Mississippi: Prejudgment Interest Rules
The short answer
Yes, but it's discretionary and gated on whether your damages were fixed in amount, not just on whether you win. For a contract judgment, the rate is the contract's own rate, or 8% a year if the contract is silent, and interest can run from the date of the breach even before you sued. For any other judgment, the judge picks the rate and picks the start date, but never earlier than the date you filed suit. Either way, you generally need liquidated damages — or proof the other side denied your claim in bad faith or frivolously — before a judge will award anything at all. Governmental defendants are barred from paying prejudgment interest entirely, though they still owe interest after judgment.
| Governing law | Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-7 (interest on judgments and decrees, covering both pre- and post-judgment interest); § 75-17-1(1) (8% default legal rate) |
|---|---|
| Interest rate | Contract-founded judgment: the contract's own rate, or 8%/yr if the contract states none; any other judgment: a per-annum rate the judge picks, with no statutory number or ceiling stated |
| When interest starts running | Contract claims: from the date of breach, which can be before the complaint was filed; other claims: a date the judge picks, never earlier than the date the complaint was filed |
| Contract vs. tort claims | Two different tracks under one statute — a contract-rate/breach-date rule for contract judgments, a judge's-choice rate/no-earlier-than-filing rule for everything else — with a liquidated-damages-or-bad-faith gate layered onto the discretionary branch by case law |
| Mandatory or discretionary | Discretionary; reviewed only for abuse of discretion. Requires damages that were liquidated when the claim was made, or a showing the denial of the claim was frivolous or in bad faith; a bona fide dispute over the amount owed defeats an award even on an otherwise liquidated claim |
| Simple or compound | No statute or case located that authorizes compounding; every award reviewed applies a flat per-annum rate, so simple interest is the working assumption |
| Claims against the government | Barred entirely before judgment: no award against a governmental entity or its employee may include interest prior to judgment, exemplary damages, or (absent specific authorization) attorney's fees; the bar does not extend to post-judgment interest, and total liability is separately capped at $500,000 per occurrence |
| Other exceptions | A claim sounding in quantum meruit (rather than an actual contract) cannot draw prejudgment interest at all; a bona fide dispute over the amount owed defeats an award even on a liquidated claim |
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The short answer
Mississippi puts a judge in the driver's seat on prejudgment interest more than most states do. One statute covers both contract and non-contract judgments, but it treats them differently: a contract judgment gets the contract's own rate (or 8% by default) and can reach back to the date of breach, while any other judgment gets whatever rate and start date the judge thinks is fair, so long as the start date isn't earlier than when the lawsuit was filed. Either way, courts generally won't award anything unless the damages were a fixed, calculable amount, or the other side denied a valid claim in bad faith.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-7 is the single statute covering interest on both pre- and post-judgment periods, for contract and non-contract claims alike. The Mississippi Supreme Court has repeatedly confirmed this is the controlling provision for prejudgment interest specifically. A companion statute, § 75-17-1(1), supplies the 8% "legal rate" that fills the gap when a contract itself doesn't specify an interest rate.
Interest rate
Two different rules, depending on what kind of judgment it is. A judgment "founded on any sale or contract" bears interest "at the same rate as the contract" — whatever rate the parties actually agreed to — or 8% a year if the contract is silent on the point. Any other judgment (most tort and other non-contract claims) bears interest "at a per annum rate set by the judge hearing the complaint" — there's no statutory number, floor, or ceiling for that branch; the number itself is a judgment call.
When interest starts running
For a contract claim, Mississippi courts allow interest to run from the date of the breach, even if that's well before the lawsuit was ever filed. For every other kind of claim, the statute's text puts a floor on how early interest can start: the judge picks the date, but it can never be earlier than the date the complaint was filed.
Contract vs. tort claims
The statute itself draws the line by contract versus "all other" judgments, not literally by "contract vs. tort," but the practical effect is a real split: different rate mechanism (contract rate/8% default vs. judge's choice), and different accrual floor (breach date, even pre-suit, vs. no earlier than the filing date). Case law then layers a further requirement onto both tracks: the damages generally have to be liquidated — fixed or calculable by a formula — or, for the discretionary track, the denial of the claim has to have been frivolous or in bad faith.
