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To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Sparks, Gillespie Isom
SENATE BILL NO. 2805
(As Sent to Governor)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-257, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE A COPY OF A JUDGMENT TO BE SENT TO THE MISSISSIPPI 2
DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES UPON CRIMINAL CONVICTION 3
OR ADJUDICATION OF A CHILD; TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI 4
CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY LANGUAGE CONCERNING THE CONTINUING 5
PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL ABUSE OR FELONIOUS NEGLECT OF A CHILD; TO 6
AUTHORIZE THE COURT TO PLACE A PARENT OR GUARDIAN ON THE 7
DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES' STATE CENTRAL REGISTRY 8
FOR ANY CONVICTION OF A CRIME SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION IN WHICH 9
THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN QUALIFIES AS A "SUBSTANTIATED PERPETRATOR," 10
AS DEFINED IN SECTION 43-21-257(3); AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-257, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 13
amended as follows: 14
43-21-257. (1) Unless otherwise provided in this section, 15
any record involving children, including valid and invalid 16
complaints, and the contents thereof maintained by the Department 17
of Human Services or the Department of Child Protection Services, 18
or any other state agency, shall be kept confidential and shall 19
not be disclosed except as provided in Section 43-21-261. 20
(2) The Office of Youth Services shall maintain a state 21
central registry containing the number and disposition of all 22
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cases together with such other useful information regarding those 23
cases as may be requested and is obtainable from the records of 24
the youth court. The Office of Youth Services shall annually 25
publish a statistical record of the number and disposition of all 26
cases, but the names or identity of any children shall not be 27
disclosed in the reports or records. The Office of Youth Services 28
shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to carry out this 29
subsection. The central registry files and the contents thereof 30
shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection. 31
Any person who discloses or encourages the disclosure of any 32
record involving children from the central registry shall be 33
subject to the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The youth court 34
shall furnish, upon forms provided by the Office of Youth 35
Services, the necessary information, and these completed forms 36
shall be forwarded to the Office of Youth Services. The 37
Department of Human Services and its employees are exempt from any 38
civil liability as a result of any action taken pursuant to the 39
compilation or release of information on the central registry 40
under this section and any other applicable section of this code, 41
unless determined that an employee has willfully and maliciously 42
violated the rules and administrative procedures of the department 43
pertaining to the central registry or any section of this code. 44
If an employee is determined to have willfully and maliciously 45
performed such a violation, said employee shall not be exempt from 46
civil liability in this regard. 47
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(3) The Department of Child Protection Services shall 48
maintain a state central registry on neglect and abuse cases 49
containing (a) the name, address and age of each child, (b) the 50
nature of the harm reported, (c) the name and address of the 51
person responsible for the care of the child, and (d) the name and 52
address of the substantiated perpetrator of the harm reported. 53
"Substantiated perpetrator" shall be defined as an individual who 54
has committed an act(s) of sexual abuse or physical abuse that 55
would otherwise be deemed as a felony or any child neglect that 56
would be deemed as a threat to life. A name is to be added to the 57
registry only based upon a criminal conviction or an adjudication 58
by a youth court judge or court of competent jurisdiction, 59
ordering that the name of the perpetrator be listed on the central 60
registry. Upon criminal conviction in circuit court or 61
adjudication in youth court, the clerk of court shall send the 62
Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services a copy of the 63
judgment. The central registry shall be confidential and shall 64
not be open to public inspection. Any person who discloses or 65
encourages the disclosure of any record involving children from 66
the central registry without following the rules and 67
administrative procedures of the department shall be subject to 68
the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The Department of Child 69
Protection Services and its employees are exempt from any civil 70
liability as a result of any action taken pursuant to the 71
compilation or release of information on the central registry 72
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under this section and any other applicable section of this code, 73
unless determined that an employee has willfully and maliciously 74
violated the rules and administrative procedures of the department 75
pertaining to the central registry or any section of this code. 76
If an employee is determined to have willfully and maliciously 77
performed such a violation, said employee shall not be exempt from 78
civil liability in this regard. 79
(4) The Mississippi State Department of Health may release 80
the findings of investigations into allegations of abuse within 81
licensed day care centers made under the provisions of Section 82
43-21-353(8) to any parent of a child who is enrolled in the day 83
care center at the time of the alleged abuse or at the time the 84
request for information is made. The findings of any such 85
investigation may also be released to parents who are considering 86
placing children in the day care center. No information 87
concerning those investigations may contain the names or 88
identifying information of individual children. 89
The Department of Health shall not be held civilly liable for 90
the release of information on any findings, recommendations or 91
actions taken pursuant to investigations of abuse that have been 92
conducted under Section 43-21-353(8). 93
SECTION 2. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 94
amended as follows: 95
97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 96
section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, 97
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knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance 98
of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to 99
contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act 100
or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in 101
Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids 102
any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship 103
or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly 104
harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child 105
who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship 106
or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child 107
shall have been committed by the youth court shall be guilty of a 108
misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not 109
to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not 110
to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and 111
imprisonment. 112
(b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a 113
person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who 114
has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for 115
a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not 116
considered a child for the purposes of this statute. 117
(c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts 118
in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another 119
child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in 120
youth court. 121
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(d) If the parent has failed to provide the child with 122
food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health 123
of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability 124
unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child 125
is in imminent risk of harm, or the parent is unwilling to provide 126
reasonably necessary medical care, though that medical care does 127
not include recommended or optional vaccinations against childhood 128
