The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Mississippi bill requires law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before using cell site simulators
Last action · February 3, 2026: 02/03 (S) Died In CommitteeSponsor: Kathy Chism
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What This Bill Proposed
Senate Bill 2331 requires law enforcement agencies in Mississippi to obtain a court-issued search warrant based on probable cause before operating s. The measure permits warrantless emergency use only during imminent threats of terrorism, death, or serious bodily injury, and sets strict data deletion deadlines for non-targeted information.
The measure establishes specific statutory boundaries on police surveillance technology, directly affecting how law enforcement agencies gather electronic data and dictating mandatory deletion timelines for innocent citizens' captured metadata.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement agencies must secure search warrants, adhere to strict time limits on emergency deployments, and purge non-target data within specified hours.
Communications device users
Residents have statutory protections requiring a warrant for location and communication data collection via cell site simulators, with mandatory deletion of incidental data.
Bureau of Narcotics
The Bureau must comply with new warrant requirements when seeking to deploy cell site simulator devices in controlled substance investigations.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can law enforcement use a cell site simulator without a warrant?
What happens to data collected from people who are not the targets of the investigation?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died in committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 3, 2026Senate02/03 (S) Died In Committee
- Jan 19, 2026SenateCommittee01/19 (S) Referred To Judiciary, Division B
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Data Purging for Surveillance
The bill imposes strict time limits (48 hours for warrants, 24 hours for emergencies) for deleting incidentally collected data from non-target individuals.
Connected Entities
Sources
billstatus.ls.state.ms.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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