Youth and Community Safety Act; create.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Hines

HOUSE BILL NO. 94

AN ACT TO CREATE THE YOUTH AND COMMUNITY SAFETY ACT; TO 1
REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO ANNUALLY REPORT CERTAIN UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY TO 2
THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT 3
TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC DATA CONCERNING SUCH UNLAWFUL 4
ACTIVITY; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE ONGOING STAFF 5
TRAINING, STRATEGIES AND EVIDENCED-BASED PRACTICES TO CREATE SAFE, 6
POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT IMPROVE SCHOOL DISTRICT SAFETY 7
FOR YOUTH, LAW ENFORCEMENT, DISTRICT STAFF AND PARENTS; TO BRING 8
FORWARD SECTION 37-11-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES 9
OF AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 10
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 11
SECTION 1. (1) Each school shall annually report the 12
unlawful activity, as required under Section 37-11-29, to the 13
local school district. Further, each school district shall submit 14
quarterly reports to the Mississippi Department of Education for a 15
minimum of two (2) years beginning from and after July 1, 2026, of 16
the reported unlawful activity. The Mississippi Department of 17
Education shall release an annual report concerning the collected 18
data from the unlawful activity reports submitted by each school 19
district, and the annual report shall be made available online via 20
the department's Mississippi Achievement and Accountability 21
Reporting System (MAARS) database. 22
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(2) The required public report of the Mississippi Department 23
of Education shall be released by the department and shall 24
include, but not be limited to, the following: 25
(a) The number of students referred to the juvenile 26
justice system; and 27
(b) The classification of such students on the basis of 28
race and ethnicity. 29
Such report shall be separate from the required reporting 30
that is set out under Section 37-11-29. 31
SECTION 2. (1) No later than July 1, 2027, the Mississippi 32
Department of Education shall develop and provide evidenced-based 33
training curriculum to support school districts in creating safe, 34
positive learning environments that improve district safety and 35
benefit all youth, law enforcement, district staff and parents. 36
The training curriculum developed under this section shall include 37
on-going staff training in the following areas: 38
(a) Reducing the number of youth referred to law 39
enforcement agencies for unlawful activity defined under Section 40
37-11-29; 41
(b) Alternatives to arrest; 42
(c) Training in cultural competency and the ability to 43
form a positive relationship with students; 44
(d) Methods for improving and coordinating all aspects 45
of law enforcement's role in youth disciplinary matters; 46
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(e) Developing new methods for the prevention and 47
reduction of incidents referred to law enforcement agencies; 48
(f) Evidenced-based positive behavior intervention; 49
(g) Restorative justice principals; 50
(h) Implementation of successful, evidenced-based 51
programs, services, and systems that already exist to target 52
improving school discipline. 53
The training curriculum required in this subsection (1) shall 54
be made available on the Mississippi Department of Education's 55
website. 56
(2) In addition, the State Department of Education shall 57
develop strategies for school districts, law enforcement agencies 58
and other community organizations to collaborate on reducing 59
student involvement in the juvenile justice system. Such 60
strategies shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 61
(a) Educating all parties on the unforeseen negative 62
consequences of arresting a youth; 63
(b) Timing of notification of when district staff 64
administrators should be informed before a student is arrested; 65
(c) The types of youth arrests that are 66
counter-productive to community safety and should not occur; 67
(d) Evidenced-based practices for: 68
(i) Alternatives to arresting students and 69
reducing the number of youth entering the criminal justice system; 70
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(ii) Improving interactions with youth, parents, 71
law enforcement, administrators and educators; 72
(iii) De-escalation methods, alternatives to the 73
use of force against students and reducing the use of force; 74
(iv) Improving the opportunities for positive 75
interaction with the students; 76
(v) Reducing the opportunities for negative school 77
resource officer interaction with students; 78
(vi) Eliminating the use of zero tolerance 79
policies; and 80
(vii) Maximizing resources in order to increase 81
staff assigned to improving and evaluating student behavior across 82
the district. 83
SECTION 3. Section 37-11-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 84
brought forward as follows: 85
37-11-29. (1) Any principal, teacher or other school 86
employee who has knowledge of any unlawful activity which occurred 87
on educational property or during a school related activity or 88
which may have occurred shall report such activity to the 89
superintendent of the school district or his designee who shall 90
notify the appropriate law enforcement officials as required by 91
this section. In the event of an emergency or if the 92
superintendent or his designee is unavailable, any principal may 93
make a report required under this subsection. 94
