MCA Chapter 7

MCA Chapter 7
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-1 Short title.

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the “Antiquities Law of Mississippi.”

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-3 Declaration of public policy.

It is hereby declared to be the public policy and in the public interest of the State of Mississippi to locate, protect, and preserve all sites, objects, buildings, shipwrecks, and locations of historical, archaeological, or architectural significance, including, but not limited to historically or architecturally significant buildings, structures relating to significant engineering accomplishments, prehistoric and historical American Indian or aboriginal campsites, dwellings, and habitation sites, archaeological sites of every character, treasure imbedded in the earth, sunken or abandoned ships and wrecks of the sea or any part or the contents thereof, maps, records, documents, books, artifacts, and implements of culture in any way related to the inhabitants, prehistory, history, natural history, government, or culture in, on or under any of the lands, tidelands, submerged lands, and bed of the sea within the jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-4 Definitions.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: “Historical significance” means that quality or qualities associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of state, local or national history, or that quality or qualities associated with the lives of persons significant in local, state or national history. “Architectural significance” means the qualities which embody the distinctive characteristics of type, period or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic value. “Archeological significance” means possessing the quality or qualities which have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in Mississippi prehistory or history. “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Board” means the board of trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Agency” means any administrative division of the State of Mississippi, its counties, cities or political subdivisions thereof. “Restoration” means the returning of an object, building, structure or site to a prior condition or to an original historic appearance.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-5 Administration of chapter; inspection of record of proceedings.

The authority to administer the provisions of this chapter is vested in the board of trustees of the department of archives and history, hereinafter referred to as the board. A record of the board’s proceedings under this chapter shall be kept, and shall be subject to inspection by any citizen of Mississippi desiring to make an examination in the presence of a member of the board or an authorized employee of the department of archives and history.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-7 General duties of board of trustees of department of archives and history.

The duties of the board shall be to determine the site of and to designate Mississippi landmarks; to remove from such designation certain of such sites as hereinafter provided; to contract or otherwise provide for the discovery and salvage operations herein covered; to consider the requests for and issue the permits hereinafter provided for; and to protect and preserve the archaeological, historical and architectural resources of the State of Mississippi. The board shall be the legal custodian of all items hereinafter described which have been recovered and retained by the State of Mississippi, and shall maintain an inventory of such items showing the description and depository thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-9 Shipwrecks and buried treasure designated Mississippi landmarks and sole property of state.

All sunken or abandoned ships and wrecks of the sea, and any part or the contents thereof, and all treasure imbedded in the earth, located in, on or under the surface of lands belonging to the State of Mississippi, including its tidelands, submerged lands and the beds of its rivers and the sea within the jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi are hereby declared to be Mississippi landmarks and are the sole property of the State of Mississippi and may not be taken, altered, damaged, destroyed, salvaged or excavated without a contract or permit of the board.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-11 Designation of sites, objects, etc., upon lands belonging to state or political subdivision as Mississippi landmarks; recording; alteration, excavation, etc., of sites.

All other sites, objects, buildings, artifacts, implements, and locations of archaeological significance, including, but expressly not limited to, those pertaining to prehistoric and historical American Indian or aboriginal campsites, dwellings, and habitation sites, their artifacts and implements of culture, as well as archaeological sites of every character that are located in, on or under the surface of any lands belonging to the State of Mississippi or to any county, city, or political subdivision of the state, are hereby declared to be Mississippi landmarks and are the sole property of the State of Mississippi. Such sites may not be taken, altered, destroyed, salvaged or excavated without a permit from the board or in violation of the terms of such permit. All other sites, objects, buildings, artifacts, implements, structures and locations of historical or architectural significance located in or under the surface of any lands belonging to the State of Mississippi or to any county, city or political subdivision of the state may be declared to be Mississippi landmarks by majority vote of the board. Every Mississippi landmark shall be so designated based upon its significance within the historical or architectural patterns of a community, a county, the State of Mississippi, or the United States of America. Upon such action by the board, the designation of the Mississippi landmark shall be recorded in the deed records of the county in which the landmark is located. All such designated sites or items located on public lands within the State of Mississippi may not be taken, altered, damaged, destroyed, salvaged, restored, renovated or excavated without a permit from, the board or in violation of the terms of such permit. All such sites or items located on private lands within the State of Mississippi that have been designated as Mississippi landmarks as hereinafter provided, may not be taken, altered, damaged, destroyed, salvaged, restored, renovated or excavated without a permit from the board or in violation of the terms of such permit. Such designation shall be reduced to recordable form sufficiently describing the site so that it may be located and shall be recorded in the deed records of the county in which the landmark is located.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-13 Designation of sites located upon private lands as Mississippi landmarks; recordation; marking.

