Mississippi Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Mississippi, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can a Mississippi county pay a coroner mileage for using a personal vehicle to transport bodies for autopsies when the county vehicle is unreliable?
Yes. Sections 41-61-75 and 41-61-61 let a Mississippi county pay a coroner's actual expenses, including mileage, when the coroner transports a body for autopsy. If the county-assigned vehicle is…
Can the Mississippi State Auditor conduct managerial studies without a request from the Governor or Legislature?
No. Section 7-7-211(d)'s independent audit authority is limited to financial audits. Section 7-7-211(c) allows the Department of Audit to conduct managerial studies, but only on written request from…
If a Mississippi tax sale is voided, does that erase the landowner's liability for unpaid special assessments?
No. A Mississippi board of supervisors voiding tax sales for prior years does not erase the landowner's underlying liability for special and maintenance assessments to a public improvement district.…
Can a Mississippi county collect delinquent garbage fees from sixteenth section land when the leaseholder has abandoned the property?
The Mississippi Board of Education is not the 'owner' of sixteenth section land; the State of Mississippi owns it in trust for the public schools. The county's Section 19-5-22 lien attaches to the…
Can a Mississippi city forgive water bills that customers underpaid because of a city billing error?
No. The Mississippi Constitution forbids remitting any debt owed to a municipality except by payment. So when a city's billing error or faulty meter results in underbilled accounts, the city must…
Can a Mississippi city pay annual membership dues to a chamber of commerce?
A Mississippi city may pay chamber of commerce annual membership fees if its governing authorities find, on the minutes, that the dues serve advertising and economic-development purposes under…
Can a private vendor manage Mississippi sheriff's deputies' off-duty security work and charge clients an additional fee for profit?
Section 17-25-11 does not prohibit a third-party vendor from facilitating sheriff's deputies' off-duty security details and charging the client an additional fee for profit, as long as Section…
How does a Mississippi city handle unclaimed cash found by police, and does a court order have to authorize transfer to the city general fund?
If Sturgis determines the found cash is abandoned property, Section 21-39-21 governs: post notice in three public places and allow 120 days for a claim. After the required notice, the cash could be…
How may a Mississippi city spend opioid settlement funds, and can it donate those funds to a nonprofit?
Litigation settlement funds, including opioid settlement money, become public funds when received by a Mississippi city. They must be expended in accordance with state law. Cities are prohibited…
Can a Mississippi game warden write you a traffic ticket on a county road?
Yes. Section 49-1-43(4)(d) gives Mississippi conservation officers (game wardens) broad warrantless arrest authority for any misdemeanor or felony committed in their presence. The AG read that to…
Can a Mississippi property owner block a public alley with a fence, and what can the city do?
A public right-of-way is the public's right of passage on roads, alleys, and similar thoroughfares. A property owner cannot permanently obstruct one. Mississippi cases have ordered removal of fences…
Does Mississippi law require an electric co-op's broadband affiliate to pay a separate city franchise fee?
Mississippi's 2% utility franchise fee under Section 77-3-17 does not apply to broadband services from an electric cooperative or its affiliate. The Broadband Enabling Act requires no additional…
Do Mississippi corrections officers, parole officers, or health-department compliance inspectors exercise 'core powers' of the executive branch?
Whether a particular Mississippi corrections officer, parole officer, or Department of Health compliance inspector exercises 'core powers' of the executive branch is a factual determination for the…
Can a Mississippi sheriff use inmate canteen funds to buy a boiler valve and a jail laundry washer and dryer?
Yes to both. Section 19-3-81(1)(b) lets the sheriff spend inmate canteen money on educational expenses, equipment, supplies, and equipment maintenance for the benefit and welfare of inmates. A…
After Mississippi's 2024 amendment, does circuit court or chancery court have jurisdiction over civil commitment when a respondent has felony charges?
