Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official page posted by the Mississippi Legislature, fetched 2026-08-29. This is the enrolled version. The official bill page.
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE 2026 Regular Session To: Judiciary, Division A By: Senator(s) Hill, McLendon Senate Bill 2126 (As Sent to Governor) AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 45-33-30, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT A PERSON WHO IS REQUIRED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER FROM CHANGING HIS OR HER NAME WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 93-17-1, 45-33-25, 45-33-29, 45-33-33, AND 45-33-35, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 45-33-30, Mississippi Code of 1972: 45-33-30. It shall be unlawful for a person required to register under this chapter to change his or her name except when his or her name changed as a result of marriage or divorce. A certified copy of a marriage certificate or divorce decree shall be required to receive the name change exception provided in this section. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or a term of imprisonment not to exceed five (5) years, or both fine and imprisonment. SECTION 2. Section 93-17-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 93-17-1. (1) The chancery court or the chancellor in vacation, of the county of the residence of the petitioners shall have jurisdiction upon the petition of any person to alter the names of such person, to make legitimate any living offspring of the petitioner not born in wedlock, and to decree said offspring to be an heir of the petitioner unless the alteration of the name is prohibited under Section 1 of this act. (2) An illegitimate child shall become a legitimate child of the natural father if the natural father marries the natural mother and acknowledges the child. SECTION 3. Section 45-33-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 45-33-25. (1) (a) Any person having a permanent or temporary residence in this state or who is employed or attending school in this state who has been convicted of a registrable offense in this state or another jurisdiction or who has been acquitted by reason of insanity of a registrable offense in this state or another jurisdiction shall register with the responsible agency and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Registration shall not be required for an offense that is not a registrable sex offense or for an offender who is under fourteen (14) years of age. The department shall provide the initial registration information as well as every * * * change of name, change of address, change of status at a school, or other change of information as required by the department to the sheriff of the county of the residence address of the registrant, the sheriff of the county of the employment address, and the sheriff of the county of the school address, if applicable, and any other jurisdiction of the registrant through either written notice, electronic or telephone transmissions, or online access to registration information. Further, the department shall provide this information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Additionally, upon notification by the registrant that he intends to reside outside the State of Mississippi, the department shall notify the appropriate state law enforcement agency of any state to which a registrant is moving or has moved. (b) Any person having a permanent or temporary residence or who is employed or attending school in this state who has been adjudicated delinquent for a registrable sex offense listed in this paragraph that involved use of force against the victim shall register as a sex offender with the responsible agency and shall personally appear at a facility designated by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within three (3) business days of registering with the responsible agency: (i) Section 97-3-71 relating to rape and assault with intent to ravish; (ii) Section 97-3-95 relating to sexual battery; (iii) Section 97-3-65 relating to statutory rape; or (iv) Conspiracy to commit, accessory to the commission of, or attempt to commit any offense listed in this paragraph. (2) Any person required to register under this chapter shall submit the following information at the time of registration: (a) Name, including a former name which has been legally changed; (b) Street address of all current permanent and temporary residences within state or out of state at which the sex offender resides or habitually lives, including dates of temporary lodgings. There is a presumption that a registrant owes a duty of updating registration information if the registrant remains away from a registered address for seven (7) or more aggregate days in a six (6) month period; (c) Date, place and address of employment, including as a volunteer or unpaid intern or as a transient or day laborer; (d) Crime for which charged, arrested or convicted; (e) Date and place of conviction, adjudication or acquittal by reason of insanity; (f) Aliases used or nicknames, ethnic or tribal names by which commonly known; (g) Social security number and any purported social security number or numbers; (h) Date and place of birth and any purported date and place of birth; (i) Age, race, sex, height, weight, hair and eye colors, and any other physical description or identifying factors; (j) A brief description of the offense or offenses for which the registration is required; (k) Driver's license or state or other jurisdiction identification card number, which license or card may be electronically accessed by the Department of Public Safety; (l) Anticipated future residence; (m) If the registrant's residence is a motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home or manufactured home, the registrant shall also provide vehicle identification number, license tag number, registration number and a description, including color scheme, of the motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home or manufactured home; if the registrant's place of residence is a vessel or houseboat, the registrant shall also provide the hull identification number, manufacturer's serial number, name of the vessel or houseboat, registration number and a description, including color scheme, of the vessel or houseboat, including permanent or frequent locations where the motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home, manufactured home, vessel or houseboat is kept; (n) Vehicle make, model, color and license tag number for all vehicles owned or operated by the sex offender, whether for work or personal use, and the permanent or frequent locations where a vehicle is kept; (o) Offense history; (p) Photograph; (q) Fingerprints and palm prints; (r) Documentation of any treatment received for any mental abnormality or personality disorder of the person; (s) Biological sample; (t) Name of any public or private educational institution, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution or institution of higher education at which the offender is employed, carries on a vocation (with or without compensation) or is enrolled as a student, or will be enrolled as a student, and the registrant's status; (u) Copy of conviction or sentencing order for the sex offense for which registration is required; (v) The offender's parole, probation or supervised release status and the