Any site located upon private lands which is determined by majority vote of the board to be of sufficient archaeological, historical or architectural significance may be designated by the board as a Mississippi landmark. It is specifically provided, however, that no such site shall be so designated upon private land without the written consent of the landowner or landowners in recordable form sufficiently describing the site so that it may be located. Upon such designation the consent of the landowner shall be recorded in the deed records of the county in which the land is located. Any such site upon private land shall be marked by at least one (1) marker, approved by the board, bearing the words “Mississippi Landmark” for each five (5) acres of area.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-15 Removal from designation.

Upon majority vote of the board any Mississippi landmark on public or private land may be determined to be of no further historical, archaeological, or architectural significance, or not of sufficient significance to warrant its further classification as such, and upon such determination it may be removed from such designation. In the case of sites located on private land that have theretofore been designated by instrument of record, the board is authorized to cause to be executed and recorded in the deed records of the county where such site is located an instrument setting out such determination and releasing the site from the provisions thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-17 Contracts for salvage; surveys; excavation.

The board shall be authorized to enter into contracts with other state agencies or institutions and with qualified private institutions, corporations, or individuals for the discovery and salvage of treasure imbedded in the earth, sunken or abandoned ships or wrecks of the sea, parts thereof and their contents. Such contracts are to be on forms approved by the attorney general. The contracts may provide for fair compensation to the salvager in terms of a percentage of the reasonable cash value of the objects recovered, or at the discretion of the board, of a fair share of the objects recovered. The amount constituting a fair share shall be determined by the board, taking into consideration the circumstances of each such operation. The reasonable cash value may be determined by contract provision providing for appraisal by qualified experts or by representatives of the contracting parties and their representative or representatives. Such contract shall provide for the termination of any right in the salvager or permittee thereunder upon the violation of any of the terms thereof. Superior title to all objects recovered shall be retained by the State of Mississippi unless and until it is released to the salvager or permittee by the board. No person, firm, or corporation may conduct such salvage or recovery operation herein described without first obtaining such contract. All such contracts shall specify, among other things, the location, nature of the activity, and the time period covered thereby, and when executed are to be recorded by the person, firm, or corporation obtaining such contract, in the office of the chancery clerk in the county or counties where such operations are to be conducted, prior to the commencement of such operation. The board shall be authorized to conduct surveys to identify Mississippi landmarks on or under all lands and waters belonging to the State of Mississippi, or any county, city or political subdivisions of the state and to excavate or study all Mississippi landmarks. The board shall be further authorized to identify and excavate historic, architectural, or archaeological sites on private property, however, it is specifically provided that no such survey may be undertaken on private land without consent of the landowner and that no excavation may be undertaken on private land without the landowner’s written consent.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-19 Permits for excavation, salvage, studies, etc., at Mississippi landmarks.

