RPT 680

A Review of Parker’s Law
Convictions
PEER Issue Brief #680 1

Issue Brief #680
December 13, 2022
About PEER:
PEER Committee
The Mississippi Legislature created the Joint
Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and
Kevin Blackwell, Chair Expenditure Review (PEER Committee) by statute in
1973. A joint committee, the PEER Committee is
Jerry Turner, Vice-Chair composed of seven members of the House of
Becky Currie, Secretary Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the
House and seven members of the Senate appointed by
the Lieutenant Governor. Appointments are made for
four-year terms, with one Senator and one
Senators: Representative appointed from each of the U.S.
Congressional Districts and three at-large members
Lydia Chassaniol
appointed from each house. Committee officers are
Dean Kirby elected by the membership, with officers alternating
Chad McMahan annually between the two houses. All Committee
Sollie Norwood actions by statute require a majority vote of four
Representatives and four Senators voting in the
John Polk
affirmative.
Charles Younger
Mississippi’s constitution gives the Legislature broad
power to conduct examinations and investigations.
PEER is authorized by law to review any public entity,
Representatives: including contractors supported in whole or in part by
public funds, and to address any issues that may
Richard Bennett
require legislative action. PEER has statutory access to
Cedric Burnett all state and local records and has subpoena power to
Carolyn Crawford compel testimony or the production of documents.
Timmy Ladner PEER provides a variety of services to the Legislature,
Percy Watson including program evaluations, economy and
efficiency reviews, financial audits, limited scope
evaluations, fiscal notes, and other governmental
research and assistance. The Committee identifies
Executive Director: inefficiency or ineffectiveness or a failure to accomplish
James F. (Ted) Booth legislative objectives, and makes recommendations for
redefinition, redirection, redistribution and/or
restructuring of Mississippi government. As directed by
and subject to the prior approval of the PEER
Committee, the Committee’s professional staff
executes audit and evaluation projects obtaining
information and developing options for consideration
by the Committee. The PEER Committee releases
reports to the Legislature, Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, the agency examined, and the general
public.
The Committee assigns top priority to written requests

from individual legislators and legislative committees.
2 The Committee also considers
PEER IssuePEER staff proposals
Brief #680
and written requests from state officials and others.
A Review of Parker’s Law Convictions
Issue Brief #680 | December 13, 2022
Scope and Authority

As required by MISS. CODE ANN. Section 41-29-139.1 (1972), otherwise known as Parker’s Law, the PEER
Committee prepared the following:
• An overview of Parker’s Law, and similar provisions of law in the United States; and,
• The number of convictions that have occurred under Parker’s Law since its adoption.
Background
The Requirements of Parker’s Law
In 2022, the Mississippi Legislature adopted Chapter 401, Laws of 2022, otherwise known as Parker’s Law.
Section 2 of this legislation provides:
(1) A person who delivers or causes the delivery of fentanyl with knowledge of the fentanyl
commits the crime of "fentanyl delivery resulting in death" when as a result of the unlawful
delivery of fentanyl in exchange for anything of value to another person, death to a person
results from the proximate cause of injection, oral ingestion or inhalation of the fentanyl.
Upon conviction for violating the provisions of this section, the person shall be sentenced
to imprisonment no less than twenty (20) years to a term of life in the custody of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections.
(2) For purposes of this act only, any person, who, in good faith, without malice and in the
absence of evidence of an intent to defraud, seeks medical assistance for someone
experiencing a fentanyl overdose shall not be charged or prosecuted for a violation of this
section, if the evidence for the charge was gained as a result of the seeking of medical
assistance.
(3) For purposes of this act:
(a) "Fentanyl" means fentanyl and any fentanyl-related substances, to include
fentanyl analogs, as set forth in Article 3, Chapter 29 of Title 41 of the Mississippi
Code of 1972.
(b) "In exchange for anything of value" does not apply to the act of sharing
fentanyl when the sharing results in the proximate cause of a person's death under
this section.
(4) The legislative intent for this bill is to assist in prosecuting any person who sells or
otherwise profits from the sale of unlawful fentanyl, which causes the death of another
person. It is not the intent of this Legislature for the provisions of this section to be used
to prosecute a drug user or drug addict who has shared fentanyl with a friend or associate
and the friend or associate dies as a result of the sharing.

