Rule 2.1 - Commencement of Criminal Proceedings(a) Commencement. All criminal proceedings shall be commenced either by charging affidavit, indictment, or bill of information.(b) Docketing the Case.(1) Charging affidavit. Anyone bringing a criminal charge in municipal court or justice court shall lodge a charging affidavit with the judge or clerk of the court. The clerk of the court shall record all charging affidavits on the docket.(2) Indictment. After the grand jury returns an indictment, the circuit clerk shall mark the indictment "filed" and such entries shall be dated and signed by the circuit clerk. The circuit clerk shall, within ten (10) days after adjournment of the term of court, record the indictments in the "Secret Record of Indictments," which shall be indexed and kept secret. The circuit clerk shall issue a capias to the sheriff of the county where the indictment was returned. A copy of the indictment shall be attached to the capias. Upon the execution of the capias and the officer's return thereon, the case shall be assigned a cause number in the criminal docket and this cause number shall be put on the capias instanter.Comment
Under Rule 2.1(a), the procedure for commencing a criminal proceeding is either by charging affidavit or by indictment. By definition, "indictment" includes "a bill of information in lieu thereof." See Rule 1.4(e). This is in accord with article 3, section 27, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and consistent with Mississippi Code Section 99-1-7.
The procedures for docketing the case provided in (b) are consistent with Mississippi Code Sections 9-7-175, 99-7-9, 99-7-13, 99-9-1, and 99-33-2. Additional rules regarding the grand jury are found in Rule 13, and rules regarding indictments are found in Rule 14.