Mississippi Legislature special session ends with major changes to youth court system
JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – A special session of the Mississippi Legislature has ended with some major changes to the state’s youth court system.
The session started on Wednesday afternoon, and the State Senate passed its youth court plan late that night.
The House picked it up Thursday morning and passed it, but through a series of motions held up moving the bill out of the chamber while members debated Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform, another issue that was left undone during the regular session.
According to Mississippi Today, House leaders tried to get Senate leaders to agree on PBM legislation and then get Governor Tate Reeves to agree to add PBM Reform to the Special Session.
That move ultimately failed.
The youth court measures passed along party lines, with many Democrats complaining they had been left out of the process of drafting the legislation.
The overhaul will replace Mississippi’s current Youth Court System. The proposal will do away with current part-time referees and replace them with full-time Chancery Court Judges, who will initially be appointed by the governor, but will later have to run for election.
It also calls for the addition of a court official known as a “family master” to hold emergency hearings when chancery judges have a backlog.
One of the more controversial provisions would open youth court proceedings to the public. Currently, most are held in closed court.
