Misdemeanor warrant management system; direct the establishment of.

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To: Judiciary, Division B;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Barrett

SENATE BILL NO. 2333

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 45-27-22, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1
1972, TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI JUSTICE INFORMATION CENTER TO 2
ESTABLISH A MISDEMEANOR WARRANT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO ENABLE 3
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES TO ELECTRONICALLY TRACK MISDEMEANOR 4
WARRANTS BETWEEN JURISDICTIONS AS THE WARRANTS ARE ISSUED, SERVED 5
AND RECALLED; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO 6
PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS; TO REQUIRE ALL CRIMINAL JUSTICE 7
AGENCIES AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF COURTS TO ASSIST THE 8
MISSISSIPPI JUSTICE INFORMATION CENTER AND THE DEPARTMENT OF 9
PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MISDEMEANOR WARRANT 10
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; TO AMEND SECTIONS 45-27-1, 45-27-3, 45-27-7, 11
45-27-12 AND 9-21-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR 12
RELATED PURPOSES. 13
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 14
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 15
45-27-22, Mississippi Code of 1972: 16
45-27-22. (1) The center shall establish a misdemeanor 17
warrant management system to enable criminal justice agencies to 18
electronically track misdemeanor warrants between jurisdictions as 19
the warrants are issued, served and recalled. The misdemeanor 20
warrant system shall be available for use by criminal justice 21
agencies no later than January 1, 2028. 22
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(2) The department shall promulgate any rules and 23
regulations necessary to implement the misdemeanor warrant 24
management system. 25
(3) All criminal justice agencies and the Administrative 26
Office of Courts shall assist the center and the department in the 27
establishment of the misdemeanor warrant management system. 28
SECTION 2. Section 45-27-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 29
amended as follows: 30
45-27-1. The Legislature finds and declares that a more 31
effective administrative structure now is required to control the 32
collection, storage, dissemination and use of criminal offender 33
record information. These improvements in the organization and 34
control of criminal offender record keeping are imperative both to 35
strengthen the administration of criminal justice and to assure 36
appropriate protection of rights of individual privacy. The 37
purposes of this chapter are (a) to control and coordinate 38
criminal offender record keeping within this state; (b) to assure 39
periodic reporting to the Governor and Legislature concerning such 40
record keeping; (c) to enable criminal justice agencies to track 41
misdemeanor warrants between jurisdictions as the warrants are 42
issued, served and recalled; and ( * * *d) to establish a more 43
effective administrative structure for the collection, 44
maintenance, retrieval and dissemination of criminal history 45
record information described in this chapter, consistent with 46
those principles of scope and security prescribed by this chapter, 47
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and to facilitate the practical use of criminal offender record 48
information within the criminal justice system. 49
SECTION 3. Section 45-27-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, 50
is amended as follows: 51
45-27-3. For the purposes of this chapter, the following 52
words shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section 53
unless the context requires otherwise: 54
(a) "Criminal justice agencies" means public agencies 55
at all levels of government which perform as their principal 56
function activities relating to the apprehension, prosecution, 57
adjudication or rehabilitation of criminal offenders. 58
(b) "Offense" means an act which is a felony or a 59
misdemeanor. 60
(c) "Justice information system" means those agencies, 61
procedures, mechanisms, media and forms, as well as the 62
information itself, which are or become involved in the 63
origination, transmittal, storage, retrieval and dissemination of 64
information related to reported offenses and offenders, and the 65
subsequent actions related to the events or persons. 66
(d) "Criminal justice information" means the following 67
classes of information: 68
(i) "Secret data," which includes information 69
dealing with those elements of the operation and programming of 70
the Mississippi Justice Information Center computer system and the 71
communications network and satellite computer systems handling 72
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criminal justice information which prevents unlawful intrusion 73
into the system. 74
(ii) "Criminal history record information," which 75
means information collected by criminal justice agencies on 76
individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations 77
of arrests, detentions, indictments, affidavits, information or 78
other formal charges and any disposition arising therefrom, 79
sentencing, correctional supervision and release. The term does 80
not include identification information such as fingerprint records 81
or images to the extent that the information does not indicate 82
involvement of the individual in the criminal justice system. 83
(iii) "Sensitive data," which contains statistical 84
information in the form of reports, lists and documentation which 85
