JACKSON — Mississippi’s House of Representatives voted to pass Zeb Hughes Law authored by Lincoln County Rep. Becky Currie Thursday. Additionally, the house introduced a few interesting bills Thursday.
Zeb Hughes is one of two local duck hunters who went missing on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg on December 3, 2020. Hughes was from Wesson and the other missing hunter is Gunner Palmer of Hazlehurst. They had set out to scout for ducks on the Mississippi River but never made it back home. Their boat and some hunting equipment was found in the search efforts after their disappearance.
House Bill 80, would create a presumption of death for a missing person who had undergone a catastrophic event causing imminent peril. This bill would allow Mississippi’s Registrar of Vital Statistics to prepare death certificates under such conditions as the Zeb Hughes Law describes through a court order.
Currie said she worked with Hughes’ mother at Kings Daughter Medical Center and is a friend of hers. Currently, Mississippi’s law requires someone to be missing and presumed dead for seven years before a death certificate can be issued.