Table Of Content

v '' v.. \: , ^V Annotated : viMifc Otiilties^dSaMefs Mb // TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME 17 TITLE 77 PUBLIC UTILITIESAND CARRIERS BEGINNING CHAP. SECTION 1. Public Service Commission 77-1-1 2. Public Utilities Staff 77-2-1 3. Regulation ofPublic Utilities 77-3-1 5. Electric Power 77-5-1 6. Municipal GasAuthority ofMississippi Law 77-6-1 7. Motor Carriers 77-7-1 9. Railroads and Other Common Carriers 77-9-1 11. Gas Pipelines and Distribution Systems 77-11-1 13. Regulation ofExcavations NearUnderground Utility Facilities 77-13-1 15. Local Natural Gas Districts 77-15-1 CODE MISSISSIPPI 1972 ANNOTATED ADOPTEDAS THE OFFICIALCODE OFTHE STATE OFMISSISSIPPI BYTHE 1972 SESSION OFTHE LEGISLATURE VOLUME SEVENTEEN PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS §§ 77-1-1 to 77-15-3 CONTAININGPERMANENT PUBLIC STATUTES OF MISSISSIPPI TO THE END OF THE 2009 REGULARAND 1STTHROUGH 3RD EXTRAORDINARYLEGISLATIVE SESSIONS LexisNexis' QUESTIONSABOUT THIS PUBLICATION? ForEDITORIALQUESTIONSconcerningthispublication,orREPRINTPERMISSION, pleasecall: 800-833-9844 ForCUSTOMERSERVICEASSISTANCEconcerningreplacementpages,shipments,billingorother matters, pleasecall: CustomerServiceDepartmentat 800-833-9844 OutsidetheUnitedStatesandCanada 518-487-3000 FAX 518-487-3584 ForINFORMATIONONOTHERMATTHEWBENDERPUBLICATIONS,pleasecall: Youraccountmanageror 800-223-1940 OutsidetheUnitedStatesandCanada 518-487-3000 Copyright © 1973—2009 by THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI All rights reserved. LexisNexis, the knowledge burst logo, and Michie are trademarks ofReed Elsevier Properties Inc. used under license. Matthew Bender is a registered trademark ofMatthew Bender Properties Inc. 4455912 ISBN 978-1-4224-5913-3 (Volume 17) ISBN 978-0-3270-9628-3 (Code set) LexisNexis Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. 701 E. Water Street, Charlottesville, VA22902-5389 wwwlexisnexis.com (Pub.44510) PREFACE The Mississippi Code of 1972, which became effective on November 1, 1973, is the culmination of nearly four years of effort on the part of the Legislature, the Attorney General's office and the publishers, which brings together provisions ofgeneral statutory law having a common subject matter into a more orderly and logical framework of code titles and chapters, and employing a modern and effective section numbering system. A major by- product ofthe code revision will be the state-owned magnetic computer tape containingthe Mississippi Code of1972, whichwill be ofinvaluable assistance to the Legislature and to the state. The enabling act for the code was a recommendation of the Mississippi State Bar, whichresultedintheconsideration andpassageofSenate Bill 1964, Chapter 465, Laws of 1970, signed into law by Governor John Bell Williams. The Code Committee provided for in that act was comprised of A. F. Summer, Attorney General, Heber Ladner, Secretary ofState, Representative Edgar J. Stephens, Jr., Chairman, House Appropriations Committee, Senator William G. Burgin, Jr., Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee, Repre- sentative H. L. Meredith, Jr., Chairman, HouseJudiciary"A"andJudiciary en banc Committees, Senator E. K. Collins, Chairman, Senate Judiciary "A" and Judiciary en banc Committees, Representative Ney McKinley Gore, Jr., Chairman, HouseJudiciary"B"Committee, andSenatorWilliamE.Alexander, Chairman, Senate Judiciary "B" Committee. In 1972, Representative Marby Robert Penton and Senator Herman B. Decell, Chairman ofHouse and Senate Judiciary "B" Committees, respectively, became members of the Committee, replacingRepresentative Gore and Senator Collins, SenatorAlexanderhaving been appointed Chairman of Senate Judiciary "A" and Judiciary en banc Committees. The DeputyAttorney General, Delos H. Burks, served the Code Committee as Secretary. SpecialAssistantAttorneyGeneral FredJ. Lotterhos, under the supervision of the Attorney General, was assigned the principal responsibility for the supervision ofthe recodification, including the consider- ation and treatment ofsome 16,000 sections ofcode manuscript. Final legislative approval was given to the Mississippi Code of 1972 by passage of Senate Bill 2034, Laws of 1972, which was signed by Governor William L. Waller onApril 26, 1972. Acopy ofthat act is set out in Volume 1, following the Publisher's Foreword. The Code Committee is of the opinion that the recodification has been thoroughly and well accomplished, and will result in a greatly improved repository ofthe general statutory law ofthe state. A. F. Summer Attorney General hi Digitized by the Internet Archive 2013 in http://archive.org/details/govlawmscode197217 PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD This 2009 Replacement Volume 17 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated represents material appearing in both the original 1973 bound volume and the 1991 and 2000 Replacement Volume 17, as well as reflecting amendments, repeals, and new Code provisions enacted by the Mississippi Legislature through the 2009 Regular and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Extraordinary Legislative Sessions. This volume contains the text ofTitle 77 ofthe Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated, as amended through the 2009 Regular and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Extraordinary Legislative Sessions. Case annotations are included based on decisions ofthe State and federal courts in cases arising in Mississippi. Many ofthese cases were decided under the former statutes in effect prior to the enactment ofthe Code of1972. These earlier cases have been moved to pertinent sections of the Code where they may be useful in interpreting the current statutes. Annotations to collateral research references are also included. To better serve our customers by making our annotations more current, LexisNexishas changedthe sources thatarereadtocreate annotationsforthis publication. Rather than waiting for cases to appear in printed reporters, we now read court decisions as they are released by the courts. A consequence of this more current reading ofcases, as they are posted online on LexisNexis, is thatthe mostrecentcases annotated maynotyethaveprintreportercitations. These will be provided, as they become available, through later publications. This publication contains annotations taken from decisions ofthe Missis- sippi Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals with decision dates up to February 10, 2009, and decisions of the appropriate federal courts with decision dates up to December 23, 2008. These cases will be printed in the following reporters: Southern Reporter, 2nd Series United States Supreme Court Reports Supreme Court Reporter United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, 2nd Series Federal Reporter, 3rd Series Federal Supplement, 2nd Series Federal Rules Decisions Bankruptcy Reporter Additionally, annotations have been taken from the following sources: American Law Reports, 6th Series American Law Reports, Federal Series Mississippi College Law Review Mississippi Law Journal Finally, published Opinions ofthe Attorney General and opinions of the Ethics Commission have been examined for annotations. Publisher's Foreword A comprehensive Index appears at the end ofthis volume. Visit the LexisNexis website at http://www.lexisnexis.com for an online bookstore, technical support, customer support, and other company information. For further information or assistance, please call us toll-free at (800) 833-9844, fax us toll-free at (800) 643-1280, e-mail us at [email protected], or write to: Mississippi Code Editor, LexisNexis, 701 E. Water Street, Charlottesville, VA 22906-5389. October 2009 LexisNexis VI