existence of any outstanding arrest warrants; (w) Every online identity, screen name or username used, registered or created by a registrant; (x) Professional licensing information which authorizes the registrant to engage in an occupation or carry out a trade or occupation; (y) Information from passport and immigration documents; (z) All telephone numbers, including, but not limited to, permanent residence, temporary residence, cell phone and employment phone numbers, whether landlines or cell phones; and (aa) Any other information deemed necessary. (3) For purposes of this chapter, a person is considered to be residing in this state if he maintains a permanent or temporary residence as defined in Section 45-33-23, including students, temporary employees and military personnel on assignment. (4) (a) A person required to register under this chapter shall not reside within three thousand (3,000) feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school, a child care facility, a residential child-caring agency, a children's group care home or any playground, ballpark or other recreational facility utilized by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years. (b) A person residing within three thousand (3,000) feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school or a child care facility does not commit a violation of this subsection if any of the following apply: (i) The person is serving a sentence at a jail, prison, juvenile facility or other correctional institution or facility. (ii) The person is subject to an order of commitment under Title 41, Mississippi Code of 1972. (iii) The person established the subject residence before July 1, 2006. (iv) The school or child care facility is established within three thousand (3,000) feet of the person's residence subsequent to the date the person established residency. (v) The person established the subject residence between July 1, 2006, and January 1, 2014, in a location at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet from the school or child care facility. (vi) The person is a minor or a ward under a guardianship. (c) A person residing within three thousand (3,000) feet of the real property comprising a residential child-caring agency, a children's group care home or any playground, ballpark or other recreational facility utilized by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years does not commit a violation of this subsection if any of the following apply: (i) The person established the subject residence before July 1, 2008. (ii) The residential child-caring agency, children's group care home, playground, ballpark or other recreational facility utilized by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years is established within three thousand (3,000) feet of the person's residence subsequent to the date the person established residency. (iii) The person established the subject residence between July 1, 2008, and January 1, 2014, in a location at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet from the residential child-caring agency, children's group care home, playground, ballpark or other recreational facility utilized by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years. (iv) Any of the conditions described in subsection (4)(b)(i), (ii) or (vi) exist. (5) The Department of Public Safety is required to obtain the text of the law defining the offense or offenses for which the registration is required. SECTION 4. Section 45-33-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 45-33-29. (1) Upon any change of address, including temporary lodging, an offender required to register under this chapter is required to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, not less than ten (10) days before he intends to first reside at the new address. (2) Upon any change in the status of a registrant's enrollment, employment or vocation at any public or private educational institution, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution or institution of higher education, the offender is required to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within three (3) business days of the change. (3) Upon any change of employment * * * or change of name, a registrant is required to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within three (3) business days of the change. (4) Upon any change of vehicle information, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. (5) Upon any change of e-mail address or addresses, instant message address or addresses, or any other designation used in Internet communications, postings or telephone communications, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. (6) Upon any change of information deemed by the department to be necessary to the state's policy to assist local law enforcement agencies' efforts to protect their communities, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. SECTION 5. Section 45-33-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 45-33-33. (1) (a) The failure of an offender to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, or to provide any registration or other information, including, but not limited to, initial registration, reregistration, change of address information, change of employment, * * * change of name, required notification to a volunteer organization or any other registration duty or submission of information required by this chapter is a violation of this chapter. Additionally, forgery of information or submission of information under false pretenses, whether by the registrant or another person, is also a violation of this chapter. (b) A person commits a violation of this chapter who: (i) Knowingly harbors, or knowingly attempts to harbor, or knowingly assists another person in harboring or attempting to harbor a sex offender who is in violation of this chapter; (ii) Knowingly assists a sex offender in eluding a law enforcement agency that is seeking to find the sex offender to question the sex offender about, or to arrest the sex offender for, noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter; or (iii) Provides information to a law enforcement agency regarding a sex offender which the person knows to be false. (c) A registrant who is required to submit to electronic monitoring who does not comply with all the terms and conditions of the electronic monitoring commits a violation of this chapter. (2) (a) Unless otherwise specified, a violation of this chapter shall be considered a felony and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years, or both fine and imprisonment. (b) A person who is required to register under this chapter who is subsequently convicted for a registration violation under this section, upon release from incarceration, shall submit to mandatory electronic monitoring under the program established under Section 45-33-45 for a period computed by subtracting the time the person spent in actual incarceration from the five-year maximum imprisonment for the offense and the period of post-release monitoring shall not be suspended or reduced by the court or the Department of Corrections. (3) Whenever it appears that an offender has failed to comply with the duty to register, reregister or submit to electronic monitoring, the department shall promptly notify the sheriff of the county of the last-known address of the offender as well as the sheriff of the county of the last-known