After the 2024 amendment to Section 41-21-63 by HB 1088, circuit courts have exclusive jurisdiction over civil commitment proceedings for respondents with unresolved felony charges. Chancery courts…
Can a Mississippi city contribute funds to maintain rivers and drainage outside city limits?
A Mississippi city may contribute public funds to maintain rivers and drainage outside its corporate limits only if the city makes a factual finding that the work promotes the health, comfort, and…
Can a Mississippi jail buy a washing machine and clothes dryer for inmate uniforms with canteen funds?
Yes. A Mississippi sheriff may use inmate canteen funds to buy a washing machine and clothes dryer for inmate uniforms, so long as the purchase is made 'for the benefit and welfare of the inmates…
Can a Mississippi county use public law library funds to buy metal detectors for the courthouse?
Yes. Section 19-7-31 authorizes a Mississippi county board of supervisors to use public law library funds to purchase equipment for the library, and metal detectors at the entrance of a courthouse…
Can a Mississippi county contract with a hospital and a private ambulance provider to subsidize ambulance services without competitive bidding?
Yes on all three counts. A Mississippi county may contract with a public hospital and the hospital's private ambulance provider for ambulance services under Section 41-55-3, may subsidize a private…
Who pays for mental health treatment between civil commitment order and admission to a Mississippi state hospital?
The committed person's county of residence is responsible for treatment costs before admission to a Mississippi state-operated facility, beyond the court-proceeding costs capped at $400 by Section…
After the 2024 amendment to Mississippi's voter ID law, can a voter use an expired driver's license to vote?
After the 2024 amendment to Section 23-15-563, a Mississippi driver's license used to vote must be 'valid' but not necessarily 'current.' 'Valid' means an official government document that…
Are National Guard Active Guard Reserve members 'active members of the U.S. Armed Forces' for Mississippi school-choice purposes?
Yes. Members of the National Guard Active Guard Reserve qualify as 'active members of the United States Armed Forces' under Section 37-15-29(5)(a). Their children may enroll in any Mississippi…
Can the Mississippi Department of Agriculture accept donated land from a county economic development authority for grading and inspection facilities?
Yes. Section 69-7-115 allows the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce to acquire land by donation, purchase, lease, or condemnation in the State's name, subject to Department of…
Can a Mississippi county dispose of a public park, give credit for past church donations, or contract with a church to operate it?
A Mississippi county may sell, lease, or convey a public park if its board finds the park is no longer used for county purposes and follows Section 19-7-3's bid process. The county may also contract…
If a re-elected Mississippi alderman was never sworn in for the new term, are the votes still valid?
Assuming the city's special charter is silent, the alderman is a de facto officer at minimum, and Section 25-1-37 makes the official acts of de facto officers valid and binding. Mississippi law…
Can a Mississippi city repair a drainage ditch on private property to fix flooding and erosion?
Yes. Section 21-19-13(2) authorizes a Mississippi municipality to provide labor, materials, and supplies to clean drainage ditches and prevent erosion on public or private property, after the city…
Are hemp beverages legal to sell in Mississippi, and do they have to be under 0.3% THC?
Hemp beverages sit in a legal gray zone. Section 97-31-5 makes it unlawful to sell any drug, elixir, or compound that produces intoxication when drunk to excess unless state law specifically…
Can a Mississippi city run an ALPR-based program to ticket uninsured drivers and split fees with a private vendor?
Mississippi law does not flatly prohibit a city from running an ALPR-based motor-vehicle insurance enforcement program with a private vendor, because Section 17-25-19's traffic-camera ban only…
Can a Mississippi regional solid waste authority sign a 30-year contract with a developer for a landfill gas project?
Yes. Section 17-17-317(h) of the Regional Solid Waste Management Authority Act expressly authorizes a 30-year contract term, which is the statutory exception that lets the authority bind its…
Can a Mississippi town sell a retired police vehicle to a county constable who is also the town's fire chief?
Yes, if the town first finds the vehicle is no longer used for a public purpose and follows Section 17-25-25's procedure: a unanimous private-sale vote if the vehicle is worth $1,000 or less, or…
Does a Mississippi councilwoman have to pay for copies of city bank and credit card statements she needs to do her job?
