Youth court and youth court referees; regulate.

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To: Judiciary A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Hood

HOUSE BILL NO. 1671

AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 43-21-111, 43-21-125, 1
43-21-305, 43-21-703, 43-21-751, 43-21-753, 43-21-755, MISSISSIPPI 2
CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR YOUTH COURT REFEREES, FOR PURPOSES 3
OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
brought forward as follows: 7
43-21-111. (1) In any county not having a county court or 8
family court the judge may appoint as provided in Section 9
43-21-123 regular or special referees who shall be attorneys at 10
law and members of the bar in good standing to act in cases 11
concerning children within the jurisdiction of the youth court, 12
and a regular referee shall hold office until removed by the 13
judge. The requirement that regular or special referees appointed 14
pursuant to this subsection be attorneys shall apply only to 15
regular or special referees who were not first appointed regular 16
or special referees prior to July 1, 1991. 17
(2) Any referee appointed pursuant to subsection (1) of this 18
section shall be required to receive judicial training approved by 19
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the Mississippi Judicial College and shall be required to receive 20
regular annual continuing education in the field of juvenile 21
justice. The amount of judicial training and annual continuing 22
education which shall be satisfactory to fulfill the requirements 23
of this section shall conform with the amount prescribed by the 24
Rules and Regulations for Mandatory Continuing Judicial Education 25
promulgated by the Supreme Court. The Administrative Office of 26
Courts shall maintain a roll of referees appointed under this 27
section, shall enforce the provisions of this subsection and shall 28
maintain records on all such referees regarding such training. 29
Should a referee miss two (2) consecutive training sessions 30
sponsored or approved by the Mississippi Judicial College as 31
required by this subsection or fail to attend one (1) such 32
training session within six (6) months of their initial 33
appointment as a referee, the referee shall be disqualified to 34
serve and be immediately removed as a referee and another member 35
of the bar shall be appointed as provided in this section. 36
(3) The judge may direct that hearings in any case or class 37
of cases be conducted in the first instance by the referee. The 38
judge may also delegate his own administrative responsibilities to 39
the referee. 40
(4) All hearings authorized to be heard by a referee shall 41
proceed in the same manner as hearings before the youth court 42
judge. A referee shall possess all powers and perform all the 43
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duties of the youth court judge in the hearings authorized to be 44
heard by the referee. 45
(5) An order entered by the referee shall be mailed 46
immediately to all parties and their counsel. A rehearing by the 47
judge shall be allowed if any party files a written motion for a 48
rehearing or on the court's own motion within three (3) days after 49
notice of referee's order. The youth court may enlarge the time 50
for filing a motion for a rehearing for good cause shown. Any 51
rehearing shall be upon the record of the hearing before the 52
referee, but additional evidence may be admitted in the discretion 53
of the judge. A motion for a rehearing shall not act as a 54
supersedeas of the referee's order, unless the judge shall so 55
order. 56
(6) The salary for the referee shall be fixed on order of 57
the judge as provided in Section 43-21-123 and shall be paid by 58
the county out of any available funds budgeted for the youth court 59
by the board of supervisors. 60
(7) Upon request of the boards of supervisors of two (2) or 61
more counties, the judge of the chancery court may appoint a 62
suitable person as referee to two (2) or more counties within his 63
district, and the payment of salary may be divided in such ratio 64
as may be agreed upon by the boards of supervisors. 65
SECTION 2. Section 43-21-125, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 66
brought forward as follows: 67
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43-21-125. (1) There shall be a Mississippi Council of 68
Youth Court Judges which shall be the official organization of the 69
judges having youth court jurisdiction in this state. The 70
membership of the council shall consist of all the judges and 71
referees of youth courts in the State of Mississippi. 72
(2) The Mississippi Council of Youth Court Judges is 73
authorized to adopt and, from time to time, amend such rules, 74
regulations or bylaws as it considers necessary to the conduct of 75
its affairs. 76
(3) The council may elect officers and provide for such 77
meetings of the council as it deems necessary. The council shall 78
meet at least annually for the consideration of: 79
(a) Any and all matters pertaining to the discharge of 80
the official duties and obligations of its members; and 81
(b) Problems that have arisen in connection with the 82
operation of the youth courts in any county or in all counties in 83
order to improve the administration of juvenile justice in the 84
state. 85
(4) The council shall publish and submit to the Governor, 86
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Mississippi 87
Judicial Council an annual report of the operations which shall 88
include financial and statistical data and may include suggestions 89
and recommendations for legislation. 90
(5) The council is authorized to receive and expend any 91
funds which may become available from the federal government to 92
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carry out any of the purposes of this chapter, and to this end the 93
council may meet any federal requirements not contrary to state 94
law which may be conditions precedent to receiving such federal 95
funds. 96
(6) The council may cooperate with the federal government in 97
a program for training personnel employed or preparing for 98
employment by the youth court and may receive and expend funds 99
from federal or state sources or from private donations for such 100
purposes. The council may contract with public or nonprofit 101