may identify a group characteristic, such as "white" males or 86
"stolen" guns. 87
(iv) "Restricted data," which contains information 88
relating to data-gathering techniques, distribution methods, 89
manuals and forms. 90
(v) "Law enforcement agency" or "originating 91
agency" or "agency" which includes a governmental unit or agency 92
composed of one or more persons employed full time or part time by 93
the state as a political subdivision thereof for the following 94
purposes: (A) the administration of criminal justice, which 95
includes the prevention and detection of crime; the apprehension, 96
pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, 97
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correctional supervision or rehabilitation of accused persons or 98
criminal offenders; or the collection, storage and dissemination 99
of criminal history record information; or (B) the enforcement of 100
state laws or local ordinances, which includes making arrests for 101
crimes while acting within the scope of their authority. The 102
agency must perform one or more of the above-described criminal 103
justice duties and allocate a substantial part of its annual 104
budget to the administration of criminal justice. 105
(e) "Center" means the Mississippi Justice Information 106
Center or the Mississippi Criminal Information Center. 107
(f) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of 108
Public Safety. 109
(g) "Conviction information" means criminal history 110
record information disclosing that a person was found guilty of, 111
or has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, a criminal offense in 112
a court of law, together with any sentencing information. This 113
includes a conviction in a federal or military tribunal, including 114
a court martial conducted by the Armed Forces of the United 115
States, or a conviction for an offense committed on an Indian 116
Reservation or other federal property, or any court of a state of 117
the United States. 118
(h) "Nonconviction information" means arrest without 119
disposition information if an interval of one (1) year has elapsed 120
from the date of arrest and no active prosecution for the charge 121
is pending, as well as all acquittals and all dismissals. 122
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(i) "Arrest card" means the initial law enforcement 123
agency documentation of an arrest, whether in physical or digital 124
form, including fingerprint information. 125
(j) "Disposition form" means the form prescribed by 126
rule of the Justice Information Center for a court or law 127
enforcement agency to report the disposition of the case of a 128
person who has been arrested. 129
(k) "Disposition" means the outcome of the case of a 130
person who was arrested and includes, without limitation: 131
(i) Nonadjudication; 132
(ii) A verdict or plea of guilt; 133
(iii) A plea of nolo contendere; 134
(iv) A verdict of not guilty; 135
(v) Dismissal; 136
(vi) Nolle prosequi; 137
(vii) Remand to the file; 138
(viii) Expunction; or 139
(ix) An appeal. 140
(l) "Misdemeanor warrant management system" means the 141
warrant system established by the center as provided in Section 142
45-27-22 to include those agencies, procedures, mechanisms, media 143
and forms, as well as the information itself, which are or become 144
involved in the origination, transmittal, storage, retrieval and 145
dissemination of information related to misdemeanor warrants. 146
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SECTION 4. Section 45-27-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 147
amended as follows: 148
45-27-7. (1) The Mississippi Justice Information Center 149
shall: 150
(a) Develop, operate and maintain an information system 151
which will support the collection, storage, retrieval and 152
dissemination of all data described in this chapter, consistent 153
with those principles of scope, security and responsiveness 154
prescribed by this chapter. 155
(b) Cooperate with all criminal justice agencies within 156
the state in providing those forms, procedures, standards and 157
related training assistance necessary for the uniform operation of 158
the statewide center. 159
(c) Offer assistance and, when practicable, instruction 160
to all local law enforcement agencies in establishing efficient 161
local records systems. 162
(d) Make available, upon request, to all local and 163
state criminal justice agencies, to all federal criminal justice 164
agencies and to criminal justice agencies in other states any 165
information in the files of the center which will aid such 166
agencies in the performance of their official duties. For this 167
purpose the center shall operate on a twenty-four-hour basis, 168
seven (7) days a week. Such information, when authorized by the 169
director of the center, may also be made available to any other 170
agency of this state or any political subdivision thereof and to 171
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any federal agency, upon assurance by the agency concerned that 172
the information is to be used for official purposes only in the 173
prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension of criminal 174
offenders. 175
(e) Cooperate with other agencies of this state, the 176
crime information agencies of other states, and the national crime 177
information center systems of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 178
in developing and conducting an interstate, national and 179
international system of criminal identification and records. 180
(f) Make available, upon request, to nongovernmental 181
entities or employers certain information for noncriminal justice 182
purposes as specified in Section 45-27-12. 183
