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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Nelson
HOUSE BILL NO. 456
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-15-26 AND 99-15-59, MISSISSIPPI 1
CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE APPROPRIATE COURT TO AUTOMATICALLY 2
EXPUNGE THE RECORD OF ANY CASES IN WHICH AN ARREST WAS MADE, THE 3
PERSON ARRESTED WAS RELEASED AND THE CASE WAS DISMISSED OR THE 4
CHARGES WERE DROPPED, THERE WAS NO DISPOSITION OF SUCH CASE, OR 5
THE PERSON WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY AT TRIAL; TO AMEND SECTION 6
45-27-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT 7
AGENCIES TO REPORT SUCH EXPUNGEMENTS TO THE MISSISSIPPI JUSTICE 8
INFORMATION CENTER; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 45-27-5 AND 9
45-27-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGULATE DUTIES OF THE 10
MISSISSIPPI JUSTICE INFORMATION CENTER, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; 11
TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 99-19-72, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH 12
PROVIDES A FEE SCHEDULE FOR EXPUNGEMENT PETITIONS, FOR PURPOSES OF 13
AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 14
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 15
SECTION 1. Section 99-15-26, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 16
amended as follows: 17
99-15-26. (1) (a) In all criminal cases, felony and 18
misdemeanor, other than crimes against the person, a crime of 19
violence as defined in Section 97-3-2, a violation of Section 20
97-11-31, or crimes in which a person unlawfully takes, obtains or 21
misappropriates funds received by or entrusted to the person by 22
virtue of his or her public office or employment, the circuit or 23
county court shall be empowered, upon the entry of a plea of 24
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guilty by a criminal defendant made on or after July 1, 2014, to 25
withhold acceptance of the plea and sentence thereon pending 26
successful completion of such conditions as may be imposed by the 27
court pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. 28
(b) In all misdemeanor criminal cases, other than 29
crimes against the person, the justice or municipal court shall be 30
empowered, upon the entry of a plea of guilty by a criminal 31
defendant, to withhold acceptance of the plea and sentence thereon 32
pending successful completion of such conditions as may be imposed 33
by the court pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. 34
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection 35
(1), in all criminal cases charging a misdemeanor of domestic 36
violence as defined in Section 99-3-7(5), a circuit, county, 37
justice or municipal court shall be empowered, upon the entry of a 38
plea of guilty by the criminal defendant, to withhold acceptance 39
of the plea and sentence thereon pending successful completion of 40
such conditions as may be imposed by the court pursuant to 41
subsection (2) of this section. 42
(d) No person having previously qualified under the 43
provisions of this section shall be eligible to qualify for 44
release in accordance with this section for a repeat offense. A 45
person shall not be eligible to qualify for release in accordance 46
with this section if charged with the offense of trafficking of a 47
controlled substance as provided in Section 41-29-139(f) or if 48
charged with an offense under the Mississippi Implied Consent Law. 49
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Violations under the Mississippi Implied Consent Law can only be 50
nonadjudicated under the provisions of Section 63-11-30. 51
(2) (a) Conditions which the circuit, county, justice or 52
municipal court may impose under subsection (1) of this section 53
shall consist of: 54
(i) Reasonable restitution to the victim of the 55
crime. 56
(ii) Performance of not more than nine hundred 57
sixty (960) hours of public service work approved by the court. 58
(iii) Payment of a fine not to exceed the 59
statutory limit. 60
(iv) Successful completion of drug, alcohol, 61
psychological or psychiatric treatment, successful completion of a 62
program designed to bring about the cessation of domestic abuse, 63
or any combination thereof, if the court deems treatment 64
necessary. 65
(v) The circuit or county court, in its 66
discretion, may require the defendant to remain in the program 67
subject to good behavior for a period of time not to exceed five 68
(5) years. The justice or municipal court, in its discretion, may 69
require the defendant to remain in the program subject to good 70
behavior for a period of time not to exceed two (2) years. 71
(b) Conditions which the circuit or county court may 72
impose under subsection (1) of this section also include 73
successful completion of an effective evidence-based program or a 74
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properly controlled pilot study designed to contribute to the 75
evidence-based research literature on programs targeted at 76
reducing recidivism. Such program or pilot study may be community 77
based or institutionally based and should address risk factors 78
identified in a formal assessment of the offender's risks and 79
needs. 80
(3) When the court has imposed upon the defendant the 81
conditions set out in this section, the court shall release the 82
bail bond, if any. 83
