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To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Johnson
SENATE BILL NO. 2074
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-95, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE THAT A PERSON IS GUILTY OF SEXUAL BATTERY IF HE OR SHE 2
ENGAGES IN SEXUAL PENETRATION WITH A CHILD AT LEAST 16 BUT UNDER 3
EIGHTEEN 18 YEARS OF AGE, IF THE PERSON IS 24 YEARS OF AGE OR 4
OLDER; TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-101, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 5
REVISE THE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR SEXUAL BATTERY TO CONFORM; TO 6
AMEND SECTIONS 93-21-25 AND 99-3-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 7
CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 97-3-95, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
97-3-95. (1) A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or 12
she engages in sexual penetration with: 13
(a) Another person without his or her consent; 14
(b) A mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or 15
physically helpless person; 16
(c) A child at least fourteen (14) but under sixteen 17
(16) years of age, if the person is thirty-six (36) or more months 18
older than the child; * * * 19
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(d) A child under the age of fourteen (14) years of 20
age, if the person is twenty-four (24) or more months older than 21
the child; or 22
(e) A child at least sixteen (16) but under eighteen 23
(18) years of age, if the person is twenty-four (24) years of age 24
or older. 25
(2) A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she 26
engages in sexual penetration with a child under the age of 27
eighteen (18) years if the person is in a position of trust or 28
authority over the child including, without limitation, the 29
child's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, 30
minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal 31
guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach. 32
SECTION 2. Section 97-3-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 33
amended as follows: 34
97-3-101. (1) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual 35
battery under Section 97-3-95(1)(a), (b) or (2) shall be 36
imprisoned in the State Penitentiary for a period of not more than 37
thirty (30) years, and for a second or subsequent such offense 38
shall be imprisoned in the Penitentiary for not more than forty 39
(40) years. 40
(2) (a) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual 41
battery under Section 97-3-95(1)(c) who is at least eighteen (18) 42
but under twenty-one (21) years of age shall be imprisoned for not 43
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more than five (5) years in the State Penitentiary or fined not 44
more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both; 45
(b) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual 46
battery under Section 97-3-95(1)(c) who is twenty-one (21) years 47
of age or older shall be imprisoned not more than thirty (30) 48
years in the State Penitentiary or fined not more than Ten 49
Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both, for the first offense, and 50
not more than forty (40) years in the State Penitentiary for each 51
subsequent offense. 52
(3) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual battery 53
under Section 97-3-95(1)(d) who is eighteen (18) years of age or 54
older shall be imprisoned for life in the State Penitentiary or 55
such lesser term of imprisonment as the court may determine, but 56
not less than twenty (20) years. 57
(4) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual battery 58
under Section 97-3-95(1)(e) shall be imprisoned for not less than 59
two (2) years nor more than fifteen (15) years in the State 60
Penitentiary or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars 61
($5,000.00), or both. Upon a second, or subsequent, conviction 62
under this section or a first conviction under this section where 63
a person has a prior conviction for a substantially similar 64
offense under the laws of another state, the person so convicted 65
shall be imprisoned for not less than five (5) years nor more than 66
twenty (20) years in the State Penitentiary or fined not more than 67
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 68
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( * * *5) Every person who shall be convicted of sexual 69
battery who is thirteen (13) years of age or older but under 70
eighteen (18) years of age shall be sentenced to such 71
imprisonment, fine or other sentence as the court, in its 72
discretion, may determine. 73
( * * *6) (a) Upon conviction under this section, the court 74
may issue a criminal sexual assault protection order prohibiting 75
the offender from any contact with the victim, without regard to 76
the relationship between the victim and offender. The court may 77
include in a criminal sexual assault protection order any relief 78
available under Section 93-21-15. The term of a criminal sexual 79
assault protection order shall be for a time period determined by 80
the court, but all orders shall, at a minimum, remain in effect 81
for a period of two (2) years following the expiration of any 82
sentence of imprisonment and subsequent period of community 83
supervision, conditional release, probation, or parole. Upon 84
issuance of a criminal sexual assault protection order, the clerk 85
of the issuing court shall enter the order in the Mississippi 86
Protection Order Registry within twenty-four (24) hours of 87
issuance with no exceptions for weekends or holidays as provided 88