(g) Institute necessary measures in the design, 184
implementation and continued operation of the justice information 185
system to ensure the privacy and security of the system. Such 186
measures shall include establishing complete control over use of 187
and access to the system and restricting its integral resources 188
and facilities and those either possessed or procured and 189
controlled by criminal justice agencies. Such security measures 190
must meet standards developed by the center as well as those set 191
by the nationally operated systems for interstate sharing of 192
information. 193
(h) Provide data processing for files listing motor 194
vehicle drivers' license numbers, motor vehicle registration 195
numbers, wanted and stolen motor vehicles, outstanding warrants, 196
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identifiable stolen property and such other files as may be of 197
general assistance to law enforcement agencies; provided, however, 198
that the purchase, lease, rental or acquisition in any manner of 199
"computer equipment or services," as defined in Section 25-53-3, 200
Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be subject to the approval of the 201
Mississippi Information Technology Services. 202
(i) Maintain a field coordination and support unit 203
which shall have all the power conferred by law upon any peace 204
officer of this state. 205
(j) Establish the misdemeanor warrant management system 206
as provided in Section 45-27-22. 207
(2) The department, including the investigative division or 208
the center, may: 209
(a) Obtain and store fingerprints, descriptions, 210
photographs and any other pertinent identifying data from crime 211
scenes and on persons who: 212
(i) Have been or are hereafter arrested or taken 213
into custody in this state: 214
1. For an offense which is a felony; 215
2. For an offense which is a misdemeanor; 216
3. As a fugitive from justice; or 217
(ii) Are or become habitual offenders; or 218
(iii) Are currently or become confined to any 219
prison, penitentiary or other penal institution; or 220
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(iv) Are unidentified human corpses found in the 221
state; or 222
(v) Have submitted fingerprints for conducting 223
criminal history record checks. 224
(b) Compare all fingerprint and other identifying data 225
received with that already on file and determine whether or not a 226
criminal record is found for such person, and at once inform the 227
requesting agency or arresting officer of those facts that may be 228
disseminated consistent with applicable security and privacy laws 229
and regulations. A record shall be maintained for a minimum of 230
one (1) year of the dissemination of each individual criminal 231
history, including at least the date and recipient of such 232
information. 233
(c) Establish procedures to respond to those 234
individuals who file requests to review their own records, 235
pursuant to Sections 45-27-11 and 45-27-12, and to cooperate in 236
the correction of the central center records and those of 237
contributing agencies when their accuracy has been successfully 238
challenged either through the related contributing agencies or by 239
court order issued on behalf of an individual. 240
(d) Retain in the system the fingerprints of all law 241
enforcement officers and part-time law enforcement officers, as 242
those terms are defined in Section 45-6-3, any fingerprints sent 243
by the Mississippi State Department of Health, and of all 244
applicants to law enforcement agencies. 245
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(3) There shall be a presumption that a copy of any document 246
submitted to the center in accordance with the provisions of 247
Section 45-27-9 that has been processed as set forth in this 248
chapter and subsequently certified and provided by the center to a 249
law enforcement agency or a court shall be admissible in any 250
proceeding without further authentication unless a person 251
objecting to that admissibility has successfully challenged the 252
document under the provisions of Section 45-27-11. 253
SECTION 5. Section 45-27-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 254
amended as follows: 255
45-27-12. (1) State conviction information and arrest 256
information which is contained in the center's database or the 257
nonexistence of such information in the center's database shall be 258
made available for the following noncriminal justice purposes: 259
(a) To any local, state or federal governmental agency 260
that requests the information for the enforcement of a local, 261
state or federal law; 262
(b) To any individual, nongovernmental entity or any 263
employer authorized either by the subject of record in writing or 264
by state or federal law to receive such information; and 265
(c) To any federal agency or central repository in 266
another state requesting the information for purposes authorized 267
by law. 268
(2) State conviction information and arrest information 269
which is contained in the center's misdemeanor warrant management 270
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system or the nonexistence of such information in the center's 271
misdemeanor warrant management system shall be made available for 272
the following criminal justice purposes to any local, state or 273
federal governmental agency, to include criminal justice agencies, 274
that requests the information. 275
( * * *3) Information disseminated for noncriminal justice 276
purposes as specified in this section shall be used only for the 277
purpose for which it was made available and may not be 278
re-disseminated. 279
