Dulin, 070974 MSAGO, 1974-0011

• Case Date: July 09, 1974
• Court: Mississippi

Honorable George H. Dulin No. 1974-0011 Mississippi Attorney General Opinions July 9, 1974          Honorable George H. Dulin          Attorney at Law          Greenwood, Mississippi 38930          Dear Mr. Dulin:          Attorney General Summer has received your letter of request and has assigned it to the undersigned for research and reply.          In your letter of June 12, 1974, a copy of which is attached, you asked if “a municipality having a population of 2600 may utilize radar speed detection equipment upon a state designated highway which also serves as one of the main public streets in said town?” From our telephone conversation on June 26, 1974, I understand the municipality you are referring to is Itta Bena, Mississippi.          Section 63-3-519, Mississippi Code of 1972, sets forth the guidelines for both the purchase and legal use of radar speed detection equipment. This statute first gives authority to the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol to operate such equipment upon any public street, road, or highway of this State. Secondly, the statute allows a municipality that has a population of 2,000 or more to operate said equipment upon its public streets.          In the case of City of Ellisville v. State Highway Commission, 186 Miss. 473, 191 So. 274 (1939) the Mississippi Supreme Court held as follows:

“. . . a street is defined in the law to be a road or highway within a municipality . . . It seems to be uniformly held that when a public highway in rure has been included within municipal boundaries by annexation, the highway becomes ipso facto a street and subject to municipal control. . . upon the same reasoning when a public highway is projected into or through a municipality, there is the same result, unless the statutes expressly and clearly provides otherwise. . .” (191 So. at 275)

         Therefore, it is my opinion that the...