealed pistol permit holders to obtain an endorsement on their 124
permit indicating that they have completed the aforementioned 125
course and have the authority to carry in these locations. This 126
section shall in no way interfere with the right of a trial judge 127
to restrict the carrying of firearms in the courtroom. 128
For purposes of this subsection (2), the following words 129
shall have the meanings described herein, unless the context 130
otherwise requires: 131
(i) "Courthouse" means any building in which a 132
circuit court, chancery court, youth court, municipal court, 133
justice court or any appellate court is located, or any building 134
in which a court of law is regularly held. 135
(ii) "Courtroom" means the actual room in which a 136
judicial proceeding occurs, including any jury room, witness room, 137
judge's chamber, office housing the judge's staff, or similar 138
room. "Courtroom" shall not mean hallways, courtroom entrances, 139
courthouse grounds, lobbies, corridors, or other areas within a 140
courthouse which are generally open to the public for the 141
transaction of business outside of an active judicial proceeding, 142
the grassed areas, cultivated flower beds, sidewalks, parking 143
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ST: Secretary of State; authorize investigative
staff to carry firearms.
lots, or other areas contained within the boundaries of the public 144
land upon which the courthouse is located. 145
(3) It shall not be a violation of this or any other statute 146
for pistols, firearms or other suitable and appropriate weapons, 147
to be carried by any out-of-state, full-time commissioned law 148
enforcement officer who holds a valid commission card from the 149
appropriate out-of-state law enforcement agency and a photo 150
identification. The provisions of this subsection shall only 151
apply if the state where the out-of-state officer is employed has 152
entered into a reciprocity agreement with the state that allows 153
full-time commissioned law enforcement officers in Mississippi to 154
lawfully carry or possess a weapon in such other states. The 155
Commissioner of Public Safety is authorized to enter into 156
reciprocal agreements with other states to carry out the 157
provisions of this subsection. 158
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 159
and after July 1, 2026. 160