Access to Justice Commission

The Access to Justice Commission was created by the Mississippi Supreme Court on June 28, 2006, to develop a unified strategy to improve access to the civil courts for the poor. The Commission is tasked to investigate the need for civil legal services to the poor in Mississippi, and to evaluate, develop and recommend policies, programs and initiatives which will assist the judiciary in meeting needs for civil legal services to the poor.

The Commission is divided into working groups. A Delivery System Committee is tasked to oversee development of an expanded and improved system for providing civil legal services to low income people. This group is working on a statewide call center and on ways to assist pro se litigants. A Resource Development Committee is working on a long-term plan to increase funding, and a subcommittee is dealing with recommendations for allocating new sources of funding. A Public Awareness Committee seeks to educate the bar, governmental leaders and the public about the scope of the need for legal services. This committee has produced an educational DVD which illustrates areas of critical need for legal services by poor people, and how public officials, the bar and the public can help. The Public Awareness Committee is also working to schedule public hearings in each congressional district in 2008.

The Commission is made up of 23 voting members and eight ex-officio members. Co-Chairs are Chancery Judge Denise Owens and former Mississippi Bar President Joy Lambert Phillips.

Voting members of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission include: former Supreme Court Justice and former Mississippi Bar President Reuben Anderson, Jackson; Court of Appeals Judge Donna M. Barnes, Tupelo; Rep. Ed Blackmon, Canton; Rev. Stan Buckley, senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Jackson; Bill Bynum, President and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, Jackson; Circuit Judge Margaret Carey-McCray, Greenville; Supreme Court Justice Jess H. Dickinson, Gulfport; Sunflower Mayor Betty Fowler; Supreme Court Justice James E. Graves Jr., Jackson; John Hairston, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Hancock Holding Company and Hancock Bank, Gulfport; Rev. Hosea Hines, pastor of College Hill Baptist Church, Jackson; Paul Hurst, Chief Counsel to Gov. Haley Barbour, Jackson; Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson, Jackson; Amanda Jones, Past President of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar, Jackson; Sun-Herald President and Publisher Ricky Mathews, Biloxi; Hinds County Chancery Judge Denise Owens, Jackson; Mississippi Bar former President Joy Lambert Phillips, Gulfport; Carlton Reeves, President, Magnolia Bar Association, Jackson; Constance Slaughter-Harvey, civil rights attorney and former Assistant Secretary of State, Forest; Sen. Gray Tollison, Oxford; Rae Nell Vaughn, Choctaw Tribal Supreme Court Chief Justice, Choctaw; Kenneth W. Williams, President, Refreshments Inc. and Refreshments of Tennessee, Corinth; and Mississippi Economic Council President Blake Wilson, Jackson.

Non-voting ex-officio commission members appointed by virtue of their offices include: Martha Bergmark, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mississippi Center for Justice; Sam Buchanan, Executive Director, Mississippi Center for Legal Services, Hattiesburg; Jayne Buttross, Chair, Mississippi Legal Services Foundation, Jackson; Ben Cole, Executive Director, North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, Oxford; Dean Samuel M. Davis, University of Mississippi School of Law, Oxford; Jaribu Hill, Executive Director, Mississippi Workers Center, Greenville; Ben Piazza, Chair, Board of Directors, Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, Jackson; and Dean Jim Rosenblatt, Mississippi College School of Law, Jackson.

Judicial Advisory Study Committee

The Mississippi Legislature created the Judicial Advisory Study Committee in 1993 with the adoption of Mississippi Code Section 9-21-21. The Study Committee each year makes policy recommendations to the Supreme Court and the Legislature for improvements affecting the administration of justice.

The Study Committee during 2007 focused on six topics: implementation of a statewide electronic case filing and management system; roles of judges and clerks in effective court administration; the need for increases in staff support and office allowances for circuit and chancery judges; the need for the authorization of an office of public guardian at the county level; the ongoing revision of the criminal law sections of the Mississippi Code; and effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi court system, especially with regard to the need to notify non-custodial parents during emergencies requiring evacuation of children.
Recommendations to the 2008 Legislature are:

• that the Legislature appropriate funds to increase staff support and office allowances for circuit and chancery court judges, an item authorized, but not funded, in its 2007 Session.
• that the Legislature authorize each county to create, if it chooses, an Office of Public Guardian to serve the needs of its incapacitated and vulnerable citizens.