Not for records reasonably needed to do the job. An elected official has reasonable, no-cost access to municipal records required for their official duties. Whether a particular request meets that…
When can a Mississippi sheriff set bail, and can the sheriff refuse cash bonds?
A Mississippi sheriff may set bail only in two narrow situations: misdemeanor arrests where no judicial officer has set bond, and felony arrests in 'emergency circumstances' under Section 19-25-67.…
Does Mississippi voter ID law apply to mail-in absentee voters, or only to in-person voting?
Mississippi voter ID applies only to in-person voting (at the polls or at the registrar's office), not to mail-in absentee voting. The legislature could expand the requirement to mail-in voting, but…
When a Mississippi regional mental health commission is decertified and dissolves, who handles the disposition of patient medical records?
The State Board of Mental Health, not the State Department of Health, governs disposition of regional mental health commission records. Sections 41-9-61 et seq. (the hospital records statutes) do…
Can a Mississippi county require a Property Indexing Number (PIN) on deeds filed with the chancery clerk?
Yes. Mississippi's county home-rule statute (Section 19-3-40) lets a board of supervisors enact an ordinance requiring landowners to add a Property Indexing Number (PIN) to deed indexing…
Can a Mississippi county sheriff use Inmate Canteen Fund money to buy prisoner uniforms and mattresses?
Yes. The sheriff may use Inmate Canteen Fund money to buy uniforms and mattresses for inmates. Section 19-3-81 lets the sheriff spend the fund on equipment and supplies for inmates' benefit,…
Can a Mississippi school district give a teacher back pay if a prior district reported the wrong number of days worked?
Yes, but only if the district's board formally finds, on the minutes, that the underpayment was an administrative error. Section 96 of the Mississippi Constitution forbids retroactive raises to…
Can a Mississippi city give money to a private citizen to buy playground equipment for a city park?
No. A Mississippi city cannot give a private citizen funds to purchase playground equipment, even for a park on city property. The city itself must make the purchase.
Does a Mississippi school district have to compile a list of statistical information that doesn't already exist when someone requests it under public records law?
No. Mississippi public bodies are required to make existing records available for inspection under the Public Records Act of 1983, but they are not required to create new records (like compiling…
Does a Mississippi resident's pre-annexation time count toward the 2-year residency requirement to run for municipal office?
Yes for both. Continuous, uninterrupted residency in territory annexed into a city counts toward the 2-year residency requirement for municipal office. The same applies when ward lines change…
Can Mississippi charter schools operate as hybrid in-person/online or as virtual-only schools?
Hybrid charter schools (in-person plus virtual) are expressly authorized in § 37-28-43(6) with Authorizer Board approval. Virtual-only charter schools are not prohibited but require the Authorizer…
Does terminating and rehiring a Mississippi firefighter restart the 2,800-compensated-hour clock for certification?
No. The 2,800 compensated hours under § 45-11-203(1) are cumulative across all employment, including across different fire departments. Once exceeded without certification or extension, the…
Can a Mississippi public school district enroll a student who lives out of state under § 37-15-9(2)?
No. Section 37-15-9(2) lets a student moving to Mississippi enroll at the same grade level as their prior out-of-state school, not enroll while still living out of state. The only…
Can a Mississippi city add a private third party as an additional named insured on the city's liability insurance policy?
No. A Mississippi municipality cannot add a private third party as an additional insured on its liability policy. Doing so would extend Tort Claims Act coverage to a non-governmental entity, which…
Can a Mississippi town refund municipal fines that a third-party collection agency mistakenly collected from the wrong person?
Yes, through Section 25-1-47's claim settlement authority. The town must determine that the claim is bona fide, just, and that the municipality is legally obligated. Whether this specific situation…
Can a Mississippi county sell a sidearm to a constable who didn't run for reelection and wasn't vested in PERS?