The board shall be authorized to issue permits to other state agencies or institutions and to qualified private institutions, companies, or individuals for the taking, salvaging, excavating, restoring, or the conducting of scientific or educational studies at, in or on Mississippi landmarks as in the opinion of the board would be in the best interest of the State of Mississippi. Such permits may provide for the retaining by the permittee of a portion of any recovery, as set out for contracting parties under Section 39-7-17. Such permit shall provide for the termination of any rights in the permittee thereunder upon the violation of any of the terms thereof and shall be drafted in compliance with forms approved by the attorney general. All such permits shall specify, among other things, the location, nature of the activity, and time period covered thereby. No person, firm, or corporation shall conduct any such operations on any Mississippi landmarks without first obtaining and having in his or its possession such permit at the site of such operation, nor shall such operations be conducted in violation of the provisions of such permit.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-21 Supervision of salvage or recovery operations; custody of antiquities; promulgation of rules and regulations.

All salvage or recovery operations described under Section 39-7-17, and all operations conducted under permits set out in Section 39-7-19, must be carried out under the general supervision of the board, in accordance with reasonable rules and regulations adopted by the board, and in such manner that the maximum amount of historic, scientific, archeological, and educational information may be recovered and preserved in addition to the physical recovery of items. The board shall be the legal custodian of all antiquities recovered, and is specifically authorized and empowered to promulgate such rules and regulations and to require such contract or permit conditions as to reasonably effect the purposes of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-22 Public construction or improvement affecting potential Mississippi landmarks.

In the early stages of planning and always prior to the letting of bids for public construction, public improvement of any nature, or the transfer of public property to private ownership, state agencies, local governments and all their political subdivisions shall notify the board of the planned action on a form supplied by the board. The board may survey the affected area, property, structure, or building, to determine if potential Mississippi landmarks will be affected, or if significant sites, buildings, or structures on nonpublic lands will be affected. If the department determines that significant historic, architectural, or archaeological sites, buildings, structures, locations, or remains will be adversely affected by the public construction or improvement, the proposed public construction or improvement may not be commenced until the department has issued the permit herein required, and has performed all necessary investigations, recording and/or salvage of the site, location or remains. All investigation, recording and salvage work shall be performed as expeditiously as possible so that no public construction project will be unduly impaired, impeded or delayed. If in the course of performing public construction or improvements, historic, prehistoric or archaeological sites, locations, remains or objects are discovered, the department shall be notified and its concurrence shall be requested in continuing the construction or improvement. Upon receipt of this notice, the department shall survey the area to confirm whether the area contains historic, prehistoric, or archaeological data which should be preserved in the public interest. The survey shall be conducted as expeditiously as possible. If, as a result of the survey, it is determined that (a) this data exists in the area, (b) the data has exceptional historic, prehistoric or archaeological significance and should be collected and preserved in the public interest, and (c) it is feasible to collect and preserve the data, the department shall perform the necessary work to collect and preserve the data. This work shall be performed as expeditiously as possible. When it is not feasible to collect the data, the agency shall make all reasonable attempts to avoid the site before proceeding. If in the board’s opinion the site possesses unusual significance, and is unique to such a degree that the landmark is, or is likely to be, the sole representative of a type or period, the board may prohibit further construction which would destroy or irreparably harm the landmark.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-23 Expenditures for acquisition of items; gifts and bequests; contracts for temporary possession of items by others.

The board is hereby authorized to expend such sums, from any appropriations hereafter made for such purposes, as it may deem advisable, to purchase from the salvager or permittee such salvager’s or permittee’s share, or portion thereof, of items recovered which in the opinion of the board should remain the property of the State of Mississippi. The board is authorized and empowered to accept gifts, grants, devises, and bequests of money, securities, or property to be used in the purchase of such items from the salvager or permittee. Further, in this respect, the board may enter into contracts or agreements with such persons, firms, corporations, or institutions, as it might choose, whereby such persons, firms, corporations, or institutions, for the privilege of retaining temporary possession of such items, may advance to the board the money necessary to procure from the salvager or permittee such items as the board might determine should remain the property of the State of Mississippi, upon the condition that at any time the board may choose to repay to such person, firm, corporation, or institution such sum so advanced, without interest or additional charge of any kind, it may do so and may recover possession of such items. During the time these items are in the possession of the person, firm, corporation, or institution advancing the money for the purchase thereof, they shall be available for viewing by the general public without charge or at no more than a nominal admission fee, and such items may not be removed from the State of Mississippi for appraisal, exhibition, or restorative purposes, except upon written authorization of the board.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-25 Restoration of antiquities for private parties.

