SB 2267 designates a 1-mile segment of U.S. Highway 51 in Canton, Madison County (between Corrections Drive and South Union Street) as the "Judge Lloyd Gilmer Spivey III Memorial Highway." It also amends Mississippi Code § 65-3-38.1 to remove a rule prohibiting naming state highways after elected officials during their term or for 10 years after leaving office. This change allows future highway designations to honor officials without waiting periods. The bill affects how Mississippi names highways on the state system, with the memorial highway being the first specific designation under the revised rule. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026.
HB 1049 consolidates and reorganizes existing Mississippi laws related to wastewater systems into a single, coherent chapter of the state code. It affects rural communities using individual on-site wastewater disposal systems (like septic tanks), certified installers, manufacturers, and the Mississippi State Department of Health. The bill brings together scattered provisions covering definitions (such as "individual on-site wastewater disposal system"), certification requirements for installers and pumpers, system types (conventional, advanced, cluster), and regulatory processes. It does not create new rules but reorganizes current laws for clarity and easier reference, ensuring rural water systems remain regulated under a unified framework. This streamlining helps local authorities and system operators navigate existing requirements more efficiently.
HB 563 requires Mississippi to automatically add a specific pharmaceutical form of psilocybin (approved by the FDA) to the state's controlled substances list once the federal government (DEA) schedules it. This eliminates the need for new state legislation to implement the scheduling and applies only to psilocybin used in FDA-approved medications. The automatic scheduling would remain in effect until the next legislative session passes a new law to update Mississippi's controlled substances schedule.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2777 clarifies that probation, post-release supervision, or suspended sentence may be revoked if a person commits a new felony offense *before* their supervision period begins. This directly affects individuals sentenced to these supervision terms who commit a felony prior to the start date of their supervision. The bill amends Mississippi Code 47-7-37.1 to state that such pre-commencement felonies trigger revocation "the same as if it had already commenced," aligning with existing revocation rules for violations during active supervision. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.
HB 1241 requires Mississippi's Secretary of State to create a centralized system for collecting and publishing real-time election results statewide. County election officials must submit initial results within one hour after polls close, then every 30 minutes until all votes are recorded, with public access to live results via the Secretary's website. Officials submitting these reports receive $150 per election night for the extra duty. The bill excludes municipal elections and references related code sections for potential future amendments.
HB 1219 modifies Mississippi's Small Loan Regulatory Law to allow small loan licensees (for loans of $100+), who typically charge borrowers for recording security instruments, to instead charge a fee for "nonrecording insurance" instead of the actual recording cost. The fee cannot exceed the standard charge the Secretary of State levies for filing a financing statement (Mississippi Financing Statement Form UCC1). This change directly affects small loan borrowers by altering how they pay for securing their loans, while maintaining that licensees cannot require insurance as a loan condition. The bill also includes separate provisions about optional auto club memberships and noncredit insurance, but the core change centers on replacing recording fees with this capped insurance fee.
SB 2107 amends Mississippi's drug trafficking law (Section 41-29-139) to add "dosage units" as a measurement standard for determining penalties when trafficking Schedule I or II controlled substances (like opioids or cocaine). It directly affects individuals trafficking these specific drugs in quantities meeting new dosage thresholds (e.g., 10 or more dosage units triggers harsher penalties). The key mechanism replaces or adds dosage units alongside weight (grams) to define penalty tiers, such as increasing minimum sentences for trafficking 10+ dosage units of Schedule I/II drugs. This change applies only to Schedule I/II substances, not marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, or lower-schedule drugs.
This bill repeals the authorization for the "Judicial System Operation Fund" (Section 9-21-45) and amends multiple code sections to replace references to that fund with the "State General Fund." It does not change actual funding amounts or judicial salary structures, only updating the administrative designation of where judicial funds are sourced. The bill affects how Mississippi's judicial system funding is categorized in state law, moving it from a specific fund to the general state fund. This is a procedural change to state code, not a policy shift impacting funding levels or judicial operations.
SB 2754 amends Mississippi law to allow child support to continue past the age of majority (18) for disabled children whose disability existed during their minority. The bill requires a court hearing and places the adult child in a conservatorship or less restrictive alternative under state law before support can continue. It directly affects disabled adults who were under 18 when their disability began and their noncustodial parents, ensuring ongoing financial support through court-ordered mechanisms. The change applies only to qualifying cases meeting specific disability and court criteria.
SB 2436 requires Mississippi's wildlife agency (MDWFP) to manage black bear hunting through a formal season starting in 2027-2028. It mandates that all hunters - residents first (from 2027-2028) and nonresidents later (from 2032-2033) - must obtain a special "harvest tag" via a lottery system, based on population data. The bill limits nonresident tags to 10% of annual allocations and reserves one annual "Governor's Tag" for auction to fund bear habitat conservation. This directly affects hunters and establishes a structured, data-driven approach to bear population management.
HB 17 creates the Mississippi Childcare Teachers Shortage Task Force to study the state's childcare worker shortage and identify solutions to increase affordable childcare access. The task force, composed of legislators, state agency directors, and community representatives, will examine wage incentives, review other states' approaches, and recommend strategies to support childcare educators. It must submit a final report to key state officials by December 1, 2026, after which the task force will dissolve. The bill does not enact immediate policy changes but establishes a process for future recommendations.
HB 294 amends Mississippi law to clarify that attorneys in the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel must work exclusively on death penalty cases, with no other legal work, no participation in capital murder trials, and no lobbying on the death penalty. The bill requires these attorneys to devote full time to representing death row inmates from state post-conviction appeals through federal habeas corpus proceedings until execution or sentence reversal. It also specifies that federal court compensation for these cases must be deposited into a special fund to cover office expenses. This directly affects death row inmates and the attorneys representing them in post-conviction proceedings.
