Understanding a parent’s or legal guardian’s possible culpability in Mississippi for a minor’s “willful wrongdoing” or carelessness.
Parents and/or legal guardians may be held liable for certain forms of damage and injury committed by underage children under parental responsibility legislation. The amount of a parent’s obligation (both situationally and financially) is determined by the peculiarities of each state’s legislation. (For additional detail, see the Fundamentals of Parental Responsibility Laws.)
This article will go into great length on Mississippi’s parental responsibility laws.
What are the Parental Responsibility Laws in Mississippi?
Mississippi’s Parental Responsibility Laws are divided into three sections:
Willful/Malicious Acts (covered by Mississippi Code section 93-13-2) Vandalism (covered by Mississippi Code section 97-15-1) and Driving a Car (covered by Mississippi Code section 97-15-1) (covered by Mississippi Code section 63-1-25).
(Note: There is no direct connection to the above-mentioned legislation. The link will take you to the official online edition of the Mississippi Code. Using the reference supplied, you may then browse to the applicable legislation.)
There are multiple age classifications for the numerous legislation in Mississippi regarding how young a kid must be in order to trigger parent/guardian liability:
Section 93-13-2 (willful/malicious conduct) mandates parent/guardian accountability when a juvenile is between the ages of 10 and 18.
Section 97-15-1 (vandalism) applies to minors under the age of 21, and Section 63-1-25 (driving) applies to minors under the age of 17.
When a Minor Willfully or Maliciously Destroys Property, Parents Are Liable
Mississippi Code § 93-13-2 holds parents liable if their underage kid deliberately or knowingly damages or destroys the property of another. Unlike a lot of other parental responsibility statutes addressing purposeful and malicious behavior, Section 93-13-2 solely addresses property damage.
Property owners may collect up to $5,000, plus court expenses, from the parents of a juvenile who commits intentional and willful damage to property under Section 93-13-2. The Act exempts from responsibility parents who have had their custody rights revoked by a court order.
Parental Liability for a Minor’s Vandalism Acts
In addition to what section 93-13-2 authorizes, Mississippi Code § 97-15-1 may impose responsibility on juveniles and/or parents.
Section 97-15-1 makes parents accountable for vandalism committed by a juvenile under their care and control. The punishment includes the cost of replacing or repairing the damaged property, plus a fine ranging from $200 to $500.
A juvenile, or the minor’s parent, may be imprisoned for up to six months in addition to the penalties specified above under this legislation. This is a rare punishment, and courts are unlikely to impose it on a parent unless the vandalism was serious and the parent could have reasonably avoided it but did not.
Mississippi Parental Responsibility for a Minor’s Driving
A parent or other responsible adult must sign a minor’s application for a driver’s license or permit in Mississippi. Furthermore, according to Mississippi Code § 63-1-25, a minor’s carelessness or deliberate misbehavior while driving a vehicle is attributed to the person who signed the application. The person who signed the application, in particular, becomes jointly and severally responsible with the minor. This simply implies that the adult and juvenile may be held jointly or individually liable for the minor’s actions.
As a result, a parent or guardian who signs a child’s driver’s license application may be liable for any injuries and vehicle damage if the minor causes a car accident.
In Mississippi, parents may still be liable under common law.
Even if Mississippi’s parental responsibility rules do not directly apply, parents may nonetheless be held accountable for their children’s acts.
When a parent is aware that their kid has a proclivity to conduct in a hazardous or reckless way, the parent may be legally obligated to take reasonable precautions to prevent the child from causing foreseeable damage to others.
Assume parents are aware that their kid comes home from school every day and smashes golf balls across the neighborhood from the back yard. If a parent permits this conduct to continue and the youngster injures someone with an errant golf ball, the parent may be held partly accountable, but this may be a difficult case to establish.
