Electronic warrants; provide use for misdemeanors and protection orders.

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To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Hill

SENATE BILL NO. 2230

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-3-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
INCLUDE MISDEMEANOR WARRANTS WITHIN THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT 2
PROVIDES FOR ELECTRONIC WARRANTS; TO CLARIFY THAT A SIGNATURE 3
UTILIZED BY THE JUDICIAL BRANCH OF STATE GOVERNMENT ON A 4
PROTECTION ORDER SHALL NOT BE DENIED LEGAL EFFECT OR 5
ENFORCEABILITY SOLELY BECAUSE IT IS IN ELECTRONIC FORM; AND FOR 6
RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 99-3-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
99-3-47. (1) An application for a felony or misdemeanor 11
warrant or signature utilized by the judicial branch of state 12
government, to include, but not limited to, a protection order, 13
other than an application for a no-knock warrant shall not be 14
denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in 15
electronic form. An application, signature or record in 16
electronic form shall have the full effect of law. 17
(2) If a provision of law requires the application for a 18
felony or misdemeanor warrant to be in writing, an electronic 19
version of the written record shall satisfy such provision of law. 20
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(3) If a provision of law requires a signature, an 21
electronic signature satisfies such provision of law. 22
(4) An application used to attach a digital signature to a 23
felony or misdemeanor warrant or affidavit must have security 24
procedures in place that ensure the authenticity of the digital 25
signature. The application must also be able to keep an 26
electronic record of the warrant or affidavit, including the time 27
and date of when the signature was attached. The application must 28
also include encryption measures to ensure secure access of the 29
application. 30
(5) Unless otherwise agreed to by a sender of a warrant 31
application and the judge, an electronic record is received when: 32
(a) The record enters an information-processing system 33
that the local court rules have designated and approved for the 34
purpose of receiving electronic applications for warrants and from 35
which the recipient is able to retrieve the electronic record; and 36
(b) It is in a form capable of being processed by the 37
system, and in a form that satisfies the provisions of the 38
Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. 39
(6) In an instance where an affidavit is submitted to a 40
judge electronically, the electronic signature of the affiant 41
shall satisfy the constitutional requirement that the testimony of 42
the affiant be made under oath, provided that such signature is 43
made under penalty of perjury and in compliance with subsection 44
(4) of this section. If the requirements of subsection (4) of 45
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ST: Electronic warrants; provide use for
misdemeanors and protection orders.
this section are met, it shall not be necessary for the oath to be 46
made orally for the affidavit to have legal effect. 47
(7) An application for a felony or misdemeanor warrant or 48
signature made pursuant to this section shall contain a statement 49
that the application is being made for a felony or misdemeanor 50
criminal investigation, as applicable. 51
(8) Before an electronic felony or misdemeanor warrant shall 52
be issued pursuant to this section, the applicant shall be 53
required to meet with a judge. The meeting required by this 54
subsection may be through the use of video or teleconference 55
devices. 56
(9) This section shall not authorize the issuance of 57
no-knock warrants by the use of electronic warrant applications or 58
electronic signatures for the applications. 59
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 60
and after its passage. 61