(4) Upon successful completion of the court-imposed 84
conditions permitted by subsection (2) of this section, the court 85
shall direct that the cause be dismissed and the case be closed. 86
(5) * * * The court shall immediately expunge the record of 87
any case in which an arrest was made, the person arrested was 88
released and the case was dismissed or the charges were dropped, 89
there was no disposition of such case, or the person was found not 90
guilty at trial. 91
SECTION 2. Section 99-15-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 92
amended as follows: 93
99-15-59. The court shall automatically expunge the record 94
of any person who is arrested, issued a citation, or held for any 95
misdemeanor and not formally charged or prosecuted with an offense 96
within twelve (12) months of arrest, or upon dismissal of the 97
charge * * *. 98
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SECTION 3. Section 45-27-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 99
amended as follows: 100
45-27-9. (1) All criminal justice agencies within the state 101
shall submit to the center an arrest card that will transmit 102
fingerprints, descriptions, photographs (when specifically 103
requested), and other identifying data on persons who have been 104
lawfully arrested or taken into custody in this state for all 105
felonies and misdemeanors as described in Section 45-27-7(2)(a). 106
It shall be the duty of all chiefs of police, sheriffs, district 107
attorneys, courts, court clerks, judges, parole and probation 108
officers, wardens or other persons in charge of correctional 109
institutions in this state to furnish the center with all data 110
required by the rules duly promulgated under the Administrative 111
Procedures Act to carry out its responsibilities under this 112
chapter, and the duty of courts and court clerks to submit a 113
disposition form for every disposition. It shall be the duty of 114
all criminal justice agencies within the state to supply the 115
prosecutor and the proper court with the disposition form that is 116
attached to the physical arrest card if fingerprints were taken 117
manually or, if fingerprints were captured digitally, the 118
disposition form generated by the electronic fingerprint device at 119
the time of the arrest. The PEER committee may conduct random 120
review of the records of any agency or clerks referenced in this 121
subsection (1) to determine whether the duties of such agencies 122
and clerks are being fulfilled in a timely manner. The PEER 123
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committee, based on its findings, if any, shall recommend measures 124
to ensure that the duties are more effectively carried out in a 125
timely manner. 126
(2) (a) All persons in charge of law enforcement agencies 127
shall obtain, or cause to be obtained, fingerprints according to 128
the fingerprint system of identification established by the 129
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, full face and 130
profile photographs (if equipment is available) and other 131
available identifying data, of each person arrested or taken into 132
custody for an offense of a type designated in subsection (1) of 133
this section, of all persons arrested or taken into custody as 134
fugitives from justice and of all unidentified human corpses in 135
their jurisdictions, but photographs need not be taken if it is 136
known that photographs of the type listed, taken within the 137
previous year, are on file. Any record taken in connection with 138
any person arrested or taken into custody and subsequently 139
released without charge or cleared of the offense through court 140
proceedings shall be purged from the files of the center and 141
destroyed upon receipt by the center of a lawful expunction order. 142
All persons in charge of law enforcement agencies shall submit to 143
the center detailed descriptions of arrests or takings into 144
custody which result in release without charge or subsequent 145
exoneration from criminal liability within twenty-four (24) hours 146
of the release or exoneration. 147
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(b) The center will work to secure grant funds to 148
purchase live scan equipment to be utilized throughout the state. 149
All law enforcement agencies shall utilize any live scan equipment 150
provided by the center to ensure the most accurate collection of 151
fingerprints. The center shall coordinate the use of the 152
equipment with federal, state, county and municipal law 153
enforcement agencies. 154
(3) Fingerprints and other identifying data required to be 155
taken under subsection (2) shall be forwarded within twenty-four 156
(24) hours after taking for filing and classification, but the 157
period of twenty-four (24) hours may be extended to cover any 158
intervening holiday or weekend. Photographs taken shall be 159
forwarded at the discretion of the agency concerned, but, if not 160
forwarded, the fingerprint record shall be marked "Photo 161
Available" and the photographs shall be forwarded subsequently if 162
the center so requests. 163
(4) All persons in charge of law enforcement agencies shall 164
submit to the center detailed descriptions of arrest warrants and 165
related identifying data immediately upon determination of the 166
fact that the warrant cannot be served for the reasons stated. If 167
the warrant is subsequently served or withdrawn, the law 168