The restoration of antiquities for private parties is authorized and shall be under the rules and regulations promulgated by the board, and all costs incurred in such restoration, both real and administrative, shall be paid by the private party.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-27 Reproduction, forging, etc., of antiquity with intent to deceive.

No person shall intentionally reproduce, replicate, retouch, rework, or forge any archeological or other object which derives value from its antiquity, with intent to represent the same to be original or genuine and with intent to deceive or offer any such object for sale or exchange.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-29 Defacing of American Indian or aboriginal markings or carvings.

No person shall intentionally and knowingly deface any American Indian or aboriginal paintings, hieroglyphics, or other marks or carvings on rock or elsewhere which pertain to early American Indian or aboriginal habitation of the country.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-31 Entry upon land of another to deface, remove or destroy archeological relics or sites.

No person, not being the owner thereof, and without the written consent of the owner, proprietor, lessee, or person in charge thereof, shall enter or attempt to enter upon the lands of another and intentionally injure, disfigure, remove, excavate, damage, take, dig into, or destroy any historical structure, monument, marker, medallion, or artifact, or any prehistoric or historic archaeological site, American Indian or aboriginal remains located in, on or under any private lands within the State of Mississippi. No person without a permit from the board, and without written permission of the landowner, shall intentionally injure, disfigure, remove, excavate, damage, take, dig into, or destroy any prehistoric or historic American Indian or aboriginal burial.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-33 Disfigurement, removal, destruction, etc., of historical structure or artifact.

It shall be unlawful for any person, not being the owner thereof, and without lawful authority, to wilfully injure, disfigure, remove or destroy any historical structure, monument, marker, medallion, or artifact.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-35 Penalties for violations of chapter; finder’s fee for arrest and conviction of violator.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or by confinement in jail for not more than thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and confinement. Each day of continued violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a distinct and separate offense for which the offender may be punished. The board at its discretion may grant a “finder’s fee,” not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), for the arrest and conviction of any person in violation of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-37 Civil action to enjoin violations or threatened violations of chapter; venue.

In addition to, and without limiting the other powers of the attorney general of the state of Mississippi and without altering or waiving any criminal penalty provision of this chapter, the attorney general shall have the power to bring an action in the name of the State of Mississippi in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin violations or threatened violations of this chapter, and for the return of items taken in violations of the provisions hereof, and for the restoration of alterations made in violation of the provisions hereof. The venue of such actions shall lie in the county in which the activity sought to be enjoined is alleged to be taking place, or in the county from which the items were taken. Any citizen in the State of Mississippi shall have the power to bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin violations or threatened violations of this chapter, and for the return of items taken in violation of the provisions hereof. The venue of such actions shall lie in the county in which the activity sought to be enjoined is alleged to be taking place, or in the county from which the items were taken.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-39 Other agencies and governments to assist in enforcement of chapter.

The chief administrative officers of all state agencies and of all state and local governments are authorized and directed to cooperate with and assist the board and the attorney general in carrying out the intent of this chapter. All law enforcement agencies and officers, state and local, are authorized and directed to assist in enforcing and in carrying out the intent of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 39-7-41 Certain archaeological records exempt from requirement of public access.

Records in the possession of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History or any other public body as defined in paragraph (a) of Section 25-61-3 which contain information about the location of any specific archaeological site and which in the opinion of any such agency possessing such records would, upon the disclosure thereof, create a substantial risk of damage or destruction to the historical value of such archaeological site or create a substantial risk of damage or destruction to private property rights, shall be exempt from the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.