Delinquency of a minor; include causing a child to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Law as.

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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Scott

HOUSE BILL NO. 88

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY CAUSES A CHILD TO VIOLATE 2
THE UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE LAW OR TO PARTICIPATE IN GANGS OR 3
GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES SHALL BE GUILTY OF CONTRIBUTING TO THE 4
DELINQUENCY OF A MINOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 6
SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 7
amended as follows: 8
97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 9
section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, 10
knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance 11
of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to 12
contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act 13
or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in 14
Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids 15
any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship 16
or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly 17
harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child 18
who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship 19
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or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child 20
shall have been committed by the youth court, or knowingly causes 21
any child to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Law, or 22
knowingly causes any child to participate in gang or gang related 23
activities, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 24
shall be punished by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars 25
($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in 26
jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 27
(b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a 28
person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who 29
has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for 30
a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not 31
considered a child for the purposes of this statute. 32
(c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts 33
in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another 34
child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in 35
youth court. 36
(d) If the parent has failed to provide the child with 37
food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health 38
of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability 39
unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child 40
is in imminent risk of harm, or the parent is unwilling to provide 41
reasonably necessary medical care, though that medical care does 42
not include recommended or optional vaccinations against childhood 43
or any other disease, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment 44
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in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five 45
(5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand 46
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. 47
(e) A parent, legal guardian or other person who 48
knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a 49
child is guilty of neglect of a child and may be sentenced to 50
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for 51
not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more 52
than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 53
(2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in 54
the following circumstances: 55
(a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person 56
shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 57
(i) Burn any child; 58
(ii) Torture any child; 59
(iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way 60
interfere with any child's breathing; 61
(iv) Poison a child; 62
(v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to 63
sustain life or growth; 64
(vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; 65
(b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, 66
and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 67
(i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; 68
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(ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) 69
about the face or head with a closed fist; 70
(iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in 71
the face or head; 72
(iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; 73
circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this 74
subparagraph (iv); 75
(c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually 76
occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or 77
recklessly: 78
(i) Strike any child on the face or head; 79
(ii) Disfigure or scar any child; 80
(iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; 81
(d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or 82
(c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to 83
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a 84
term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined 85
by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of 86
this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in 87
the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not 88
less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as 89
determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction 90
under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to 91
imprisonment for life. 92
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(e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily 93
harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not 94
limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, 95
and external or internal swelling of any body organ. 96
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious 97
bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and 98
includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent 99
disfigurement, permanent scarring, or any internal bleeding or 100
internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the 101
eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any 102
bodily function. 103
(g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" 104
means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an 105
individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, 106
whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or 107
suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious 108
physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is 109
intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not 110
limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to 111
sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly 112
physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme 113
temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child 114
in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress 115
positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. 116
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(h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this 117
subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a 118
child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in 119
loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in 120
a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or 121
reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or 122
child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense 123
to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. 124
(i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal 125
punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs 126
(a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious 127
bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) 128
of this subsection. 129
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 130
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 131
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 132
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 133
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 134
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 135
section. 136
(4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers 137
a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the 138
child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or 139
possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent 140
to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as 141
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prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of 142
child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not 143
more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than 144
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 145
(b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to 146
the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may 147
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years 148
or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars 149
($20,000.00), or both. 150
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 151
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 152
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 153
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 154
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 155
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 156
section. 157
(6) After consultation with the Department of Child 158
Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an 159
appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or 160
execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of 161
this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a 162
specified period of time at any approved public or private 163
treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in 164
lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. 165
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ST: Delinquency of a minor; include causing a
child to violate the Uniform Controlled
Substances Law as.
(7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant 166
to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the 167
physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or 168
condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground 169
that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient 170
privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The 171
physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless 172
introduced as an exhibit to his testimony. 173
(8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of 174
this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or 175
municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that 176
nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the 177
youth court. 178
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 179
and after July 1, 2026. 180