Endangered Species - Enforcement and Penalties - Mississippi

...(c) Except as otherwise provided in Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale or ship, and for any common or contract carrier knowingly to transport or receive for shipment any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any of the following lists: (1) the list of wildlife indigenous to the state determined to be endangered within the state pursuant to subsection (a); (2) the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife as it appears on July 1, 1974 (Part 17 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix D); and (3) the United States' List of Endangered Foreign Fish and Wildlife (Part 17 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix A), as such list may be modified hereafter; provided, that any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any of the foregoing lists which enters the state from another state or from a point outside the territorial limits of the United States and which is transported across the state destined for a point beyond the state may be so entered and transported without restriction in accordance with the terms of any federal permit or permit issued under the laws or regulations of another state.

Citation: Miss. Code Ann. § 49-5-109.

(a) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49-5-107, or any regulations issued under Section 49-5-107 or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued thereunder shall be guilty of a Class I violation and punished as provided in Section 49-7-141.

(b) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49-5-109, or any regulations issued pursuant thereto or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued under subsections (d) and (e) of Section 49-5-111 is guilty of a Class I violation and is punishable as provided under Section 49-7-141.

(c) All law enforcement and management officers of the commission and other law enforcement officers authorized to enforce the laws of the State of Mississippi are authorized to carry out the provisions of Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119. Any officer or agent may, without warrant, arrest any person who the officer or agent has probable cause to believe is violating, in his presence or view, any section, regulation or permit provided for by Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119. An officer or agent who has made an arrest of a person for any such violation may search the person or business records at the time of arrest and seize any wildlife, records, or property taken, or used in connection with the violation.

(d) Equipment, merchandise, wildlife, or records seized under subsection (c) of this section shall be held by an officer or agent of the commission pending disposition of court proceedings, and may be forfeited to the state for destruction or disposition as the commission may deem appropriate. Prior to forfeiture, the commission may direct the transfer of wildlife so seized to a qualified zoological, educational, or scientific institution for safekeeping, costs thereof to be assessable to the defendant. The commission is authorized to issue regulations to implement this subsection.

Citation: Miss. Code Ann. § 49-5-115.

(1) Any person who has been convicted of a Class I violation shall be fined not less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) and shall be imprisoned in the county jail for five (5) days. The person shall also forfeit all hunting, trapping and fishing privileges for a period of not less than twelve (12) consecutive months from the date of conviction...

Citation: Miss. Code Ann. § 49-7-141.

(a) None of the provisions of Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 shall be construed to apply retroactively or to prohibit importation into the state of wildlife which may be lawfully imported into the United States or lawfully taken or removed from another state or to prohibit entry into the state or possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment of any wildlife whose species or subspecies is deemed to be threatened with statewide extinction in this state but not in the state where originally taken if the person engaging therein demonstrates by substantial evidence that such wildlife was lawfully taken or removed from such state; provided, that this subsection shall not be construed to permit the possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment within this state of wildlife on the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife, as amended and accepted in accordance with subsection (d) of Section 49-5-109, except as permitted in the proviso by subsection (c) of Section 49-5-109 and subsection (d) of Section 49-5-111.

(b) If any provision of Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of such sections, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Citation: Miss. Code Ann. § 49-5-117.