location of the offender, if different. Upon notification, the sheriff shall attempt to locate the offender at his last-known address or last-known location. (a) If the sheriff locates the offender, he shall enforce the provisions of this chapter, including initiation of prosecution if appropriate. The sheriff shall then notify the department with the current information regarding the offender. (b) If the sheriff is unable to locate the offender, the sheriff shall promptly notify the department and initiate a criminal prosecution against the offender for the failure to register, reregister or comply with electronic monitoring. The sheriff shall make the appropriate transactions into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted-person database and issue a warrant for the offender's arrest. The department shall notify the United States Marshals Service of the offender's noncompliant status and shall update the registry database and website to show the defendant's noncompliant status as an absconder. (4) A violation of this chapter shall result in the arrest of the offender. (5) Any prosecution for a violation of this section shall be brought by a prosecutor in the county of the violation. (6) A person required to register under this chapter who commits any act or omission in violation of this chapter may be prosecuted for the act or omission in the county in which the act or omission was committed, the county of the last registered address of the sex offender, the county in which the conviction occurred for the offense or offenses that meet the criteria requiring the person to register, the county in which he was designated a sex offender, or the county in which the sex offender was found. (7) The Commissioner of Public Safety or his authorized agent shall suspend the driver's license or driving privilege of any offender failing to comply with the duty to report, register or reregister, submit to monitoring, or who has provided false information. (8) When a person required to register under this chapter is accused of any registration offense under this section, pretrial release on bond shall be conditioned on the offender's submission to electronic monitoring under the program established under Section 45-33-45. SECTION 6. Section 45-33-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 45-33-35. (1) The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall maintain a central registry of sex offender information as defined in Section 45-33-25 and shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out this section. The responsible agencies shall provide the information required in Section 45-33-25 on a form developed by the department to ensure accurate information is maintained. (2) Upon conviction, adjudication or acquittal by reason of insanity of any sex offender, if the sex offender is not immediately confined or not sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the clerk of the court which convicted and sentenced the sex offender shall inform the person of the duty to register, including the duty to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, and shall perform the registration duties as described in Section 45-33-23 and forward the information to the department. (3) Before release from prison or placement on parole, supervised release or in a work center or restitution center, the Department of Corrections shall inform the person of the duty to register, including the duty to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, and shall perform the registration duties as described in Section 45-33-23 and forward the information to the Department of Public Safety. (4) Before release from a community regional mental health center or from confinement in a mental institution following an acquittal by reason of insanity, the director of the facility shall inform the offender of the duty to register, including the duty to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, and shall perform the registration duties as described in Section 45-33-23 and forward the information to the Department of Public Safety. (5) Before release from a youthful offender facility, the director of the facility shall inform the person of the duty to register, including the duty to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, and shall perform the registration duties as described in Section 45-33-23 and forward the information to the Department of Public Safety. (6) In addition to performing the registration duties, the responsible agency shall: (a) Inform the person having a duty to register that: (i) The person is required to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, at least ten (10) days before changing address. (ii) Any change of address to another jurisdiction shall be reported to the department by personally appearing at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, not less than ten (10) days before the change of address. The offender shall comply with any registration requirement in the new jurisdiction. (iii) The person must register in any jurisdiction where the person is employed, carries on a vocation, is stationed in the military or is a student. (iv) Address verifications shall be made by personally appearing at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within the required time period. (v) Notification or verification of a change in status of a registrant's enrollment, employment or vocation at any public or private educational institution, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution, or institution of higher education shall be reported to the department by personally appearing at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within three (3) business days of the change. (vi) If the person has been convicted of a sex offense, the person shall notify any organization for which the person volunteers in which volunteers have direct, private or unsupervised contact with minors that the person has been convicted of a sex offense as provided in Section 45-33-32(1). (vii) Upon any change of * * * name or employment, a registrant is required to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, within three (3) business days of the change. (viii) Upon any change of vehicle information, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. (ix) Upon any change of e-mail address or addresses, instant message address or addresses or any other designation used in Internet communications, postings or telephone communications, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. (x) Upon any change of information deemed to be necessary to the state's policy to assist local law enforcement agencies' efforts to protect their communities, a registrant is required to report the change on an appropriate form supplied by the department within three (3) business days of the change. (b) Require the person to read and sign a form stating that the duty of the person to register under this chapter has been explained. (c) Obtain or facilitate the obtaining of a biological sample from every registrant as required by this chapter if such biological sample has not already been provided to the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory. (d) Provide a copy of the order of conviction or sentencing order to the department at the time of registration. SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
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