Mississippi § 57-55-5 - Mississippi Law Research Institute established; functions, powers and duties.

§ 57-55-5. Mississippi Law Research Institute established; functions, powers and duties.

In order to promote the orderly modernization and simplification of the law of the state and more complete utilization of the law resources of this state, the Mississippi Law Research Institute, hereafter referred to as MLRI, is hereby established as an official advisory law revision, research and reform agency of the State of Mississippi under the management and control of the board of trustees of state institutions of higher learning as an academic department of the University of Mississippi Law Center. The general purpose of the MLRI shall be to promote and encourage the clarification and simplification of the law of Mississippi, to improve the administration of justice, and to carry on scholarly legal research in anticipation of legal requirements for the efficient utilization and conservation of the natural resources of the state and the promotion of social, agricultural, industrial and commercial development. To that end it shall be the duty of said institute (a) to consider needed improvements in both substantive and adjective law and to make recommendations concerning same to the Legislature; (b) to examine and study the law of Mississippi and Mississippi jurisprudence with the object of discovering defects and inequities and of recommending needed reforms; (c) to receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices, public officials, lawyers and the public generally as to defects and anachronisms in the law; (d) to recommend from time to time such changes in the law as it deems necessary to reform or eliminate antiquated and inequitable rules of law and to bring the law of the state, both civil and criminal, into harmony with modern conditions; (e) to perform research and prepare reports on matters of law in support of the Legislature; (f) to advise and assist local governments, state agencies and associations by performing law research and preparation of related material, such as statutes and ordinances, reports, manuals, handbooks, codes, and conducting courses of instruction for the more efficient application of law and utilization of governmental resources; and (g) to prepare and publish texts and other scholarly works on law and procedure to aid in the administration of government within the state. In addition, the MLRI in cooperation with the Legislature and its staff shall devise and carry out a plan for continuous and comprehensive improvement in the utility and quality of the Mississippi Code. The MLRI shall coordinate its efforts with the work of the American Law Institute, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the law and government institutes of the several states, and other such organizations in aid of the mission of said institute.