(1) Except as otherwise provided herein, no justice court judge elected for a full term of office commencing on or after January 1, 2012, shall exercise the judicial functions of his office or be eligible to take the oath of office until he has filed in the office of the chancery clerk the following two (2) certifications: (a) a certificate of completion of a course of training and education conducted by the Mississippi Judicial College of the University of Mississippi Law Center; and (b) a certificate of successful completion of a minimum competency examination administered by the Mississippi Judicial College of the University of Mississippi Law Center within six (6) months of the beginning of the term for which such justice is elected. A justice court judge who has completed the course of training and education, passed the minimum competency examination, and has satisfied his annual continuing education course requirements, and who is then elected for a succeeding term of office subsequent to the initial term for which he completed the training course, shall not be required to repeat the basic training and education course upon reelection but shall be subject to the continuing education requirements.

(2) In addition to meeting the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, after taking office, each justice court judge shall be required to file annually in the office of the chancery clerk a certificate of completion of a course of continuing education conducted by the Mississippi Judicial College.

(3) The requirements for obtaining each of the certificates in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall be as provided in Section 9-11-4.

(4) Upon the failure of any justice court judge to file with the chancery clerk the certificates of completion as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, such justice court judge shall, in addition to any other fine or punishment provided by law for such conduct, not be entitled to compensation for the period of time during which such certificates remain unfiled. If a justice court judge has not filed the required certifications within eight (8) months of the inception of the term, that justice court judge shall forfeit his office, his position shall be declared vacant, and the resulting vacancy shall be filled as provided by Section 23-15-839.

(5) The competency examination requirements in Sections 9-11-3 and 9-11-4 shall not apply to any sitting justice court judges as of July 24, 2008.