Chancery court; clarify authority to handle allegations of child abuse.

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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Zuber

HOUSE BILL NO. 550

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-151, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO CLARIFY THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHANCERY COURT TO HEAR CERTAIN 2
ABUSE ALLEGATIONS REGARDING A MINOR WHEN ALLEGATIONS ARISE DURING 3
A CUSTODY ACTION BETWEEN PARENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-261, 4
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHANCERY 5
COURT APPOINTED REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS OF CHILDREN; AND 6
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
43-21-151. (1) The youth court shall have exclusive 11
original jurisdiction in all proceedings concerning a delinquent 12
child, a child in need of supervision, a neglected child, an 13
abused child or a dependent child except in the following 14
circumstances: 15
(a) Any act attempted or committed by a child, which if 16
committed by an adult would be punishable under state or federal 17
law by life imprisonment or death, will be in the original 18
jurisdiction of the circuit court; 19
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(b) Any act attempted or committed by a child with the 20
use of a deadly weapon, the carrying of which concealed is 21
prohibited by Section 97-37-1, or a shotgun or a rifle, which 22
would be a felony if committed by an adult, will be in the 23
original jurisdiction of the circuit court; and 24
(c) When a charge of abuse or neglect of a child first 25
arises in the course of a custody action between the parents of 26
the child already pending in the chancery court and no notice of 27
such abuse was provided prior to such chancery proceedings, the 28
chancery court may proceed with the investigation, hearing and 29
determination of such abuse or neglect charge as a part of its 30
chancery court hearing and determination of the custody issue as 31
between the parents, notwithstanding the other provisions of the 32
Youth Court Law and without invoking the chancery court authority 33
to sit as youth court. The proceedings in chancery court on the 34
abuse or neglect charge shall be confidential in the same manner 35
as provided in youth court proceedings. 36
When a child is expelled from the public schools, the youth 37
court shall be notified of the act of expulsion and the act or 38
acts constituting the basis for expulsion. 39
(2) Jurisdiction of the child in the cause shall attach at 40
the time of the offense, or at the time of the allegation of 41
abuse, neglect or exploitation, and shall continue thereafter for 42
that offense or the allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation 43
until the child's twentieth birthday, unless sooner terminated by 44
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order of the youth court. The youth court shall not have 45
jurisdiction over offenses committed by a child on or after his 46
eighteenth birthday, nor have jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, or 47
exploitation committed against a child after their eighteenth 48
birthday. 49
(3) No child who has not reached his thirteenth birthday 50
shall be held criminally responsible or criminally prosecuted for 51
a misdemeanor or felony; however, the parent, guardian or 52
custodian of such child may be civilly liable for any criminal 53
acts of such child. No child under the jurisdiction of the youth 54
court shall be held criminally responsible or criminally 55
prosecuted by any court for any act designated as a delinquent 56
act, unless jurisdiction is transferred to another court under 57
Section 43-21-157. 58
(4) The youth court shall also have jurisdiction of offenses 59
committed by a child which have been transferred to the youth 60
court by an order of a circuit court of this state having original 61
jurisdiction of the offense, as provided by Section 43-21-159. 62
(5) The youth court shall regulate and approve the use of 63
teen court as provided in Section 43-21-753. 64
(6) Nothing in this section shall prevent the circuit court 65
from assuming jurisdiction over a youth who has committed an act 66
of delinquency upon a youth court's ruling that a transfer is 67
appropriate pursuant to Section 43-21-157. 68
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SECTION 2. Section 43-21-261, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 69
amended as follows: 70
43-21-261. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this 71
section, records involving children shall not be disclosed, other 72
than to necessary staff or officials of the youth court, a 73
guardian ad litem appointed to a child by the chancery or youth 74
court, or a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer who 75
may be assigned in a dependency, abuse or neglect case, except 76
pursuant to an order of the youth court specifying the person or 77
persons to whom the records may be disclosed, the extent of the 78
records which may be disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure. 79
Such court orders for disclosure shall be limited to those 80
instances in which the youth court concludes, in its discretion, 81
that disclosure is required for the best interests of the child, 82
the public safety, the functioning of the youth court, or to 83
identify a person who knowingly made a false allegation of child 84
abuse or neglect, and then only to the following persons: 85
(a) The judge of another youth court or member of 86
another youth court staff; 87
(b) The court of the parties in a child custody or 88
adoption cause in another court; 89
* * * 90
( * * *c) Representatives of a public or private agency 91
providing supervision or having custody of the child under order 92
of the youth court; 93
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( * * *d) Any person engaged in a bona fide research 94
purpose, provided that no information identifying the subject of 95
the records shall be made available to the researcher unless it is 96
absolutely essential to the research purpose and the judge gives 97
prior written approval, and the child, through his or her 98
representative, gives permission to release the information; 99
( * * *e) The Mississippi Department of Employment 100
Security, or its duly authorized representatives, for the purpose 101
of a child's enrollment into the Job Corps Training Program as 102
authorized by Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment Training 103
Act of 1973 (29 USCS Section 923 et seq.). However, no records, 104
reports, investigations or information derived therefrom 105
pertaining to child abuse or neglect shall be disclosed; 106
( * * *f) Any person pursuant to a finding by a judge 107
of the youth court of compelling circumstances affecting the 108
health, safety or well-being of a child and that such disclosure 109
is in the best interests of the child or an adult who was formerly 110
the subject of a youth court delinquency proceeding; 111
( * * *g) A person who was the subject of a knowingly 112
made false allegation of child abuse or neglect which has resulted 113
in a conviction of a perpetrator in accordance with Section 114
97-35-47 or which allegation was referred by the Department of 115
Child Protection Services to a prosecutor or law enforcement 116
official in accordance with the provisions of Section 117
43-21-353(4). 118
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Law enforcement agencies may disclose information to the 119
public concerning the taking of a child into custody for the 120
commission of a delinquent act without the necessity of an order 121
from the youth court. The information released shall not identify 122
the child or his address unless the information involves a child 123
convicted as an adult. 124
(2) Any records involving children which are disclosed under 125
an order of the youth court or pursuant to the terms of this 126
section and the contents thereof shall be kept confidential by the 127
person or agency to whom the record is disclosed unless otherwise 128
provided in the order. Any further disclosure of any records 129
involving children shall be made only under an order of the youth 130
court as provided in this section. 131
(3) Upon request, the parent, guardian or custodian of the 132
child who is the subject of a youth court cause * * *, any 133
attorney for such parent, guardian or custodian, or any guardian 134
ad litem appointed by the chancery court to the child shall have 135
the right to inspect any record, report or investigation relevant 136
to a matter to be heard by a youth court, except that the identity 137
of the reporter shall not be released, nor the name of any other 138
person where the person or agency making the information available 139
finds that disclosure of the information would be likely to 140
endanger the life or safety of such person. The attorney for the 141
parent, guardian or custodian of the child, upon request, shall be 142
provided a copy of any record, report or investigation relevant to 143
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a matter to be heard by a youth court, but the identity of the 144
reporter must be redacted and the name of any other person must 145
also be redacted if the person or agency making the information 146
available finds that disclosure of the information would be likely 147
to endanger the life, safety or well-being of the person. A 148
record provided to the attorney under this section must remain in 149
the attorney's control and the attorney may not provide copies or 150
access to another person or entity without prior consent of a 151
court with appropriate jurisdiction. 152
(4) Upon request, the child who is the subject of a youth 153
court cause shall have the right to have his counsel or guardian 154
ad litem appointed by the chancery court inspect and copy any 155
record, report or investigation which is filed with the youth 156
court or which is to be considered by the youth court at a 157
hearing. 158
(5) (a) The youth court prosecutor or prosecutors, the 159
county attorney, the district attorney, the youth court defender 160
or defenders, * * * any attorney representing a child, or any 161
guardian ad litem appointed by the chancery court shall have the 162
right to inspect and copy any law enforcement record involving 163
children. 164
(b) The Department of Child Protection Services shall 165
disclose to a county prosecuting attorney or district attorney any 166
and all records resulting from an investigation into suspected 167
child abuse or neglect when the case has been referred by the 168
