Opinion ID: 1632428
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the chancellor erred by retroactively applying House Bill 997 passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 2002.

Text: ¶ 41. This issue is obviously closely akin to the issue just discussed. Starkville argues that Mississippi law prohibits the retroactive application of a statute absent the Legislature's clear intent to do so. We agree. It is well-settled in our jurisprudence that statutes be interpreted prospectively, and where they are not, there must be a clear indication from the Legislature that they be applied retrospectively as well. City of Belmont v. Miss. State Tax Comm'n, 860 So.2d at 302 (citing Mladinich v. Kohn, 186 So.2d 481, 483 (Miss. 1966)). A statute will not be given retroactive effect unless it is manifest from the language that the Legislature intended it to so operate. Mladinich, 186 So.2d at 483. ¶ 42. As is abundantly clear by now, in 2002, the Legislature passed H.B. 997 within weeks after we handed down Starkville I and explicitly stated what had been implicit in the 1987 Amendments to the Public Utilities Act of 1956. Accordingly, the Legislature added definitive language to Miss.Code Ann. § 77-3-13 which expressly states that all contracts entered into prior to 1987 are subject to the approval of the MPSC. Before the acquisition pursuant to any negotiated purchase agreement entered into before 1987 ... [t]he commission first shall determine that such service area, certificate of public convenience and necessity, or operating right, or portion thereof, shall be cancelled as provided in Section 77-3-21. Miss.Code Ann. § 77-3-13(7) (Supp.2002). By its very terms as stated above, H.B. 997 reveals a clear legislative intent to have the 1987 Amendments apply retrospectively. It is certainly hard to imagine a more manifest indication of legislative intent than the language used in House Bill 997 and codified as subsection (7) in Miss.Code Ann. § 77-3-13, especially when coupled with the blinding speed in which the Legislature reacted to our decision in Starkville I. ¶ 43. While the clear intent of the Legislature was to have H.B. 997 apply directly to this case, inasmuch as we invited the Legislature to do so, this Court has also affirmed cases involving the retroactive application of statutory amendments to pending litigation. In evaluating retroactive legislation in Belmont, we cited precedent as supporting the retroactive application of legislation, even when the legislation would abate litigation pending prior to the legislation becoming adopted. 860 So.2d at 303-04 ( see USPCI of Miss., Inc. v. State ex rel. McGowan, 688 So.2d 783, 786-87 (Miss.1997); City of Clarksdale v. Miss. Power & Light Co., 556 So.2d 1056 (Miss.1990)). ¶ 44. In Belmont, municipalities brought an action against the Mississippi State Tax Commission in November of 1999, seeking declaratory, as well as injunctive relief, so as to force the MSTC to comply with state law concerning the diversion of state sales tax to municipalities. 860 So.2d at 292. Four months later, in March of 2000, the Legislature passed House Bill 987, and using definitive language endorsed the method employed by the MSTC for calculating payments due all municipalities. Id. at 293. After the circuit court's dismissal pursuant to Miss. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), the municipalities appealed to this Court. In affirming the circuit court's dismissal, we held inter alia that this Court had previously allowed the retroactive application of statutes, amendments and rules, citing Burrell v. Miss. State Tax Comm'n, 536 So.2d 848 (Miss. 1988). [L]egislative enactment of House Bill No. 388 was so integrally related to the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 41, so that the latter, once ratified, ought be taken as breathing legal life into the former. 536 So.2d at 860. Belmont, 860 So.2d at 302. ¶ 45. We addressed the very same amendments at issue in this case in Clarksdale and found them determinative of pending litigation. In Clarksdale, the city filed an eminent domain action on March 5, 1987, in order to condemn the facilities of a certificated electrical utility. 556 So.2d at 1057. Twelve days later, on March 17, 1987, the Mississippi Legislature adopted the 1987 Amendments. Id. As stated previously, the 1987 Amendments severely curtailed a municipality's ability to exercise its power of eminent domain and specifically required, that prior to a municipality exercising the power of eminent domain against a utility the certificate of public convenience and necessity held by the utility had to be cancelled by the [MPSC]. Id. The trial judge held that because the City's right of eminent domain was a creation of statute, under well-settled law any amendment to a statute was treated as though it had been a part of the original statute. Id. Since the MPSC had not acted on the utility's certificate of public convenience and necessity, the trial judge ultimately dismissed the City's petition In affirming the trial judge's retroactive application of the 1987 amendments, we referred to precedent: In Oliphant v. The Carthage Bank, 224 Miss. 386, 80 So.2d 63, 72 (1955), we held: It is well-settled by the decisions of our Court, and in most every other jurisdiction, that when proceedings are in process under a statute and have not been completed, and have not reached the stage of final judgment, and a new act is passed, modifying the statute under which the proceedings were begun, the new statute becomes integrated into and a part of the old statute as fully as if written therein from the very time the old statute was enacted. 224 Miss. at 410, 80 So.2d at 72. 556 So.2d at 1057. ¶ 46. In USPCI, a county resident filed suit charging the Governor did not follow proper procedures in connection with the proposed construction of a hazardous waste treatment facility. 688 So.2d at 785. While the suit was pending, the Legislature amended Miss.Code Ann. § 23-43-5 to specifically exclude the Governor from these requirements. In reversing the circuit court's order which directed the Governor to comply with the Administrative Procedures Law in adopting a capacity assurance plan for the construction of a hazardous waste treatment facility, we stated: An amended act is ordinarily construed as if the original statute had been repealed, and as far as any action after the adoption of the amendment is concerned, as if the statute had been originally enacted in its amended form. Id. at 786-87 (citing Beatty v. State, 627 So.2d 355, 357 (Miss.1993); Stone v. Independent Linen Serv. Co., 212 Miss. 580, 55 So.2d 165 (1951); McMullen v. Sinclair Ref. Co., 207 Miss. 71, 41 So.2d 382 (1949)). We concluded in USPCI: When cases are in the bosom of this Court and there is involved a statute that is modified prior to a final decision of this Court, we take that modification into consideration. Bell v. Mitchell, 592 So.2d 528 (Miss.1991), citing Parker v. Bailey, 437 So.2d 33 (Miss.1983). 688 So.2d at 787. ¶ 47. As we have stated in this case and prior cases, we are keenly aware of our responsibility regarding judicial review of legislative action. We indeed should be about the business of interpreting legislative enactments while avoiding judicial legislating. This should be apparent from our decision in Starkville I. With that in mind, we are again guided by our decision in Belmont: For those who might experience some consternation over whether today's decision somehow erodes the independence of the judicial branch of state government, it should be remembered that municipalities are but creatures of the state and they possess only such power as conferred upon them by statute..... This concept should hardly be a shock to anyone. 860 So.2d at 306. ¶ 48. Today, there is not only clear legislative intent that H.B. 997 should indeed apply to this instant litigation, there is also clear precedent indicating that, if the Legislature chooses to amend a statute while a case is still pending, we will apply that amendment as if it had been part of the statute all along. H.B. 997 was styled Act to Clarify the Procedure for Acquisition of Certain Utility Property within Municipally Annexed Areas. In no uncertain terms the 2002 Act makes explicit that which had been implicit in the 1987 Amendments, and the procedure enacted under Miss.Code Ann. § 77-3-13 should unquestionably be read as if subsection (7) had been a part of the statute all along. ¶ 49. We thus find for the reasons stated that the chancellor was indeed eminently correct in retroactively applying House Bill 997 to this pending litigation.