in Section 93-21-25, and a copy must be provided to both the 89
victim and offender. 90
(b) Criminal sexual assault protection orders shall be 91
issued on the standardized form developed by the Office of the 92
Attorney General. 93
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(c) It is a misdemeanor to knowingly violate any 94
condition of a criminal sexual assault protection order. Upon 95
conviction for a violation, the defendant shall be punished by a 96
fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by 97
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, 98
or both. Any sentence imposed for the violation of a criminal 99
sexual assault protection order shall run consecutively to any 100
other sentences imposed on the offender. The court may extend the 101
criminal sexual assault protection order for a period of one (1) 102
year for each violation. The incarceration of a person at the 103
time of the violation is not a bar to prosecution under this 104
section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 105
prohibit the imposition of any other penalties or disciplinary 106
action otherwise allowed by law or policy. 107
SECTION 3. Section 93-21-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 108
amended as follows: 109
93-21-25. (1) In order to provide a statewide registry for 110
protection orders and to aid law enforcement, prosecutors and 111
courts in handling such matters, the Attorney General is 112
authorized to create and administer a Mississippi Protection Order 113
Registry. The Attorney General's office shall implement policies 114
and procedures governing access to the registry by authorized 115
users, which shall include provisions addressing the 116
confidentiality of any information which may tend to reveal the 117
location or identity of a victim of domestic abuse. 118
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(2) All orders issued pursuant to Sections 93-21-1 through 119
93-21-29, 97-3-7(11), 97-3-65(6) or * * * 97-3-101(6) will be 120
maintained in the Mississippi Protection Order Registry. It shall 121
be the duty of the clerk of the issuing court to enter all civil 122
and criminal domestic abuse protection orders and all criminal 123
sexual assault protection orders, including any modifications, 124
amendments or dismissals of such orders, into the Mississippi 125
Protection Order Registry within twenty-four (24) hours of 126
issuance with no exceptions for weekends or holidays. A separate 127
copy of any order shall be provided to the sheriff's department 128
TAC officers of the county of the issuing court. The copy may be 129
provided in electronic format. Each qualifying protection order 130
submitted to the Mississippi Protection Order Registry shall be 131
automatically transmitted to the National Criminal Information 132
Center Protection Order File. Failure of the clerk to enter the 133
order into the registry or to provide a copy of the order to law 134
enforcement shall have no effect on the validity or enforcement of 135
an otherwise valid protection order. 136
Any information regarding the registration or issuance of a 137
civil or criminal domestic abuse protection order or a criminal 138
sexual assault protection order, or the filing of a petition for a 139
civil domestic abuse protection order which is maintained in the 140
Mississippi Protection Order Registry and would tend to reveal the 141
identity or location of the protected person(s) shall not 142
constitute a public record and shall be exempt from disclosure 143
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pursuant to the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This 144
information may be disclosed to appropriate law enforcement, 145
prosecutors or courts for protection order enforcement purposes. 146
SECTION 4. Section 99-3-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 147
amended as follows: 148
99-3-7. (1) An officer or private person may arrest any 149
person without warrant, for an indictable offense committed, or a 150
breach of the peace threatened or attempted in his presence; or 151
when a person has committed a felony, though not in his presence; 152
or when a felony has been committed, and he has reasonable ground 153
to suspect and believe the person proposed to be arrested to have 154
committed it; or on a charge, made upon reasonable cause, of the 155
commission of a felony by the party proposed to be arrested. And 156
in all cases of arrests without warrant, the person making such 157
arrest must inform the accused of the object and cause of the 158
arrest, except when he is in the actual commission of the offense, 159
or is arrested on pursuit. 160
(2) Any law enforcement officer may arrest any person on a 161
misdemeanor charge without having a warrant in his possession when 162
a warrant is in fact outstanding for that person's arrest and the 163
officer has knowledge through official channels that the warrant 164
is outstanding for that person's arrest. In all such cases, the 165
officer making the arrest must inform such person at the time of 166
the arrest the object and cause therefor. If the person arrested 167
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so requests, the warrant shall be shown to him as soon as 168
practicable. 169
(3) (a) Any law enforcement officer shall arrest a person 170
with or without a warrant when he has probable cause to believe 171
that the person has, within twenty-four (24) hours of such arrest, 172
knowingly committed a misdemeanor or felony that is an act of 173
domestic violence or knowingly violated provisions of a criminal 174
domestic violence or sexual assault protection order issued 175
