Kimberly Bartlett endured a year of beatings and strangulation at the hands of two former partners who are now incarcerated for crimes stemming from the abuse. She didn’t know it at the time, but both had a history of domestic violence.
When the Ellisville resident learned about an effort in Tennessee to create a public registry for repeat abusers, she wanted to see her state take action.
As a mother and survivor, she said she believes a repeat domestic violence offender registry would be a game changer and something that could have alerted her about her partners’ pasts. She reached out to a local lawmaker and the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence to see if the state could create its own.
“This has got to happen for our sake,” Bartlett said about the need for the registry for survivors, parents and the public.
A handful of bills pending in the Mississippi Legislature propose creating a public online system displaying information about people convicted of two or more domestic violence offenses, including misdemeanors and felonies. Each entry would include a picture, name, county of conviction and charges. The Department of Public Safety would maintain the information.
A repeat domestic violence offender would need to be convicted at least once in Mississippi, but any prior conviction can be from in or out of the state. Legislation would also require those who meet the criteria to be added to the register.
The registry would list repeat offenders for crimes committed after the act becomes law, but any prior convictions used to establish their eligibility can be earlier.
Rep. Charles Blackwell, a Republican from Ellisville, and Sen. Kamesha Mumford, a Clinton Democrat, each proposed registry bills supported by the coalition.
House Bill 1312 is called the “Purple Angels Law,” and Mumford’s Senate bill is expected to have a similar name. As of Thursday, the Senate bill was not available on the Legislature website.
The bills are named for domestic violence victims, including those who have died, said Luis Montgomery, policy and justice strategist for the statewide domestic violence coalition, which is supporting efforts to create a registry and other domestic violence legislation.
Additionally, Republican Rep. Lance Varner of Florence and Sen. Angela Burks Hill, a Republican from Picayune, filed HB 1371 and SB 2113 to create a repeat domestic offenders registry. Both bills include similar language as the Tennessee law.
Tennessee’s registry, “Savanna’s Law,” was named for Savanna Puckett, a 22-year-old sheriff’s deputy, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend on Jan. 23, 2022. About a year later, James Jackson Conn pleaded guilty to first-degree, premeditated murder and is serving a life sentence. Investigators found he had a history of domestic violence and stalking other women.
As in Tennessee, the registry would remove a person’s information after a certain period of time after a conviction. For one conviction, they would be listed for five years. It would be seven years for two prior convictions, a decade for three priors and 20 years for four prior convictions.
Blackwell and Mumford’s bills propose a lifetime listing on the registry for anyone convicted of felony domestic violence, Montgomery said. Domestic felonies can include aggravated domestic violence and more than three misdemeanor domestic violence assaults.
The proposed bills do not specify what charges would qualify someone for the registry. Montgomery said the language is open ended to account for other types of charges a person could face for a domestic offense, including stalking or sexual assault.
The Mississippi bills would also establish a registry fee paid for by the person convicted of multiple domestic violence offenses. A portion of that money would go to support administrative costs, and the rest would be deposited into the state’s Domestic Violence Fund to provide grants for prevention, intervention and victim support services.
Montgomery hopes establishing a repeat domestic offender registry can build on the momentum from the previous session when lawmakers created the state’s domestic violence fatality review committee. He serves as vice chairman of the group which is in the process of developing processes and policies to start reviewing domestic violence homicides and other deaths.
Bartlett said she’s seen how women are scared to talk about domestic violence, which can lead to their voices being silenced and abuse being pushed under the rug. She hopes a registry can help spread awareness about the issue and empower people who use it.
“You want to be able to check and verify and check in black and white, that this person is who they say they are, that they are safe,” Bartlett said.
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