The Judicial Advisory Study Committee is made up of 21 voting members and two non-voting members. The chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee A and the House of Representatives Judiciary En Banc Committee serve as legislative liaisons and nonvoting members. Voting members of the Study Committee include: retired Chancery Judge Norman Gillespie, Oxford, chairman; attorney Donald Dornan Jr., Gulfport; Chancery Judge Sebe Dale Jr., Columbia; Circuit Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders, Natchez; Adams County Chancery Clerk Thomas OBeirne, Natchez; attorney Alfred Rhodes, McComb; attorney Aleita Sullivan, Mendenhall; Harrison County Court Judge Robin A. Midcalf, Gulfport; Court of Appeals Judge Tyree Irving, Greenwood; Circuit Judge Lamar Pickard, Hazlehurst; businessman Howard Catchings, Jackson; businesswoman Robin Robinson, Laurel; Harrison County Justice Court Judge Bruce Strong, Biloxi; Tishomingo County Chancery Clerk Hayden Ables, Iuka; Court of Appeals Judge Donna M. Barnes, Tupelo; Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson, Meridian; attorney Kathryn Nester, Ridgeland; Rankin County Circuit Clerk Carol Swilley, Brandon; attorney Lance Bonner, Jackson; Covington County Chancery Clerk Jimmie Baggett, Collins; businessman Jimmy Murphy,Booneville.

Justice Court Task Force

The 2007 Mississippi Legislature called for a Task Force to study the Justice Court system. The Task Force conducted extensive study and discussions of the Justice Court system and held nine public hearings between Sept. 6 and Oct. 8, 2007, in Tupelo, Senatobia, Kosciusko, Natchez, Jackson, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Indianola and Meridian.

The Justice Court Task Force concluded its work with the issuance of its report on Nov. 30, 2007. The report made recommendations with regard to qualifications, judicial training, elections, salaries, jurisdiction and discretion to limit jury trials.
Recommendations include:

• Requiring an associate degree or equivalent work experience of five years as a certified law enforcement officer, a certified paralegal, a court clerk, a deputy clerk or court administrator. A grandfather clause would exempt judges elected in 2007.
• Increasing training to require 80 hours of legal and judicial training and completion of a minimum competency examination administered by the Mississippi Judicial College prior to assuming judicial duties, as well as requiring 24 hours of continuing education training each year.
• Making Justice Court judges run in non-partisan elections, but leaving the timing of the four-year election cycle unchanged so that Justice Court judges continue to run during the general election with other county officials.
• Requiring Justice Court judge candidates to reside within their judicial district for two years preceding the qualification date for that election.
• Making Justice Court judges’ salaries commensurate with supervisors in the same county. The recommendation would mean a salary range of $29,000 to $46,700. There are currently 11 different pay scales for Justice Court judges with annual salaries ranging from $14,400 in counties with a population less than 8,000, to $55,559 a year in counties with a population of more than 200,000.
• Increasing jurisdictional limits from $2,500 to $3,500.
• Giving Justice Court judges the same discretion accorded to Circuit and County Court judges to grant or limit jury trials.
• Allowing Justice Court judges to carry firearms if they complete training required by Mississippi Code Section 45-6-11.
• Requiring constables to provide courtroom security when Justice Court is in session unless the county otherwise provides security under the direction of the sheriff.
• Calling for the Justice Court Judges Association to work closely with the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Supreme Court’s Rules Advisory Committee to revise the Uniform Rules of Procedure for Justice Court.

Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Mike Randolph of Hattiesburg served as chairman of the Justice Court Task Force and Circuit Judge James T. Kitchens Jr. of Columbus was vice-chair. Members were: Amite County Justice Court Judge Roger Arnold; Marshall County Justice Court Judge Ernest Cunningham; Webster County Justice Court Judge Jerry Jones; Carroll County Circuit Clerk Durward Stanton; Forrest County Circuit Clerk Lou Ellen Adams; Warren County Court Judge John S. Price Jr.; Copiah County Supervisor Perry Hood; Sen. Terry Burton of Newton; Sen. Charlie Ross of Brandon; Rep. Willie L. Bailey of Greenville; and Rep. Thomas U. Reynolds II of Charleston.