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Department of Child Protection Services to the county prosecuting 169
attorney or district attorney for criminal prosecution. 170
(c) Agency records made confidential under the 171
provisions of this section may be disclosed to a court of 172
competent jurisdiction. 173
(d) Records involving children shall be disclosed to 174
the Division of Victim Compensation of the Office of the Attorney 175
General upon the division's request without order of the youth 176
court for purposes of determination of eligibility for victim 177
compensation benefits. 178
(e) Records involving children shall be disclosed to 179
the guardian ad litem appointed to the child. 180
(6) Information concerning an investigation into a report of 181
child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed by the Department of 182
Child Protection Services without order of the youth court to any 183
attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, 184
psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family 185
protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement 186
officer, or a public or private school employee making that report 187
pursuant to Section 43-21-353(1) if the reporter has a continuing 188
professional relationship with the child and a need for such 189
information in order to protect or treat the child. 190
(7) Information concerning an investigation into a report of 191
child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further 192
order of the youth court to any interagency child abuse task force 193
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established in any county or municipality by order of the youth 194
court of that county or municipality. 195
(8) Names and addresses of juveniles twice adjudicated as 196
delinquent for an act which would be a felony if committed by an 197
adult or for the unlawful possession of a firearm shall not be 198
held confidential and shall be made available to the public. 199
(9) Names and addresses of juveniles adjudicated as 200
delinquent for murder, manslaughter, burglary, arson, armed 201
robbery, aggravated assault, any sex offense as defined in Section 202
45-33-23, for any violation of Section 41-29-139(a)(1) or for any 203
violation of Section 63-11-30, shall not be held confidential and 204
shall be made available to the public. 205
(10) The judges of the circuit and county courts, and 206
presentence investigators for the circuit courts, as provided in 207
Section 47-7-9, shall have the right to inspect any youth court 208
records of a person convicted of a crime for sentencing purposes 209
only. 210
(11) The victim of an offense committed by a child who is 211
the subject of a youth court cause shall have the right to be 212
informed of the child's disposition by the youth court. 213
(12) A classification hearing officer of the State 214
Department of Corrections, as provided in Section 47-5-103, shall 215
have the right to inspect any youth court records, excluding abuse 216
and neglect records, of any offender in the custody of the 217
department who as a child or minor was a juvenile offender or was 218
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the subject of a youth court cause of action, and the State Parole 219
Board, as provided in Section 47-7-17, shall have the right to 220
inspect such records when the offender becomes eligible for 221
parole. 222
(13) The youth court shall notify the Department of Public 223
Safety of the name, and any other identifying information such 224
department may require, of any child who is adjudicated delinquent 225
as a result of a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances 226
Law. 227
(14) The Administrative Office of Courts shall have the 228
right to inspect any youth court records in order that the number 229
of youthful offenders, abused, neglected, truant and dependent 230
children, as well as children in need of special care and children 231
in need of supervision, may be tracked with specificity through 232
the youth court and adult justice system, and to utilize tracking 233
forms for such purpose. 234
(15) Upon a request by a youth court, the Administrative 235
Office of Courts shall disclose all information at its disposal 236
concerning any previous youth court intakes alleging that a child 237
was a delinquent child, child in need of supervision, child in 238
need of special care, truant child, abused child or neglected 239
child, as well as any previous youth court adjudications for the 240
same and all dispositional information concerning a child who at 241
the time of such request comes under the jurisdiction of the youth 242
court making such request. 243
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(16) The Administrative Office of Courts may, in its 244
discretion, disclose to the Department of Public Safety any or all 245
of the information involving children contained in the office's 246
youth court data management system known as Mississippi Youth 247
Court Information Delivery System or "MYCIDS." 248
(17) The youth courts of the state shall disclose to the 249
Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and 250
Expenditure Review (PEER) any youth court records in order that 251
the number of youthful offenders, abused, neglected, truant and 252
dependent children, as well as children in need of special care 253
