Read the full stored bill text
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 1
To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Fillingane
SENATE BILL NO. 2110
(As Sent to Governor)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE THAT IF A PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN OR OTHER PERSON 2
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILD DEPRIVES THE CHILD OF NECESSARY 3
SUPERVISION APPROPRIATE TO THE CHILD'S AGE RESULTING IN 4
SUBSTANTIAL HARM TO THE CHILD'S PHYSICAL, MENTAL, OR EMOTIONAL 5
HEALTH, THE PERSON MAY BE SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT; TO PROVIDE 6
CRIMINAL PENALTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 11
section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, 12
knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance 13
of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to 14
contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act 15
or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in 16
Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids 17
any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship 18
or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly 19
harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child 20
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 2
who has absented himself or herself without permission from the 21
guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution to 22
which the child shall have been committed by the youth court shall 23
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished 24
by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by 25
imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such 26
fine and imprisonment. 27
(b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a 28
person who has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday. A 29
child who has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday and is on 30
active duty for a branch of the armed services, or who is married, 31
is not 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
in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five 45
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 3
(5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand 46
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. 47
(e) If a parent, legal guardian or other person 48
responsible for the child deprives the child of necessary 49
supervision appropriate to the child's age resulting in 50
substantial harm to the child's physical health, the person may be 51
sentenced to imprisonment in custody of the Department of 52
Corrections for not more than five (5) years or to payment of a 53
fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or both, 54
or, in the discretion of the prosecuting attorney, by a fine of 55
not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or confinement in 56
the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both. 57
(f) A parent, legal guardian or other person who 58
knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a 59
child is guilty of neglect of a child and may be sentenced to 60
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for 61
not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more 62
than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 63
(2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in 64
the following circumstances: 65
(a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person 66
shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 67
(i) Burn any child; 68
(ii) Torture any child; 69
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 4
(iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way 70
interfere with any child's breathing; 71
(iv) Poison a child; 72
(v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to 73
sustain life or growth; 74
(vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; 75
(b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, 76
and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 77
(i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; 78
(ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) 79
about the face or head with a closed fist; 80
(iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in 81
the face or head; 82
(iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; 83
circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this 84
subparagraph (iv); 85
(c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually 86
occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or 87
recklessly: 88
(i) Strike any child on the face or head; 89
(ii) Disfigure or scar any child; 90
(iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; 91
(d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or 92
(c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to 93
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a 94
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 5
term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined 95
by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of 96
this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in 97
the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not 98
less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as 99
determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction 100
under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to 101
imprisonment for life. 102
(e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily 103
harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not 104
limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, 105
and external or internal swelling of any body organ. 106
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious 107
bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and 108
includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent 109
disfigurement, permanent scarring, or any internal bleeding or 110
internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the 111
eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any 112
bodily function. 113
(g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" 114
means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an 115
individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, 116
whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or 117
suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious 118
physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is 119
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 6
intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not 120
limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to 121
sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly 122
physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme 123
temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child 124
in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress 125
positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. 126
(h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this 127
subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a 128
child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in 129
loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in 130
a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or 131
reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or 132
child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense 133
to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. 134
(i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal 135
punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs 136
(a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious 137
bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) 138
of this subsection. 139
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 140
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 141
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 142
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 143
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 144
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 7
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 145
section. 146
(4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers 147
a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the 148
child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or 149
possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent 150
to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as 151
prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of 152
child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not 153
more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than 154
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 155
(b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to 156
the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may 157
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years 158
or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars 159
($20,000.00), or both. 160
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 161
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 162
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 163
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 164
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 165
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 166
section. 167
(6) After consultation with the Department of Child 168
Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an 169
S. B. No. 2110 *SS26/R448SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS26/R448SG
PAGE 8
ST: Child neglect; create crime related to the
deprivation of necessary supervision.
appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or 170
execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of 171
this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a 172
specified period of time at any approved public or private 173
treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in 174
lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. 175
(7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant 176
to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the 177
physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or 178
condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground 179
that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient 180
privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The 181
physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless 182
introduced as an exhibit to his or her testimony. 183
(8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of 184
this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or 185
municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that 186
nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the 187
youth court. 188
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 189
and after July 1, 2026. 190