SB 2728

An act to enact the mississippi chancery youth court act of 2026; To amend section 43-21-103, mississippi code of 1972, to recognize the uniform rules of youth court practice; To amend section 43-21-105, mississippi code of 1972, to revise the terms "youth court," "judge," and "child IN need of supervision,"; To define the terms "youth court prosecutor," "intake officer," "intake unit," "pre-petition guardian," "diversion" and "data management system"; To delete the term "designee" from and after january 1, 2028; To amend section 43-21-107, mississippi code of 1972, to provide that there shall be additional chancellors IN each chancery court district provided IN chapter 5, title 9, as needed, to be determined under this section; To delete the authority for the creation of a youth court division as a division of the municipal court IN any city if the governing authorities of such city adopt a resolution to that effect; To create new section 43-21-108, mississippi code of 1972, to direct the transfer of the causes and docket of each regular OR special youth court referee no later than january 1, 2028; To provide the procedure for the election of candidates for the judicial offices created by virtue of this act; To repeal section 43-21-111, mississippi code of 1972, which authorizes regular OR special youth court referees on january 1, 2028; To amend section 43-21-115, mississippi code of 1972, to remove the requirement for an individual youth court judge to appoint a person to function as an intake unit; To amend section 43-21-117, mississippi code of 1972, to provide that the youth court prosecutor shall represent the state IN all delinquency proceedings; To provide that the child welfare agency shall represent the petition IN child welfare matters; To provide that the county prosecuting attorney IN delinquency matters shall serve as the youth court prosecutor; To amend section 43-21-119, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To amend section 43-21-121, mississippi code of 1972, to provide that a guardian ad litem shall not become involved IN any youth court matter prior to either a written custody order OR the first judicial hearing; To provide that any guardian ad litem not appointed by the administrative office of courts shall report all fees received to the administrative office of courts, including IN termination of parental rights proceedings; To amend section 43-21-123, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To repeal section 43-21-125, mississippi code of 1972, which creates the mississippi council of youth court judges; To create new section 43-21-126, mississippi code of 1972, to create the family services forum for mississippi children, youth, and families; To set forth the membership, duties, and procedure of the forum; To amend section 43-21-203, mississippi code of 1972, to delete language that prohibits the general public from youth court hearings; To create new section 43-21-204, mississippi code of 1972, to define the term "youth court proceeding"; To provide that the general public shall be admitted to any hearing IN a youth court proceeding, including, but not limited to, any adjudicatory hearing OR any dispositional hearing with certain exceptions; To provide that the court may close a youth court hearing only after a finding on the record and issuance of a signed order stating the reason OR reasons for closing all OR part of a hearing IN a youth court proceeding; To amend section 43-21-251, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To amend section 43-21-257, mississippi code of 1972, to remove the requirement of the office of youth services within the department of human services to maintain a state central registry; To delete language to conform to the repeal of section 43-21-267; To direct the appropriate entity to seek a court order to place a perpetrator on the registry IN every case IN which the agency is involved and IN which the court substantiates abuse OR neglect; To amend section 43-21-261, mississippi code of 1972, to revise the disclosure of youth court records; To delete language requiring a court order to disclose youth court records; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To amend section 43-21-263, mississippi code of 1972, to authorize the expungement of records involving children; To conform to the new section 43-21-204; To repeal section 43-21-267, mississippi code of 1972, which creates a criminal penalty for the disclosure of certain records; To repeal section 43-21-305, mississippi code of 1972, which authorizes a law enforcement officer to stop and question certain children IN public; To amend sections 43-21-307 and 43-21-311, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To amend section 43-21-351, mississippi code of 1972, to require delinquency reports to include either a law enforcement report OR a sworn affidavit; To increase the annual required hours of training for an intake officer; To require the training to be provided by the administrative office of courts; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To bring forward section 43-21-353, mississippi code of 1972, which authorizes mandatory reporting and investigations by the department of child protection services, for possible amendment; To amend section 43-21-357, mississippi code of 1972, to require the youth court intake officer upon receiving a neglect OR abuse report to file a recommendation and give notice to the appropriate entity within a certain timeframe; To require the youth court prosecutor, within a certain timeframe, IN delinquency matters to take certain actions; To require the department of child protection services OR the youth court prosecutor, within a certain timeframe, IN child welfare matters to take certain actions; To provide that a case closure notice shall be reviewable by the youth court for 30 days after the entry of the notice by the court, the youth court prosecutor, OR the department of child protection services; To amend sections 43-21-405 and 43-21-407, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To create new section 43-21-409, mississippi code of 1972, to authorize the division of youth services of the department of human services to establish and administer a youth diversion program that seeks to divert youth from the youth justice system and integrate restorative justice practices; To amend section 43-21-451, mississippi code of 1972, to remove the requirement of court authorization to draft and file a petition; To require the same timeframe for filing a petition for all cases; To amend section 43-21-501, mississippi code of 1972, to require the department of child protection services to be summonsed only IN child welfare matters; To amend section 43-21-557, mississippi code of 1972, to require the youth court to explain to the parties the full range of possible dispositional alternatives at the beginning of each adjudicatory hearing; To amend section 43-21-609, mississippi code of 1972, to revise the alternatives of the disposition order IN neglect and abuse cases; To amend section 43-21-613, mississippi code of 1972, to require the court to conduct a shelter review hearing within a certain period of days of removal if there has been no adjudication and within a certain period of days thereafter until adjudication; To amend section 43-21-621, mississippi code of 1972, to remove an outdated reporting requirement of the administrative office of courts related to juveniles reported to principals; To amend section 43-21-625, mississippi code of 1972, to remove the requirement of the department of human services to develop and implement a wilderness training program for first time youth offenders by deleting the word "shall" and inserting the word "may" IN lieu thereof; To repeal section 43-21-703, mississippi code of 1972, which prescribes the required duties of the mississippi commission on a uniform youth court system and procedures to study the youth court system and report any proposed changes by certain date; To repeal section 43-21-751, mississippi code of 1972, which comprises the teen court pilot program act; To amend section 43-21-801, mississippi code of 1972, to revise the youth court support program to provide that subject to appropriation by the legislature the administrative office of courts shall provide youth court intake officers and one court administrator to each youth court IN the state; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To amend section 43-27-20, mississippi code of 1972, to revise the duties of the director of the office of community services; To revise the duties of the division of youth services; To provide a nondelegable duty for the office of community services to maintain data regarding the division of youth services; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To amend section 45-33-61, mississippi code of 1972, to conform to the definition of the term "data management system"; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To amend section 93-15-107, mississippi code of 1972, to provide that IN the event that the guardian ad litem is not appointed by the administrative office of courts, the guardian ad litem fees shall be determined IN the discretion of the court and assessed by order to the county and a copy of such assessment shall be transmitted to the administrative office of courts; To amend section 93-31-3, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; To extend the date of repeal on this section; To amend section 9-5-91, mississippi code of 1972, to authorize the chancery clerk to prepare and forward certain information related to guardians ad litem for every case, including youth court cases, where the guardian ad litem fee exceeds $1,000.00; To amend sections 9-5-165 and 9-21-9, mississippi code of 1972, to conform; And for related purposes.