No. Section 45-9-131 requires retirement under a state retirement system OR 10 continuous years of service. A constable who chose not to run for reelection and didn't vest in PERS qualifies for…
Can a Mississippi city prepay three years of lease payments for ALPR cameras using a federal grant that must be spent in the same fiscal year?
Under the state donation rule, prepayment would be lawful if the city determines that receiving the cameras when it pays constitutes good and valuable consideration. The AG leaves that factual…
When all justice court judges in a Mississippi county recuse, who appoints the substitute and who pays?
The circuit court judge of the district appoints a substitute justice court judge from another county under Uniform Justice Court Rule 7. The substitute gets reimbursed for expenses under § 25-3-41…
Does a Mississippi city have to collect underbilled utility amounts from customers when the city's own error caused the underbilling?
Yes. A Mississippi municipality must collect underbilled utility amounts even when the customer paid the original bill in full as issued. Article IV Section 100 prohibits forgiving real debt, and…
Can a Mississippi city use automatic license plate readers to issue insurance violation tickets, working with a private vendor and the state's MVIVS database?
Limited yes. § 17-25-19 bans ALPRs paired with traffic signals or radar for traffic enforcement. ALPRs not so paired can be used for criminal enforcement. MVIVS data goes to authorized entities only…
Can the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner require auto insurers to send driver coverage data daily, and can a state agency share that data with a third-party vendor?
Only DPS, not the Insurance Commissioner, can require insurers to provide motor vehicle policy data, and the cap is once every 30 days. Third-party vendors can receive MVIVS data only if DPS…
Can a Mississippi city return donated land to the donor for free if the city decides the donation was a mistake?
Generally no, unless the deed contained a reverter clause. Alternative paths: reform the deed for a scrivener's error, or transfer as surplus property if the donor qualifies as a tax-exempt…
How many poll managers may a Mississippi precinct have if it has 500 or fewer registered voters?
Three are mandatory under § 23-15-231; up to three more may be added at the election commissioners' discretion under § 23-15-235. Maximum for a 500-or-fewer voter precinct is six. The statute…
Who can swear in a Mississippi sheriff, and can a sheriff swear in his own deputies?
Municipal judges, notaries public, and the other officials in § 11-1-1 may swear in any Mississippi elected official, no matter the county. A sheriff is not authorized to administer oaths and cannot…
Does a Mississippi county have to use reverse auction to purchase road and bridge construction equipment over $75,000?
No. The 2022 amendment to § 31-7-13(c)(i)(2) excludes reverse auctions for any contract for design, construction, improvement, repair, or remodeling of public facilities, including the equipment…
Does the cap 'in no event to exceed the compensation of the district attorney' apply to a Mississippi single-county public defender's salary?
Yes. The cap applies to every category of full-time public defender, including a public defender representing a single county. No public defender's salary may exceed the district attorney's compensation.
Can a Mississippi waterfront homeowner build a living shoreline breakwater without leasing the underlying state tidelands?
A residential owner needs no tidelands lease if the breakwater qualifies as an 'other structure' under § 49-15-9 and thus falls within the owner's littoral rights. The opinion does not decide…
Can a Mississippi community hospital lease a satellite facility to its own nonprofit subsidiary to qualify for 340B drug discounts?
Yes. A Mississippi community hospital board may lease one of its facilities to its wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary with the county owner's approval, and the public bidding process under §…
Can a Mississippi city refund a late fee on a utility bill if the city contributed to the billing dispute?
Yes, but only in narrow circumstances. If a billing dispute the city helped cause kept the customer from paying on time, the city may refund the late fee. The city cannot forgive lawful, undisputed…
When does a city prisoner become a county prisoner in Mississippi, and can a city-county jail contract specify the trigger?
The AG was not aware of a statute or case making a city prisoner a county prisoner when bound over to the grand jury. Section 47-1-39 permits a city and county to contract for jail housing, but the…
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Attorney general opinions in Mississippi are written by the Mississippi Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.