Appropriation; Holmes County Heritage and Cultural Foundation for construction of Hazel Brannon Smith Memorial Park.

HB 264 appropriates $250,000 from Mississippi’s state general fund to the Holmes County Heritage and Cultural Foundation for the construction of Hazel Brannon Smith Memorial Park in Lexington. The park, designed as an outdoor museum space, honors Hazel Brannon Smith, a Holmes County journalist and the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 1964. The funds will cover construction costs for the fiscal year 2026-2027, paid through standard state treasury procedures. This bill directly supports the foundation’s project to create a public memorial site. It does not change existing laws but allocates specific state funds for a designated community project.