or any other disease, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment 129
in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five 130
(5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand 131
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. 132
(e) A parent, legal guardian or other person who 133
knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse * * * or 134
felonious neglect of a child * * * may be sentenced to 135
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for 136
not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more 137
than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 138
(2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in 139
the following circumstances: 140
(a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person 141
shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 142
(i) Burn any child; 143
(ii) Torture any child; 144
(iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way 145
interfere with any child's breathing; 146
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(iv) Poison a child; 147
(v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to 148
sustain life or growth; 149
(vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; 150
(b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, 151
and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 152
(i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; 153
(ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) 154
about the face or head with a closed fist; 155
(iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in 156
the face or head; 157
(iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; 158
circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this 159
subparagraph (iv); 160
(c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually 161
occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or 162
recklessly: 163
(i) Strike any child on the face or head; 164
(ii) Disfigure or scar any child; 165
(iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; 166
(d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or 167
(c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to 168
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a 169
term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined 170
by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of 171
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this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in 172
the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not 173
less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as 174
determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction 175
under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to 176
imprisonment for life. 177
(e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily 178
harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not 179
limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, 180
and external or internal swelling of any body organ. 181
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious 182
bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and 183
includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent 184
disfigurement, permanent scarring, or any internal bleeding or 185
internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the 186
eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any 187
bodily function. 188
(g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" 189
means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an 190
individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, 191
whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or 192
suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious 193
physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is 194
intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not 195
limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to 196
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sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly 197
physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme 198
temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child 199
in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress 200
positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. 201
(h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this 202
subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a 203
child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in 204
loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in 205
a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or 206
reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or 207
child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense 208
to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. 209
(i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal 210
punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs 211
(a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious 212
bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) 213
of this subsection. 214
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 215
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 216
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 217
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 218
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 219
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 220
section. 221
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(4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers 222
a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the 223
child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or 224
possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent 225
to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as 226
prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of 227
child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not 228
more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than 229
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 230
(b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to 231
the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may 232
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years 233
or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars 234
($20,000.00), or both. 235
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 236
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 237
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 238
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 239
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 240
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 241
section. 242
(6) After consultation with the Department of Child 243
Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an 244
appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or 245
execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of 246
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this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a 247
specified period of time at any approved public or private 248
treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in 249
lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. 250
(7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant 251
to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the 252
physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or 253
condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground 254
that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient 255
privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The 256
physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless 257
introduced as an exhibit to his testimony. 258
(8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of 259
this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or 260
municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that 261
nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the 262
youth court. 263
(9) For any conviction of a crime set forth in this section 264
in which a parent or guardian qualifies as a "substantiated 265
perpetrator," as defined in Section 43-21-257(3), the court may 266
place the parent or guardian on the Department of Child Protection 267
Services' state central registry. If the circuit court determines 268
that a convicted parent or guardian should be placed on the 269
central registry, the circuit court shall include the registry 270
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ST: MDCPS state central registry; revise
provisions related to.
requirement in the judgment and transmit a copy to the Department 271
of Child Protection Services. 272
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 273
and after July 1, 2026. 274