Gov. Tate Reeves has abruptly called a special session regarding Mississippi’s youth court laws.
The Republican governor announced Tuesday afternoon that lawmakers will return to the state capitol in Jackson at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The special session, per Reeves, is “necessitated” by a recent expiring 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 state Supreme Court had to intervene to revive the statutes to give lawmakers time to return to the drawing board. The concern from the confidentiality law expiring is that access to youth court documents would be more difficult to obtain with agencies and courts having an ambiguous understanding of what can legally be shared.
Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said a reform bill was circulating in the legislature during the regular session that would have remedied this issue without the state’s high court having to intervene. However, he added that an agreement could not be initially reached between the House and Senate, and that 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.”
But now, it seems that the legislature has a solution in mind and is prepared to act. Reeves said the House and Senate, citing leadership from both chambers, have collectively come up with a plan to set up a new confidentiality system that is not only better than the existing one but would also pave the path toward a uniform statewide youth court apparatus.
Currently, Mississippi’s youth court system is not 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 handle youth court cases and in some cases, special referees, or attorneys serving as fill-in judges, hear cases.
“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. “Thank you to Speaker (Jason) White, Rep. (Kevin) Horan, Lt. Gov. (Delbert) Hosemann, Sen. Wiggins, Sen. (Briggs) Hopson, and the many other members of the legislature who have been involved in getting us to this solution.”
The special session is not expected to go beyond Wednesday, sources told SuperTalk Mississippi News.
