The Mississippi Law (known as the “Mississippi Youth Concussion Law”) is found under Title 37 (Education statutes) Chapter 24, Sections 37-24-1, 37-24-3, 37-24-5, 37-24-7, and 37-24-9.
The Mississippi law defines a school athletic event as activities sanctioned by the Mississippi High School Activities Association or the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools and similar school-sponsored activities of non-member schools in grades 7 through 12. The law requires each local board of education, administration of a nonpublic school and governing body of a charter school to adopt and implement concussion management and return to play policy, which includes the following components: (i) parents to receive and provide a signed copy of the concussion policy prior to the start of an athletic season, (ii) immediate removal of an athlete who reports or displays any concussion symptoms from practice or play, (iii) prohibition from return to play for the remainder of the day, (iv) evaluation by a health care provider, returning to play only after full recovery and health care provider clearance, and (v) no return to play until demonstrating the absence of symptoms in a fully supervised practice. The state health department shall endorse a concussion education course and make it available online. The act also contains liability protection and does not create liability for or create a cause of action against a school, its officers, a health care provider, an organization or association of which the school or district is a member, a private or public school, a private club, a public recreation facility or an athletic league provided the act has been complied with.
In accordance with Mississippi Attorney General Opinion No. 2014-00348, the Mississippi law does not require that a school district’s concussion policy address events outside of school athletic events; however, a school district may choose to adopt a policy that applies to extra-curricular activities.
Sections 37-24-1 through 37-24-9 and Mississippi Attorney General Opinion No. 2014-00348can viewed online at:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode/ (click on “I agree” for Lexis public access search of the Mississippi Code, search concussion using natural language and full text of source docs and click on results links to access a specific section).
Mississippi Attorney General Opinion No. 2014-00348 can be viewed online at:
https://govt.westlaw.com/msag/Document/Id5812f925a1a11e498db8b09b4f043e0?contextData=(sc.Search)&rank=1&originationContext=Search+Result&navigationPath=Search%2fv3%2fsearch%2fresults%2fnavigation%2fi0ad600560000014e2bd80a94888cc580%3fstartIndex%3d1%26Nav%3dADMINDECISION_PUBLICVIEW%26contextData%3d(sc.Default)&list=ADMINDECISION_PUBLICVIEW&transitionType=SearchItem&listSource=Search&viewType=FullText&t_querytext=2014-00348&t_Method=WIN
The following website offers additional information regarding Mississippi concussion law:
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/index.cfm/43,0,98,654,html