(5) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit, restrict or otherwise
prohibit an indictment or conviction for any other crime that may be related to a violation
of this section.
(6) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review
shall create an annual report of the number of persons convicted under the provisions of
this act; and shall provide the report to the House and Senate Judiciary B committees by
January 5, of each year.
(7) This section shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2025.
This provision of law was codified as MISS. CODE ANN. Section 41-29-139.1 (1972).
The Fentanyl Problem

Parker’s Law was adopted as a response to the growing problem of Fentanyl use and addiction. According
to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overdose deaths resulting from synthetic opioids
such as Fentanyl have increased 97-fold from since 1999. Exhibit 1 below illustrates the number of drug
overdose deaths in the U.S. from 1999 to 2021.
Exhibit 1: Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. from 1999 to 2021
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Overdose Prevention Strategy.”
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid,

More than 56,000 people died from overdoses
approved for treating severe pain, typically
involving synthetic opioids in 2020.
advanced cancer pain. It is 50 to 100 times more
potent than morphine. It is prescribed in the form of
transdermal patches or lozenges and can be diverted for misuse and abuse in the United States. However,
most recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdose, and death in the U.S. are linked to illegally made
4 PEER Issue Brief #680

fentanyl. It is sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect. It is often mixed with heroin and/or
cocaine as a combination product—with or without the user’s knowledge—to increase its euphoric effects.
Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl and
fentanyl analogs, increased by more than 56% from 2019 to 2020. The number of overdose deaths
involving synthetic opioids in 2020 was more than 18 times the number in 2013. More than 56,000 people
died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in 2020. The latest provisional drug overdose death
counts through June 2021 suggest an acceleration of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.1
Criminal Penalties for Drug-induced Homicides

The use of criminal statutes to punish those who distribute controlled substances to persons who die from
the use of such substances is not new in this country. A 2017 report shows that 20 states and the federal
government have adopted statutes that make it a felony to distribute a controlled substance to a person
who ultimately dies from the use of that substance.2
Since that date, at least one state, Tennessee, has adopted a criminal provision that is similar to
Mississippi’s.3 That section provides:
(a) Second degree murder is:
(1) A knowing killing of another;
(2) A killing of another that results from the unlawful distribution of any Schedule
I or Schedule II drug, when the drug is the proximate cause of the death of the
user; or
(3) A killing of another by unlawful distribution or unlawful delivery or unlawful
dispensation of fentanyl or carfentanil, when those substances alone, or in
combination with any substance scheduled as a controlled substance by the
Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1989, compiled in chapter 17, part 4 of this title
and in title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4, including controlled substance analogs,
is the proximate cause of the death of the user.
(b) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, if the defendant knowingly engages in
multiple incidents of domestic abuse, assault or the infliction of bodily injury against a
single victim, the trier of fact may infer that the defendant was aware that the cumulative
effect of the conduct was reasonably certain to result in the death of the victim, regardless
of whether any single incident would have resulted in the death.
(c) (1) Second degree murder is a Class A felony.
(c) (2) Notwithstanding the Tennessee Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989, compiled
in title 40, chapter 35, a person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a)(2) where the
victim is a minor shall be punished from within one (1) range higher than the sentencing
range otherwise appropriate for the person.4
1
“Fentanyl,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 1, 2022.
2
“An Overdose Death is not Murder,” Dru Policy Alliance, November 2017.
3
Tenn. Code Section 39-13-211.
4
Class A felonies in Tennessee are punishable by a prison sentence of 15 to 60 years and fines of up to $50,000.

Convictions under Parker’s Law
Because Parker’s law has only been in effect PEER staff contacted the Administrative Office of
since July 1, 2022, there have been no the Courts (AOC) to determine how many
convictions. convictions have occurred under Parker’s Law since
its adoption. The staff of AOC reviewed court
records in their possession, including filings maintained in Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC). To date,
the AOC has not recorded a conviction under Parker’s Law. AOC and PEER emphasize that the provisions
have only been in effect since July 1, 2022.

James F. (Ted) Booth, Executive Director
Legal and Reapportionment Performance Evaluation

Barton Norfleet, General Counsel Lonnie Edgar, Deputy Director
Ben Collins Jennifer Sebren, Deputy Director
Kim Cummins
Matthew Dry
Matthew Holmes
Administration Drew Johnson
Kirby Arinder Billy Loper
Stephanie Harris Debra Monroe-Lax
Gale Taylor Taylor Mullins
Meri Clare Ringer
Sarah Williamson
Julie Winkeljohn
Quality Assurance and Reporting Ray Wright
Tracy Bobo
Hannah Jane LeDuff

A Review of Parker’s Law Convictions
December 13, 2022
For more information, contact: (601) 359-1226 | P.O. Box 1204, Jackson, MS 39215-1204
Senator Kevin Blackwell, Chair | James F. (Ted) Booth, Executive Director

RPT 680

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

RPT 680

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

RPT 680

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Review of Parker’s Law

PEER Issue Brief #680 1

The Committee assigns top priority to written requests

Issue Brief #680 | December 13, 2022

Scope and Authority

PEER Issue Brief #680 3

The Fentanyl Problem

Exhibit 1: Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. from 1999 to 2021

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid,

4 PEER Issue Brief #680

Criminal Penalties for Drug-induced Homicides

PEER Issue Brief #680 5

6 PEER Issue Brief #680

Legal and Reapportionment Performance Evaluation

PEER Issue Brief #680 7

8 PEER Issue Brief #680

You might also like