AN ACT TO RESTORE THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE TO JOSEPH JONES OF JEFFERSON DAVIS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
Summary
Senate Bill 3398 is a private suffrage bill that restores the right to vote to Joseph Jones of Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi. The bill states that Jones lost his voting rights after felony convictions in Simpson County for two counts of armed robbery, one count of grand larceny, and kidnapping, and it recites the sentences imposed and the dates on which he completed his custody and probation terms.
The measure further declares that Jones has since lived as a law-abiding and honorable citizen. If enacted, the bill would fully and completely restore his right of suffrage effective July 1, 2026. This is a narrow, individualized act and does not change the general rules governing felony disenfranchisement in Mississippi; it operates only to remove Jones’s disqualification as an elector.
Impact
The bill would amend no general code provisions, but would create a special statutory restoration of voting rights for one named individual. Its practical effect is to lift Joseph Jones’s felony-based disenfranchisement and allow him to register and vote again, while leaving Mississippi’s broader suffrage restoration framework unchanged for other people with felony convictions.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the available materials. The bill’s text is affirmative and rehabilitative in tone, emphasizing completion of sentence, discharge from supervision, and subsequent law-abiding conduct, which suggests a favorable posture toward restoring civil rights in this individual case.
Contention
Because this is a private suffrage bill, the main point of potential contention would typically be whether the named individual has demonstrated sufficient rehabilitation to warrant restoration of voting rights. In the text provided, however, the Legislature explicitly notes completion of all sentence terms and good conduct since release, and there is no recorded opposition, amendment, or committee discussion indicating any active dispute.