Opinion ID: 1634104
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether a limited liability company is a person under Mississippi Code Section 97-19-39 (Rev.2006).

Text: ¶ 4. This Court applies a de novo standard of review to questions of law. E.g., Windham v. Latco of Miss., Inc., 972 So.2d 608, 610 (Miss.2008). ¶ 5. Section 97-19-39(2) states, in pertinent part, that: Every person, who with intent to cheat or defraud another, shall designedly, by color of any false token or writing, or by another false pretense, obtain the signature of any person to any written instrument, or obtain from any person any money, personal property, or valuable thing, with a value of Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00) or more, upon conviction thereof shall be guilty of a felony and punished by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary not exceeding ten (10) years, and by a fine not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($ 10,000.00). Miss.Code Ann. § 97-19-39(2) (Rev.2006) (emphasis added). ¶ 6. Cater contends that he did not violate Section 97-19-39(2) because a limited liability company is not considered a person under the statute. He relies primarily upon Champluvier v. State, 942 So.2d 145 (Miss.2006) for support. ¶ 7. In Champluvier, this Court held that an agent who stole money from a limited liability company was improperly convicted for embezzlement under Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-23-19 (Rev.2000) because a limited liability company was neither an incorporated company nor a private person. Champluvier, 942 So.2d at 154; see also Coleman v. State, 947 So.2d 878 (Miss.2006) (defendant was improperly convicted for embezzlement under Section 97-23-19 because a church is not an incorporated company or a private person). [6] At the time Champluvier was decided, Section 97-23-19 applied only if a director, agent, clerk, servant, or officer of any incorporated company  or trustee or factor, carrier or bailee, or any clerk, agent or servant of any private person  had embezzled funds. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-23-19 (Rev.2000) (emphasis added). ¶ 8. Cater's reliance on Champluvier is misplaced because it concerned a different statute with distinct terms. Champluvier specifically construed incorporated company and private person, terms which are not found in Section 97-19-39. Champluvier, 942 So.2d at 150-54; Miss.Code Ann. § 97-19-39 (Rev.2006). Section 97-19-39 refers simply to person[s]. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-19-39(2) (Rev.2006). Under Mississippi law, the term person applies to artificial as well as natural persons. Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-39 (Rev. 2005). Limited liability companies are considered to be artificial persons. Coleman, 947 So.2d at 882. Therefore, person under Section 97-19-39 encompasses limited liability companies.