pursuant to Section 97-3-7(11), 97-3-65(6) or * * * 97-3-101(6) or 176
an ex parte protective order, protective order after hearing or 177
court-approved consent agreement entered by a chancery, circuit, 178
county, justice or municipal court pursuant to the Protection from 179
Domestic Abuse Law, Sections 93-21-1 through 93-21-29, Mississippi 180
Code of 1972, or a restraining order entered by a foreign court of 181
competent jurisdiction to protect an applicant from domestic 182
violence. 183
(b) If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to 184
believe that two (2) or more persons committed an act of domestic 185
violence as defined herein, or if two (2) or more persons make 186
complaints of domestic violence to the officer, the officer shall 187
attempt to determine who was the principal aggressor. The term 188
principal aggressor is defined as the party who poses the most 189
serious ongoing threat, or who is the most significant, rather 190
than the first, aggressor. The officer shall presume that arrest 191
is not the appropriate response for the person or persons who were 192
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not the principal aggressor. If the officer affirmatively finds 193
more than one (1) principal aggressor was involved, the officer 194
shall document those findings. 195
(c) To determine which party was the principal 196
aggressor, the officer shall consider the following factors, 197
although such consideration is not limited to these factors: 198
(i) Evidence from the persons involved in the 199
domestic abuse; 200
(ii) The history of domestic abuse between the 201
parties, the likelihood of future injury to each person, and the 202
intent of the law to protect victims of domestic violence from 203
continuing abuse; 204
(iii) Whether one (1) of the persons acted in 205
self-defense; and 206
(iv) Evidence from witnesses of the domestic 207
violence. 208
(d) A law enforcement officer shall not base the 209
decision of whether to arrest on the consent or request of the 210
victim. 211
(e) A law enforcement officer's determination regarding 212
the existence of probable cause or the lack of probable cause 213
shall not adversely affect the right of any party to independently 214
seek appropriate remedies. 215
(4) (a) Any person authorized by a court of law to 216
supervise or monitor a convicted offender who is under an 217
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intensive supervision program may arrest the offender when the 218
offender is in violation of the terms or conditions of the 219
intensive supervision program, without having a warrant, provided 220
that the person making the arrest has been trained at the Law 221
Enforcement Officers Training Academy established under Section 222
45-5-1 et seq., or at a course approved by the Board on Law 223
Enforcement Officer Standards and Training. 224
(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the term 225
"intensive supervision program" means an intensive supervision 226
program of the Department of Corrections as described in Section 227
47-5-1001 et seq., or any similar program authorized by a court 228
for offenders who are not under jurisdiction of the Department of 229
Corrections. 230
(5) As used in subsection (3) of this section, the phrase 231
"misdemeanor or felony that is an act of domestic violence" shall 232
mean one or more of the following acts between current or former 233
spouses or a child of current or former spouses, persons living as 234
spouses or who formerly lived as spouses or a child of persons 235
living as spouses or who formerly lived as spouses, a parent, 236
grandparent, child, grandchild or someone similarly situated to 237
the defendant, persons who have a current or former dating 238
relationship, or persons who have a biological or legally adopted 239
child together: 240
(a) Simple or aggravated domestic violence within the 241
meaning of Section 97-3-7; 242
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(b) Disturbing the family or public peace within the 243
meaning of Section 97-35-9, 97-35-11, 97-35-13 or 97-35-15; or 244
(c) Stalking within the meaning of Section 97-3-107. 245
(6) Any arrest made pursuant to subsection (3) of this 246
section shall be designated as domestic assault or domestic 247
violence on both the arrest docket and the incident report. Any 248
officer investigating a complaint of a misdemeanor or felony that 249
is a crime of domestic violence who finds probable cause that such 250
an offense has occurred within the past twenty-four (24) hours 251
shall file an affidavit on behalf of the victim(s) of the crime, 252
regardless of whether an arrest is made within that time period. 253
If the crime is reported or investigated outside of that 254
twenty-four-hour period, the officer may file the affidavit on 255
behalf of the victim. In the event the officer does not file an 256
affidavit on behalf of the victim, the officer shall instruct the 257
victim of the procedure for filing on his or her own behalf. 258
(7) A law enforcement officer shall not be held liable in 259
any civil action for an arrest based on probable cause and in good 260
faith pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, or failure, in 261
good faith, to make an arrest pursuant to subsection (3) of this 262
section. 263
(8) The authority for the State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal 264
and deputy state fire marshals to make arrests shall be governed 265
by the provisions of Section 45-11-1. 266
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ST: Sexual battery; create crime of for certain
minors.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 267
and after July 1, 2026. 268