enforcement agency concerned must immediately notify the center of 169
the service or withdrawal. Also, the agency concerned must 170
annually, no later than January 31 of each year and at other times 171
if requested by the center, confirm all arrest warrants which 172
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continue to be outstanding. Upon receipt of a lawful expunction 173
order, the center shall purge and destroy files of all data 174
relating to an offense when an individual is subsequently 175
exonerated from criminal liability of that offense. The center 176
shall not be liable for the failure to purge, destroy or expunge 177
any records if an agency or court fails to forward to the center 178
proper documentation ordering the action. 179
(5) All persons in charge of state correctional institutions 180
shall obtain fingerprints, according to the fingerprint system of 181
identification established by the Director of the Federal Bureau 182
of Investigation or as otherwise directed by the center, and full 183
face and profile photographs of all persons received on commitment 184
to the institutions. The prints so taken shall be forwarded to 185
the center, together with any other identifying data requested, 186
within ten (10) days after the arrival at the institution of the 187
person committed. At the time of release, the institution will 188
again obtain fingerprints, as before, and forward them to the 189
center within ten (10) days, along with any other related 190
information requested by the center. The institution shall notify 191
the center immediately upon the release of the person. 192
(6) All persons in charge of law enforcement agencies, all 193
court clerks, all municipal justices where they have no clerks, 194
all justice court judges and all persons in charge of state and 195
county probation and parole offices, shall supply the center with 196
the information described in subsections (4) and (10) of this 197
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section on the basis of the forms and instructions for the 198
disposition form to be supplied by the center. 199
(7) All persons in charge of law enforcement agencies in 200
this state shall furnish the center with any other identifying 201
data required in accordance with guidelines established by the 202
center. All law enforcement agencies and correctional 203
institutions in this state having criminal identification files 204
shall cooperate in providing the center with copies of the items 205
in the files which will aid in establishing the nucleus of the 206
state criminal identification file. 207
(8) All law enforcement agencies within the state shall 208
report to the center, in a manner prescribed by the center, all 209
persons wanted by and all vehicles and identifiable property 210
stolen from their jurisdictions. The report shall be made as soon 211
as is practical after the investigating department or agency 212
either ascertains that a vehicle or identifiable property has been 213
stolen or obtains a warrant for an individual's arrest or 214
determines that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the 215
individual has committed a crime. The report shall be made within 216
a reasonable time period following the reporting department's or 217
agency's determination that it has grounds to believe that a 218
vehicle or property was stolen or that the wanted person should be 219
arrested. 220
(9) All law enforcement agencies in the state shall 221
immediately notify the center if at any time after making a report 222
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as required by subsection (8) of this section it is determined by 223
the reporting department or agency that a person is no longer 224
wanted or that a vehicle or property stolen has been recovered. 225
Furthermore, if the agency making the apprehension or recovery is 226
not the one which made the original report, then it shall 227
immediately notify the originating agency of the full particulars 228
relating to the apprehension or recovery using methods prescribed 229
by the center. 230
(10) (a) All law enforcement agencies in the state and 231
clerks of the various courts shall promptly report to the center 232
all instances where records of convictions of criminals are 233
ordered expunged by courts of this state as now provided by law. 234
The center shall promptly expunge from the files of the center and 235
destroy all records pertaining to any convictions that are ordered 236
expunged by the courts of this state as provided by law. 237
(b) All law enforcement agencies in the state and 238
clerks of the various courts shall promptly report to the center 239
all expungements of instances in which an arrest was made, the 240
person arrested was released and the case was dismissed or the 241
charges were dropped, there was no disposition of such case, or 242
the person was found not guilty at trial. The center shall 243
promptly expunge from the files of the center and destroy all 244
records pertaining to any such instances. 245
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(11) The center shall not be held liable for the failure to 246
purge, destroy or expunge records if an agency or court fails to 247
forward to the center proper documentation ordering the action. 248
(12) Any criminal justice department or agency making an 249
expenditure in excess of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) in any 250