institutions of higher learning for the training of such 102
personnel, may conduct short-term training courses of its own, may 103
hire experts on a temporary basis for such purpose and may 104
cooperate with the Department of Youth Services or other state 105
departments or agencies in personnel training programs. 106
SECTION 3. Section 43-21-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 107
brought forward as follows: 108
43-21-305. A law enforcement officer may stop any child 109
abroad in a public place whom the officer has probable cause to 110
believe is within the jurisdiction of the youth court and may 111
question the child as to his name, address and explanation of his 112
actions. 113
SECTION 4. Section 43-21-703, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 114
brought forward as follows: 115
43-21-703. (1) The commission shall study the youth court 116
system in Mississippi, and prepare a report including any proposed 117
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changes in the youth court system and/or its procedures. It shall 118
submit the report to the Legislature, on or before October 1, 119
2024, along with a report detailing any legislation which may be 120
needed to implement the plan. In preparing the report, the 121
commission shall evaluate the existing juvenile services in the 122
state and may recommend changes in the organizational concepts, 123
institutions, laws and resources. 124
(2) In formulating its report, the commission shall take 125
into consideration the following: 126
(a) Whether a uniform statewide youth court system 127
would be desirable; 128
(b) How best the service needs of the state could be 129
met in relation to the taxing and resource capacity of various 130
multi-county districts now existing or proposed; 131
(c) Whether counties in a given service area or 132
district may develop district shelters, detention centers and 133
diagnostic centers to serve a multi-county area; and 134
(d) What proposals or alternatives would update or 135
modernize the system to provide staffing for all counties and 136
citizens. 137
(3) The commission, in addition to recommending the plan 138
described in this section, shall serve as a clearinghouse and 139
information center for the collection, preparation, analysis and 140
dissemination of information on the youth court system in 141
Mississippi and shall conduct ongoing research relating to the 142
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improvement of the youth court system. Pursuant to its duties 143
under this subsection, the commission may request the regular 144
submission to it of such reports, information and statistics by 145
the courts, judges, prosecuting attorneys and agencies of this 146
state which the commission deems necessary for the development of 147
its reports. 148
SECTION 5. Section 43-21-751, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 149
brought forward as follows: 150
43-21-751. This act shall be known as the "Teen Court Pilot 151
Program Act." 152
SECTION 6. Section 43-21-753, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 153
brought forward as follows: 154
43-21-753. The youth court of any county in the state may 155
establish a teen court program for the diversion of certain 156
offenders who have waived all right of confidentiality and 157
privilege against self-incrimination. The youth court of Rankin 158
County may extend its teen court program within the city limits of 159
Pearl. The offenders eligible to participate shall be those 160
offenders who in the discretion of the youth court are suitable 161
and compulsory-school-age children who have come into the 162
jurisdiction of the youth court as a result of not attending 163
school. The teen court shall be a preventive program for 164
juveniles comprised of youth who are not less than thirteen (13) 165
nor more than seventeen (17) years of age, which students shall 166
serve as prosecutor, defense counsel, bailiff, court clerk and 167
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jurors. The program is to administer the "sentencing" or 168
disposition phase of the proceedings against offenders who elect 169
to participate, shall be under the guidance of the local youth 170
court, and shall be approved by the local youth court. The youth 171
court judge, or his designee who is a licensed attorney, shall 172
preside. The teen court is authorized to require eligible 173
offenders who choose to go to teen court in lieu of youth court to 174
perform up to one hundred twelve (112) hours of community service, 175
require offenders to make a personal apology to a victim, require 176
offenders to submit a research paper on any relevant subject, 177
attend counseling and make restitution or any other disposition 178
authorized by the youth court. The youth court shall establish 179
rules and regulations, including sentencing guidelines, for the 180
operation of a teen court. The teen court is authorized to accept 181
monies from any available public or private source, including 182
public or private donations, grants, gifts and appropriated funds 183
for funding expenses of operating the court. 184
Teen court may be held at whatever location the youth court 185
selects at whatever time or times. Eligible offenders shall be 186
only those children who agree to participate in the teen court and 187
to abide by the teen court's rulings, whose parents or legal 188
guardian shall also so agree, and who are otherwise qualified to 189
participate. 190
The youth court judge may require an offender who elects to 191
participate in the teen court to pay a fee not to exceed Five 192
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ST: Youth court and youth court referees;
regulate.
Dollars ($5.00); any such fees shall be used in administering this 193
article, and the fee shall not be refunded, regardless of whether 194
the child successfully completes the teen court program. 195
SECTION 7. Section 43-21-755, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 196
brought forward as follows: 197
43-21-755. Any school participating in the Teen Court 198
Program established by this article shall be allowed to credit the 199
time of teachers and students spent in participating in teen court 200
as instructional time. 201
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from 202
and after July 1, 2026. 203