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(2) Whenever any person who shall be an enrolled student in 95
any school or educational institution in this state supported in 96
whole or in part by public funds, or who shall be an enrolled 97
student in any private school or educational institution, is 98
arrested for, and lawfully charged with, the commission of any 99
crime and convicted upon the charge for which he was arrested, or 100
convicted of any crime charged against him after his arrest and 101
before trial, the office or law enforcement department of which 102
the arresting officer is a member, and the justice court judge and 103
any circuit judge or court before whom such student is tried upon 104
said charge or charges, shall make or cause to be made a report 105
thereof to the superintendent or the president or chancellor, as 106
the case may be, of the school district or other educational 107
institution in which such student is enrolled. 108
If the charge upon which such student was arrested, or any 109
other charges preferred against him are dismissed or nol prossed, 110
or if upon trial he is either convicted or acquitted of such 111
charge or charges, same shall be reported to said respective 112
superintendent or president, or chancellor, as the case may be. A 113
copy of said report shall be sent to the Secretary of the Board of 114
Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning of the State of 115
Mississippi, at Jackson, Mississippi. 116
Said report shall be made within one (1) week after the 117
arrest of such student and within one (1) week after any charge 118
placed against him is dismissed or nol prossed, and within one (1) 119
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week after he shall have pled guilty, been convicted, or have been 120
acquitted by trial upon any charge placed against him. This 121
section shall not apply to ordinary traffic violations involving a 122
penalty of less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and costs. 123
The State Superintendent of Public Education shall gather 124
annually all of the reports provided under this section and 125
prepare a report on the number of students arrested as a result of 126
any unlawful activity which occurred on educational property or 127
during a school related activity. All data must be disaggregated 128
by race, ethnicity, gender, school, offense and law enforcement 129
agency involved. However, the report prepared by the State 130
Superintendent of Public Education shall not include the identity 131
of any student who was arrested. 132
On or before January 1 of each year, the State Superintendent 133
of Public Education shall report to the Governor, the Lieutenant 134
Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 135
Joint PEER Committee on this section. The report must include 136
data regarding arrests as a result of any unlawful activity which 137
occurred on educational property or during a school related 138
activity. 139
(3) When the superintendent or his designee has a reasonable 140
belief that an act has occurred on educational property or during 141
a school related activity involving any of the offenses set forth 142
in subsection (6) of this section, the superintendent or his 143
designee shall immediately report the act to the appropriate local 144
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law enforcement agency. For purposes of this subsection, "school 145
property" shall include any public school building, bus, public 146
school campus, grounds, recreational area or athletic field in the 147
charge of the superintendent. The State Board of Education shall 148
prescribe a form for making reports required under this 149
subsection. Any superintendent or his designee who fails to make 150
a report required by this section shall be subject to the 151
penalties provided in Section 37-11-35. 152
(4) The law enforcement authority shall immediately dispatch 153
an officer to the educational institution and with probable cause 154
the officer is authorized to make an arrest if necessary as 155
provided in Section 99-3-7. 156
(5) Any superintendent, principal, teacher or other school 157
personnel participating in the making of a required report 158
pursuant to this section or participating in any judicial 159
proceeding resulting therefrom shall be presumed to be acting in 160
good faith. Any person reporting in good faith shall be immune 161
from any civil liability that might otherwise be incurred or 162
imposed. 163
(6) For purposes of this section, "unlawful activity" means 164
any of the following: 165
(a) Possession or use of a deadly weapon, as defined in 166
Section 97-37-1; 167
(b) Possession, sale or use of any controlled 168
substance; 169
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ST: Youth and Community Safety Act; create.
(c) Aggravated assault, as defined in Section 97-3-7; 170
(d) Simple assault, as defined in Section 97-3-7, upon 171
any school employee; 172
(e) Rape, as defined under Mississippi law; 173
(f) Sexual battery, as defined under Mississippi law; 174
(g) Murder, as defined under Mississippi law; 175
(h) Kidnapping, as defined under Mississippi law; or 176
(i) Fondling, touching, handling, etc., a child for 177
lustful purposes, as defined in Section 97-5-23. 178
For the purposes of this subsection (6), the term "controlled 179
substance" does not include the possession or use of medical 180
cannabis that is lawful under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act 181
and in compliance with rules and regulations adopted thereunder. 182
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 183
and after July 1, 2026. 184