and children in need of supervision, may be tracked with 254
specificity through the youth court and adult justice system, and 255
to utilize tracking forms for such purpose. The disclosure 256
prescribed in this subsection shall not require a court order and 257
shall be made in sortable, electronic format where possible. The 258
PEER Committee may seek the assistance of the Administrative 259
Office of Courts in seeking this information. The PEER Committee 260
shall not disclose the identities of any youth who have been 261
adjudicated in the youth courts of the state and shall only use 262
the disclosed information for the purpose of monitoring the 263
effectiveness and efficiency of programs established to assist 264
adjudicated youth, and to ascertain the incidence of adjudicated 265
youth who become adult offenders. 266
(18) In every case where an abuse or neglect allegation has 267
been made, the confidentiality provisions of this section shall 268
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not apply to prohibit access to a child's records by any state 269
regulatory agency, any state or local prosecutorial agency or law 270
enforcement agency; however, no identifying information concerning 271
the child in question may be released to the public by such agency 272
except as otherwise provided herein. 273
(19) In every case of child abuse or neglect, if a child's 274
physical condition is medically labeled as medically "serious" or 275
"critical" or a child dies, the confidentiality provisions of this 276
section shall not apply. In such cases, the following information 277
may be released by the Mississippi Department of Child Protection 278
Services: the cause of the circumstances regarding the fatality 279
or medically serious or critical physical condition; the age and 280
gender of the child; information describing any previous reports 281
of child abuse or neglect investigations that are pertinent to the 282
child abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or medically 283
serious or critical physical condition; the result of any such 284
investigations; and the services provided by and actions of the 285
state on behalf of the child that are pertinent to the child abuse 286
or neglect that led to the fatality or medically serious or 287
critical physical condition. 288
(20) Any member of a foster care review board designated by 289
the Department of Child Protection Services shall have the right 290
to inspect youth court records relating to the abuse, neglect or 291
child in need of supervision cases assigned to such member for 292
review. 293
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(21) Information concerning an investigation into a report 294
of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further 295
order of the youth court in any administrative or due process 296
hearing held, pursuant to Section 43-21-257, by the Department of 297
Child Protection Services for individuals whose names will be 298
placed on the central registry as substantiated perpetrators. 299
(22) The Department of Child Protection Services may 300
disclose records involving children to the following: 301
(a) A foster home, residential child-caring agency or 302
child-placing agency to the extent necessary to provide such care 303
and services to a child; 304
(b) An individual, agency or organization that provides 305
services to a child or the child's family in furtherance of the 306
child's permanency plan to the extent necessary in providing those 307
services; 308
(c) Health and mental health care providers of a child 309
to the extent necessary for the provider to properly treat and 310
care for the child; 311
(d) An educational institution or educational services 312
provider where the child is enrolled or where enrollment is 313
anticipated to the extent necessary for the school to provide 314
appropriate services to the child; 315
(e) Any state agency or board that administers student 316
financial assistance programs. However, any records request under 317
this paragraph shall be initiated by the agency or board for the 318
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ST: Chancery court; clarify authority to handle
allegations of child abuse.
purpose determining the child's eligibility for student financial 319
assistance, and any disclosure shall be limited to the 320
verification of the child's age during the period of time in which 321
the child was in the department's legal custody; and 322
(f) Any other state agency if the disclosure is 323
necessary to the department in fulfilling its statutory 324
responsibilities in protecting the best interests of the child. 325
(23) Nothing in this section or chapter shall require youth 326
court approval for disclosure of records involving children as 327
defined in Section 43-21-105(u), if the disclosure is made in a 328
criminal matter by a municipal or county prosecutor, a district 329
attorney or statewide prosecutor, pursuant to the Mississippi 330
Rules of Criminal Procedure and the records are disclosed under a 331
protective order issued by the Circuit Court presiding over the 332
criminal matter which incorporates the penalties stated in Section 333
43-21-267. 334
(24) The provisions of this section shall stand repealed on 335
July 1, * * * 2028. 336
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 337
and after July 1, 2026. 338