Legislature Returns for Special Session on Expired Youth Court Laws
JACKSON — The Mississippi Legislature convenes in special session at 3 p.m. Wednesday to address youth court statutes that expired at the end of June.
Gov. Tate Reeves issued the call on Tuesday afternoon. In a statement, he said the session was “necessitated by the June 30 expiration of statutes relating to the disclosure of youth records and multiple lawsuits regarding the same.”
Part of the state’s youth court confidentiality law expired on July 1, and the Mississippi Supreme Court intervened to revive the statutes to give lawmakers time to return to the drawing board, SuperTalk Mississippi reported. Mississippi law bars the sharing of records containing information about children. Exemptions for officers of the court, law enforcement and medical professionals lapsed along with the statutes, leaving agencies, doctors, investigators and families with what SuperTalk described as an ambiguous understanding of what could legally be shared about incidents of child abuse.
Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said a reform bill circulated during the regular session that would have remedied the issue without the high court having to intervene. An agreement could not initially be reached between the House and Senate, he said, and a later effort to revive the legislation died before sine die.
“These are statutes like confidentiality of records and disclosure of items and the \[Mississippi Youth Court Information Delivery System] and the statewide computer system. These all have an access that we don’t have anymore,” Wiggins said. “Then, you get into a constitutional thing where the courts are actually running \[these systems], and that’s a separation of powers issue.”
Reeves said House and Senate leadership have collectively agreed on a plan. The solution, he said, “sets up a far better system for both kids who are abused and neglected, as well as those children facing delinquency proceedings.” He said that for the first time children and families will have access to full-time judges, and that the measure moves the state toward a uniform youth court system statewide.
Mississippi’s youth court system is not currently under a unified administrative umbrella. In more than 20 counties, elected county court judges also handle youth court cases. In the remaining counties, chancery court judges hear them, and in some cases special referees — attorneys serving as fill-in judges — preside.
“I am hopeful — and even optimistic — that members of both political parties can and will vote for this common-sense legislation that will help children and families all across Mississippi,” Reeves said. He thanked Speaker Jason White, Rep. Kevin Horan, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Sen. Wiggins and Sen. Briggs Hopson, along with other members involved in reaching the agreement.
The special session is not expected to go beyond Wednesday, sources told SuperTalk Mississippi News.