MS HB597

Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training must promulgate regulations requiring all accredited law enforcement training academies to provide constitutional education covering the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 and United States Constitution.

Initial law enforcement officer certification programs must include at least 8 hours of constitutional training; continuing education programs must include at least 2 hours focused on the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth amendments.

Constitutional training must teach officers to exercise policing authority within constitutional parameters and federal and state court decisions to ensure fair, impartial, and effective law enforcement consistent with constitutional principles.

Amends Section 45-6-7 of the Mississippi Code to codify the 8-hour constitutional training requirement as part of basic course and program curriculum for law enforcement training schools.

Effective date is July 1, 2025.