Public Defender Task Force

The Public Defender Task Force was created by Mississippi Code Section 25-32-71 in 2000.
The Task Force is charged by statute to:

• Make a comprehensive study of the needs by circuit court districts for state-supported indigent defense counsel, examining existing public defender programs, including indigent defense provided in the youth courts. Reports shall be provided to the Legislature each year at least one month before the convening of the regular session;
• Examine and study approaches taken by other states in the implementation and costs of state-supported indigent criminal and delinquency cases;
• Study the relationship between presiding circuit court and youth court judges and the appointment of criminal and delinquency indigent defense counsel.

Mississippi Supreme Court Justice James E. Graves Jr. of Jackson is chairman and Circuit Judge William Chapman III of Madison is co-chairman. Other members of the Task Force include: Chris Klotz, who has offices in Ridgeland and Pensacola, Fla., representing the Mississippi Public Defender Association; District Attorney Ben Creekmore of Oxford, representing the Mississippi Prosecutors Association; Administrative Office of Courts Director Kevin Lackey of Ridgeland; Special Assistant Attorney General Marvin “Sonny” White of Jackson; Quitman County Chancery Clerk T.H. “Butch” Scipper of Marks, representing the Mississippi Association of Supervisors; Jennifer Riley-Collins of Jackson, representing the Magnolia Bar Association; and former Justice Fred L. Banks Jr. of Jackson, representing the Mississippi Bar. Legislative members include the chairs or designees of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, the House Judiciary En Banc Committee, and the House Appropriations Committee.

Task Force for Youth Court Rules of Procedure

The Task Force for Youth Court Rules of Procedure was created by order of the Mississippi Supreme Court on Oct. 22, 2007. The Task Force is charged with overseeing development of a set of uniform rules of procedure for Youth Courts.

The Mississippi Judicial College is developing the proposed uniform rules for consideration by the Task Force and the Supreme Court.

The work of the Judicial College will include a survey of judges, attorneys and others associated with the juvenile justice system, study of juvenile court rules in other states, and review of state and federal laws. The Judicial College will also seek comment from the Mississippi Commission for Children’s Justice, the Council of Youth Court Judges, other judges, attorneys and the public.

Task Force Co-chairs are Supreme Court Justice Mike Randolph of Hattiesburg and Judge Thomas B. Storey of West Point, who is Clay County Youth Court Referee. Other members of the Task Force include: Rankin County Court Judge Thomas H. Broome, Adams County Court Judge John N. Hudson, Forrest County Court Judge Michael W. McPhail, Department of Human Services officials Ricky Felder and Kathy Pittman, Department of Mental Health Executive Director Ed LeGrand, Department of Education officials Joy Milam and Steve Williams, Court Improvement Program Coordinator Jamie McBride, and Administrative Office of Courts Project Manager Dennis Perkins.

Uniform Criminal Rules Study Committee

The Uniform Criminal Rules Study Committee was established by Chief Justice James W. Smith Jr. in 2004. The committee, which meets monthly, is conducting an extensive examination of rules which cover every aspect of criminal proceedings from arrest through post-trial motions. The objective is to have a comprehensive, uniform set of criminal rules of procedure that will be applicable to all criminal prosecutions across the state. The Study Committee is developing recommendations for a set of Rules of Criminal Procedure to govern practice and procedure in justice, municipal, county and circuit courts.

The committee is made up of 12 members. Co-chairs are Circuit Judge R.I. Prichard III of Picayune and Court of Appeals Judge Larry E. Roberts of Meridian. Members are Court of Appeals Judge L. Joseph Lee; Rankin County Court Judge Kent McDaniel; Forrest County Court Judge Michael W. McPhail; District Attorney Ronnie Harper of Natchez; District Attorney John R. Young of Corinth; Special Assistant Attorney General Ed Snyder; attorney Joe Sam Owen of Gulfport; attorney John M. Colette of Jackson; attorney Thomas E. Royals of Jackson; and attorney Jim Lappan of the Mississippi Office of Capital Defense Counsel.

State Drug Court Advisory Committee

Drug Court Statute
Members
Meetings

Local GIS Task Force

Members
Meetings
HB 992
PEER Report
Survey (Zipped Excel File)
Task Force Report to ITS
ITS Report to Legislature

Special Committee on Judicial Campaign Intervention
2006 Materials
Opinion 2006-001
Opinion 2006-002
Public Statement – November 1, 2006
2008 Final Committee Report
2004 Final Committee Report
2002 Final Committee Report