MISSISSIPPI
MISSISSIPPI CODE of 1972
[Current through the 2015 Regular Session]
TITLE 97. CRIMES
CHAPTER 29. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC MORALS AND DECENCY IN GENERAL
§ 97-29-31. Indecent exposure.
A person who willfully and lewdly exposes his person, or private parts thereof, in any public place, or in
any place where others are present, or procures another to so expose himself, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction for a first offense, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars
($500.00) or be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months, or both. Upon conviction for a second offense within five (5) years, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not
more than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) or shall be imprisoned not exceeding one (1) year, or both. Upon conviction of a third or subsequent offense within five (5) years, such person shall be guilty of a
felony and shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00) or shall be imprisoned for not more than five (5) years in the State Penitentiary, or both. It is not a violation of this
statute for a woman to breast-feed.
HISTORY: SOURCES: Codes, 1892, § 1218; 1906, § 1294; Hemingway’s 1917, § 1027; 1930, § 1058; 1942, § 2290; Laws, 1971,
ch. 448, § 1; Laws, 2006, ch. 520, § 5; Laws, 2012, ch. 510, § 2, eff from and after July 1, 2012.)
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MISSISSIPPI CODE of 1972
Current through the 2015 Regular Session
TITLE 19. COUNTIES AND COUNTY OFFICERS
CHAPTER 5. HEALTH, SAFETY AND PUBLIC WELFARE IN GENERAL
§ 19-5-103. Regulation of massage parlors and public displays of nudity
(1) In accordance with the provisions of Section 19-3-4l, providing that additional powers may be conferred upon the boards of supervisors, the board of supervisors of any county bordering on the
Gulf of Mexico and having two (2) judicial districts and the board of supervisors of any county adjacent to any county of this or any adjoining state wherein is located a city having a population in
excess of two hundred thousand (200,000), according to the latest federal census, are hereby empowered to promulgate, adopt and enforce ordinances which are necessary and reasonable for the
protection of public health and the maintenance of order in relation to the advertisement, the offering of services and the dispensation for compensation of personal services in establishments known as
massage parlors and to promulgate, adopt and enforce ordinances which are necessary and reasonable for the protection of public health and the maintenance of order in relation to public displays of nudity.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the term “massage parlor” shall mean any premises where a person manipulates, rubs, caresses, touches, massages, kneads, palpates or otherwise physically
contacts the body or part or area of the body of another person. The term “massage parlor” shall not include gymnasia or other premises wherein persons engage in bona fide athletic or conditioning
activities, duly licensed barbershop, beauty parlor, chiropractic clinic or other premises of a person practicing a vocation or profession regulated and licensed by the state.
For the purposes of this section, the term “nudity” means uncovered, or less than opaquely covered, postpubertal human genitals, pubic areas, the postpubertal human female breast below a point
immediately above the top of the areola, or the covered human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. For purposes of this definition, a female breast is considered uncovered if the nipple only or the
nipple and areola only are uncovered, however, the term “nudity” does not include a woman’s breast-feeding of her child whether or not the breast or any part of it is exposed as any element of breast-feeding.
For the purposes of this section, the term “public display” means the exposing, exhibiting, revealing, or in any fashion displaying the nude human body or any representation thereof in any location in such a
manner that it may be readily seen by the public by normal unaided vision and the term also means any play, motion picture, dance, show or other presentation, whether pictured, animated or live, performed
before an audience and which in whole or in part depicts or reveals nudity or sexual conduct.
(3) Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section shall comport with the elements of due process and
shall include but not be limited to specificity, adequate notice, right to hearing, right to counsel, right to appeal adverse findings to a judicial authority and penalties rationally related to prohibited acts.
(4) Boards of supervisors proposing such ordinances shall publish and post notice of such intentions not less than twenty (20) days prior to the holding of a public hearing whereat the purposes and
substance of such ordinances shall be fully discussed.
HISTORY: SOURCES: Laws, 1977, ch. 460; Laws, 1981, ch. 331, § 1; Laws, 2006, ch. 520, § 4, eff from and after passage
(approved Apr. 3, 2006.)