calendar year on software or programming upgrades concerning a 251
computerized records management system or jail management system 252
shall ensure that the new or upgraded system is formatted to 253
Department of Justice approved XML format and that no impediments 254
to data sharing with other agencies or departments exist in the 255
software programming. 256
(13) (a) All law enforcement agencies within the state 257
shall: 258
(i) Implement an incident-based reporting system 259
within the agency or department that meets the reporting 260
requirements of the National Incident-Based Reporting System 261
(NIBRS) of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal 262
Bureau of Investigation; 263
(ii) Use the system described by subparagraph (i) 264
to submit to the center information and statistics concerning 265
criminal offenses committed in the jurisdiction of the local law 266
enforcement agency, in a manner prescribed by the center; and 267
(iii) Report the information as soon as is 268
practicable after the investigating agency or department 269
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ascertains that a qualifying crime has been committed in its 270
jurisdiction, once the state-level NIBRS Repository is available. 271
(b) No later than December 31, 2025, state and local 272
law enforcement agencies shall be compliant with all regulations 273
promulgated by the Department of Public Safety's Criminal 274
Information Center (CIC), with consultation with the President of 275
the Sheriffs Association and Mississippi Association of Chiefs of 276
Police with regard to the National Incident-Based Reporting System 277
(NIBRS) of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal 278
Bureau of Investigation. 279
SECTION 4. Section 45-27-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 280
brought forward as follows: 281
45-27-5. (1) There is hereby established within the 282
Mississippi Department of Public Safety a system for the 283
communication of vital information relating to crimes, criminals 284
and criminal activity to be known as the Mississippi Justice 285
Information Center. Central responsibility for the development, 286
maintenance and operation of the center shall be vested with the 287
Director of the Mississippi Justice Information Center. 288
(2) The director of the center shall maintain the necessary 289
staff to enable the effective and efficient performance of the 290
duties and responsibilities ascribed to the center. Such staff 291
shall include but not be limited to statistical analysis personnel 292
and field monitoring personnel, along with the support services to 293
be procured within state government. 294
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(3) All personnel of the center shall be subject to approval 295
by the State Personnel Board, with due recognition to be given to 296
the special qualifications and availability of the types of 297
individuals required for such employment. 298
SECTION 5. Section 45-27-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 299
brought forward as follows: 300
45-27-21. A certified copy of every expunction and 301
nonadjudication order shall be sent by the circuit clerk to the 302
Mississippi Criminal Information Center where it shall be 303
maintained in a separate confidential database accessible only 304
upon written request by a district attorney, a county prosecuting 305
attorney, a municipal court prosecuting attorney, the Attorney 306
General of Mississippi and the Mississippi Law Enforcement 307
Standards and Training Board. Any criminal conviction which has 308
been expunged or nonadjudicated may be used for the purpose of 309
determining habitual offender status and for the use of the 310
Mississippi Law Enforcement Standards and Training Board in giving 311
or retaining law enforcement certification, and to ensure that a 312
person is only eligible for first-offender status one (1) time. 313
SECTION 6. Section 99-19-72, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 314
brought forward as follows: 315
99-19-72. (1) A filing fee of One Hundred Fifty Dollars 316
($150.00) is hereby levied on each petition to expunge an offense 317
under Section 99-19-71 to be collected by the circuit clerk and 318
distributed as follows: 319
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ST: Acquittals and dismissals; require
automatic expunction of records of.
(a) One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) to be deposited into 320
the Judicial System Operation Fund; 321
(b) Forty Dollars ($40.00) to be deposited into the 322
District Attorneys Operation Fund; and 323
(c) Ten Dollars ($10.00) to be retained by the circuit 324
clerk collecting the fee for administration purposes. 325
(2) From and after July 1, 2016, the expenses of district 326
attorneys shall be defrayed by appropriation from the State 327
General Fund and all user charges and fees authorized by 328
paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall be 329
deposited into the State General Fund as authorized by law and as 330
determined by the State Fiscal Officer, and charges and fees 331
authorized by paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section 332
shall be retained by the circuit clerks for expenditures 333
authorized by law. 334
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from 335
and after July 1, 2026. 336