( * * *4) No agency or individual shall confirm the 280
existence or nonexistence of criminal history record information 281
to any person or organization that would not be eligible to 282
receive the information pursuant to this section. 283
( * * *5) Upon request for a check pursuant to this section, 284
the nongovernmental entity or employer must provide proper 285
identification and authorization information from the subject of 286
the record to be checked and adhere to policies established by the 287
center for such record checks. 288
( * * *6) Any individual or his attorney who is the subject 289
of the record to be checked, upon positive verification of the 290
individual's identity, may request to review the disseminated 291
information and shall follow the procedure set forth in Section 292
45-27-11. If the individual wishes to correct the record as it 293
appears in the center's system, the person shall follow the 294
procedure set forth in Section 45-27-11. The right of a person to 295
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review the person's criminal history record information shall not 296
be used by a prospective employer or others as a means to 297
circumvent procedures or fees for accessing records for 298
noncriminal justice purposes. 299
( * * *7) The center may impose procedures, including the 300
submission of fingerprints, fees or restrictions, as are 301
reasonably necessary to assure the record's security, to verify 302
the identities of those who seek to inspect them, and to maintain 303
an orderly and efficient mechanism for access. All fees shall be 304
assessed and deposited in accordance with the provisions of 305
Section 45-27-8. 306
( * * *8) The center shall (a) retain, separate from other 307
division records, personal information, including any 308
fingerprints, sent to it by the Mississippi Department of Health; 309
and (b) notify the Department of Health upon receiving notice that 310
an individual for whom personal information has been retained is 311
the subject of: (i) a warrant for arrest; (ii) an arrest; (iii) a 312
conviction, including a plea in abeyance; or (iv) a pending 313
diversion agreement. 314
( * * *9) The center is authorized to implement the Rap Back 315
Criminal History Records Check System, and the Department of 316
Health is authorized to implement and to utilize the state/federal 317
Rap Back Criminal History System as a method of ongoing monitoring 318
of individuals providing such care to Mississippi's vulnerable 319
population in "covered" entities, including prospective designated 320
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caregivers and entities named in the Mississippi Medical Cannabis 321
Act and to apply for and provide matching funds in order for 322
Mississippi to receive federal grants to make necessary upgrades 323
to the department's data systems to accommodate rap back 324
capabilities. 325
( * * *10) Local agencies may release their own agency 326
records according to their own policies. 327
( * * *11) Release of the above-described information for 328
noncriminal justice purposes shall be made only by the center, 329
under the limitations of this section, and such compiled records 330
will not be released or disclosed for noncriminal justice purposes 331
by other agencies in the state. 332
SECTION 6. Section 9-21-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 333
amended as follows: 334
9-21-3. (1) The Administrative Office of Courts shall be 335
specifically charged with the duty of assisting the Chief Justice 336
of the Supreme Court of Mississippi with his duties as the chief 337
administrative officer of all courts of this state, including, 338
without limitation, the task of * * * ensuring that the business 339
of the courts of the state is attended with proper dispatch, that 340
the dockets of such courts are not permitted to become congested 341
and that trials and appeals of cases, civil and criminal, are not 342
delayed unreasonably. 343
(2) The office shall also perform the following duties: 344
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(a) To work with the clerks of all youth courts and 345
civil and criminal trial courts in the state to collect, obtain, 346
compile, digest and publish information and statistics concerning 347
the administration of justice in the state. 348
(b) To serve as an agency to apply for and receive any 349
grants or other assistance and to coordinate and conduct studies 350
and projects to improve the administration of justice by the 351
courts of the state, and it may conduct such studies with or 352
without the assistance of consultants. 353
(c) To supply such support to the Judicial Advisory 354
Study Committee necessary to accomplish the purposes of this 355
chapter, including, without limitation, research and clerical 356
assistance. 357
(d) To promulgate standards, rules and regulations for 358
computer and/or electronic filing and storage of all court records 359
and court-related records maintained throughout the state in 360
courts and in offices of circuit and chancery clerks. 361
(e) To assist the Mississippi Justice Information 362
Center and the Department of Public Safety in the establishment of 363
the misdemeanor warrant management system provided for in Section 364
45-27-22. 365
( * * *f) It shall perform such other duties relating 366
to the improvement of the administration of justice as may be 367
assigned by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. 368
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ST: Misdemeanor warrant management system;
direct the establishment of.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from 369
and after July 1, 2026. 370