SB 2652 — Mississippi Vulnerable Person Abuse Registry; create.

Judiciary, Division A Branning COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO.

2652 (As Sent to Governor) AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI VULNERABLE PERSON ABUSE REGISTRY;

TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ESTABLISH A REGISTRY FOR INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN CRIMES AGAINST A VULNERABLE PERSON OR FOUND TO HAVE COMMITTED CERTAIN ACTS OF ABUSE AGAINST A VULNERABLE PERSON;

(1) The Department of Public Safety shall establish and maintain a registry, to be known as the Mississippi Vulnerable Person Abuse Registry, containing the namesname of any individual forwho whomhas anybeen convicted of the followingcrime areof true:abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable person.

(a)(2) The individualdepartment hasshall beenestablish convictedand enforce reasonable rules governing the custody, use, and preservation of the crimereports and records of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable person;person used in maintaining the registry.

and (b) The individual has been found by the department or Attorney General's Office to have committed an act of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable person.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 1 (2)(3) The departmentcrime shallfor establishwhich andan enforceindividual reasonablewas rulesconvicted governingunder thethis custody,act use,shall andbe preservationconfidential of the reports and recordsshall ofnot abuse,be neglect,used or exploitationdisclosed offor aany vulnerablepurpose personother usedthan in maintaining the registry.following:

(3) The crime for which an individual was convicted under this act or the act for which the department or Attorney General's Office found the individual committed shall be confidential and shall not be used or disclosed for any purpose other than the following:

(b) AnyThe agencydepartment responsible for investigating any report of abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act shall notifyadopt therules departmentprescribing of the outcomeprocess offor thenotifying investigation if the reportdepartment isas determinedrequired toby haveparagraph been(a) trueof orthis founded.subsection.

(c) The departmentrules shall adoptinclude rulesa prescribingrequirement thethat processdocumentation forverifying notifying the departmentconviction asbe requiredsubmitted byto paragraphsthe (a)department. S.

B.

No.

2652 *SS08/R418CS* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS PAGE 2 and (b) of this subsection.

The rules shall include a requirement that documentation verifying the conviction or investigation outcome be submitted to the department.

(b)S. If the individual whose information is entered on the registry was not convicted of a crime but was found by the department or Attorney General's Office to have otherwise committed acts of abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act, the department, in addition to entering the individual's name and address on the registry, shall also enter information pertaining to the offense or offenses the individual was found to have committed by the department or the Attorney General's Office.

(c) The individual's information, once entered on the registry, shall remain on the registry even if the individual fulfills the obligations of any criminal sentencing against that individual except as provided in subsection (d) of this subsection.

(d) The department shall adopt rules requiring due process that includes notice by certified mail or by personal service for individuals found to have committed acts of abuse, S.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 32 neglect,(b) orThe exploitationindividual's underinformation, once entered on the registry, shall remain on the registry even if the individual fulfills the obligations of any criminal sentencing against that individual except as provided in paragraph (c) of this act.subsection.

(c) The department shall adopt rules requiring due process that includes notice by certified mail or by personal service for individuals found to have committed acts of abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act.

(6) A care facility shall query the Mississippi Vulnerable Person Abuse Registry with regard to an individual who is an employee or prospective employee of the facility to confirm whether anythe individual has been convicted of thea followingcrime areof true:abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act.

(a) The individual has been convicted of a crime of abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act;

and (b) The department or the Attorney General's Office has made a finding that the individual has committed an act of abuse, neglect, or exploitation under this act.

The rules shall require a member of the public requesting access to the registry to declare the purpose for which they are requesting access and to provide S.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 43 member of the public requesting access to the registry to declare the purpose for which they are requesting access and to provide their own name and address and the name and address of the vulnerable person in need.

(iii) Practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing;

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 54 (iv)(iii) SocialPractitioner worker,who familyrelies protectionsolely worker,on familyspiritual protectionmeans specialistfor orhealing; other professional care, residential or institutional staff;

(iv) Social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist or other professional care, residential or institutional staff;

(iv) Name, address and telephone number of the caregiver of the vulnerable person, if different from the alleged perpetrator.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 65 (v)(iv) DescriptionName, address and telephone number of the neglect,caregiver exploitation,of physicalthe orvulnerable psychologicalperson, injuriesif sustained.different from the alleged perpetrator.

(v) Description of the neglect, exploitation, physical or psychological injuries sustained.

A person who fails to make a report as required under this subsection or who, because of the circumstances, should have known or suspected beyond a reasonable doubt that a vulnerable person suffers from exploitation, abuse, neglect or self-neglect but who knowingly fails to comply with this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand DollarsS. ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both such fine and imprisonment.

However, for purposes of this subsection (1), any recognized legal S.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 76 financialDollars transaction($5,000.00), shallor notby beimprisonment consideredin causethe tocounty reportjail thefor knowledgenot ormore suspicionthan ofsix the(6) financialmonths, exploitationor ofboth asuch vulnerablefine person.and imprisonment.

However, for purposes of this subsection (1), any recognized legal financial transaction shall not be considered cause to report the knowledge or suspicion of the financial exploitation of a vulnerable person.

A person who fails to report or to otherwise comply with this section, as provided herein, shall have no civil or criminal liability, other than that expressly provided for in this section, S.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 87 section, as provided herein, shall have no civil or criminal liability, other than that expressly provided for in this section, to any person or entity in connection with any failure to report or to otherwise comply with the requirements of this section.

To effectuate this purpose, the executive director shall establish a single toll-free statewide phone number that all persons may use to report vulnerable persons in need of protective services, and that all persons authorized by subsection (7) of this section may use for determining the existence of prior reports in order to evaluate the condition or circumstances of the S.

2652 *SS08/R418CS**SS08/R418SG* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 23/SS08/R418CS23/SS08/R418SG PAGE 98 this section may use for determining the existence of prior reports in order to evaluate the condition or circumstances of the vulnerable person before them.

Each person, business, organization or other entity, whether public or private, operated for profit, operated for nonprofit or a voluntary unit of government not responsible for law enforcement providing care, supervision or treatment of vulnerable persons shall conduct criminal history records checks on each new employee of the entity who provides, and/or would provide direct patient careS. or services to adults or vulnerable persons, as provided in Section 43-11-13.

S.