2019 Mississippi Code
Title 21 - Municipalities
Chapter 23 - Municipal Courts
§ 21-23-23. Municipal Court Collections Payment Program; purpose; funding of program

(1) The Department of Revenue shall administer the Municipal Court Collections Payment Program. The purpose of the program shall be to provide support for salaries of municipal court personnel, for the purchase, operation and maintenance of software and equipment, for facility planning and improvement, and for other expenses incurred for the purpose of collecting fines and assessments within the municipal court system. Monies appropriated by the Legislature to the Department of Revenue for the purposes of funding the Municipal Court Collections Payment Program shall be expended by the department to each participating municipality based upon that municipality’s deposits in the Treasury of the monies received under the provisions of Section 99-19-73.

(2) The Department of Revenue shall promulgate rules and procedures relating to the disbursement of monies to participating municipalities. The department shall promulgate rules and procedures to ensure that the municipal court system of a participating municipality practices proper and effective collection procedures for the collection of fines and other assessments. If a municipality uses its own employees to collect delinquent fines and other assessments owed to the municipality, then it may use monies from the fund to defray the costs associated with these collection actions. In addition, the governing authority of a participating municipality shall contract with a private attorney or private collection agent or agency to collect delinquent criminal fines and other assessments as provided in Section 21-17-1(6) in order to qualify.