SB 2799 Mississippi Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Witness tampering; revise penalty for.

SB 2799 revises Mississippi's penalties for witness tampering by setting fines and imprisonment at 50% of the maximum authorized for the underlying crime (the "subject offense"). It defines the "subject offense" as either the main crime being prosecuted or the crime a witness is being pressured to cover up. The bill applies to anyone convicted of intentionally intimidating, threatening, or inducing a witness to withhold testimony or provide false information in official proceedings. This change reduces potential penalties but maintains a 15-year maximum jail term for convictions. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 19, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

As Introduced → Current version · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill amends Mississippi's witness tampering statute to maintain the criminal penalty as 50% of the fine and imprisonment authorized for the underlying offense. The main substantive change is the addition of a repeal date in Section 2, which now states the act takes effect on July 1, 2026, and is repealed on June 30, 2026, creating a temporary one-year window for enforcement.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged regarding witness tampering penalties, but the effective period is now limited to a single year before automatic repeal.

TIMELINE

Section 2 was modified to add a repeal date of June 30, 2026, limiting the law's effectiveness to one year starting July 1, 2026.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from the original 'As Introduced' version to a 'Committee Substitute' version with updated line numbers and formatting, but the substantive legal provisions remain the same.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub

upper

Jan 19, 2026

Committee

Referred To Judiciary, Division B

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors