MS · rules
Miss. R. Crim. P. 2.1
Commencement of Criminal Proceedings
(a) Commencement. All criminal proceedings shall be commenced either by
charging affidavit, indictment, or bill of information.
(b) Docketing the Case.
(1) Charging affidavit. Anyone bringing a criminal charge in municipal court
or justice court shall lodge a charging affidavit with the judge or clerk of the
court. The clerk of the court shall record all charging affidavits on the docket.
(2) Indictment. After the grand jury returns an indictment, the circuit clerk shall
mark the indictment “filed” and such entries shall be dated and signed by the
circuit clerk. The circuit clerk shall, within ten (10) days after adjournment of
the term of court, record the indictments in the “Secret Record of Indictments,”
which shall be indexed and kept secret. The circuit clerk shall issue a capias to
the sheriff of the county where the indictment was returned. A copy of the
indictment shall be attached to the capias. Upon the execution of the capias and
the officer’s return thereon, the case shall be assigned a cause number in the
criminal docket and this cause number shall be put on the capias instanter.
History
Comment: Under Rule 2.1(a), the procedure for commencing a criminal proceeding is either by charging affidavit or by indictment. By definition, “indictment” includes “a bill of information in lieu thereof.” See Rule 1.4(e). This is in accord with article 3, section 27, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and consistent with Mississippi Code Section 99-1-7. The procedures for docketing the case provided in (b) are consistent with Mississippi Code Sections 9-7-175, 99-7-9, 99-7-13, 99-9-1, and 99-33-2. Additional rules regarding the grand jury are found in Rule 13, and rules regarding indictments are found in Rule 14.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.ms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
5a4c170bb3e2e573042f9672cace3d6ca66c3bb6f5e7372ad6c6c14ca7fd438f
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