Mandatory or discretionary
Discretionary, and reviewed on appeal only for abuse of that discretion. Mississippi courts look at whether the amount due was already liquidated when the claim was made, or whether the defendant's denial of the claim was frivolous or made in bad faith. Even a claim that looks liquidated can lose out on interest if there was a genuine, good-faith dispute over the amount owed or over who was responsible for it — courts treat that kind of live dispute as making the damages effectively unliquidated. A claim based on quantum meruit (an equitable remedy, not an actual contract) can't draw prejudgment interest under this statute at all.
Simple or compound
No statute or case identified this session addresses compounding directly. Every award actually calculated in the cases reviewed applied a flat per-annum rate to a fixed principal over a fixed period, consistent with simple interest; nothing found authorizes compounding prejudgment interest itself.
Claims against the government
The Mississippi Tort Claims Act flatly bars prejudgment interest against a governmental entity or its employee: no judgment against them "shall include an award for exemplary or punitive damages or for interest prior to judgment." That bar is specifically limited to the pre-judgment period — Mississippi's courts have held governments still owe ordinary post-judgment interest once judgment is entered, overruling older cases that had read the immunity more broadly. Total liability against a governmental entity for a single occurrence is separately capped at $500,000, a figure unchanged since claims arising on or after July 1, 2001.
Other exceptions
Beyond the government bar, a quantum meruit claim can't draw prejudgment interest under § 75-17-7 because it isn't a genuine contract claim, and a bona fide, good-faith dispute over the amount or the responsibility for a debt defeats an interest award even where the underlying number would otherwise look fixed.
What trips people up
The biggest trap is assuming that because a debt has a specific dollar figure attached, interest is automatic. It isn't — if the defendant had a real, good-faith basis to dispute either the amount or their own liability, a Mississippi court can treat the claim as unliquidated and deny interest even though a jury eventually landed on an exact number.
The other trap is applying the wrong accrual floor. It's easy to assume every claim's interest clock is capped at the filing date, but that only applies to the "all other judgments" branch — a straightforward contract-debt claim can pull interest all the way back to the date of the breach itself, which is often much earlier than the lawsuit.
Common questions
What rate applies if my contract doesn't state one?
8% a year, Mississippi's default legal rate under § 75-17-1(1), unless the judge sets a different rate because the claim isn't a true contract judgment.
Can I get prejudgment interest on a personal-injury verdict in Mississippi?
Only if a judge decides to award it, and only for damages that were fixed in amount or where the defense was frivolous or in bad faith — most jury-assessed pain-and-suffering awards won't qualify, but a specific, undisputed expense within the verdict might.
Can I get prejudgment interest against a Mississippi city or county?
Not for the period before judgment — the Mississippi Tort Claims Act bars that entirely. Interest after judgment is entered is a different matter and is allowed.
Does interest compound in Mississippi?
No indication that it does; treat it as simple interest applied at a flat annual rate.
Statutes and sources
- Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-7 — "All judgments or decrees founded on any sale or contract shall bear interest at the same rate as the contract evidencing the debt on which the judgment or decree was rendered. All other judgments or decrees shall bear interest at a per annum rate set by the judge hearing the complaint from a date determined by such judge to be fair but in no event prior to the filing of the complaint." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-75/chapter-17/general-provisions/section-75-17-7/
- Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) — "The legal rate of interest on all notes, accounts and contracts shall be eight percent (8%) per annum, calculated according to the actuarial method, but contracts may be made, in writing, for payment of a finance charge as otherwise provided by this section or as otherwise authorized by law." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-75/chapter-17/general-provisions/section-75-17-1/
- Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-15(1)-(2) — "(1) In any claim or suit for damages against a governmental entity or its employee brought under the provisions of this chapter, the liability shall not exceed... (c) For claims or causes of action arising from acts or omissions occurring on or after July 1, 2001, the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00). (2) No judgment against a governmental entity or its employee for any act or omission for which immunity is waived under this chapter shall include an award for exemplary or punitive damages or for interest prior to judgment, or an award of attorney's fees unless attorney's fees are specifically authorized by law." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-11/chapter-46/section-11-46-15/
- Sentinel Indus. Contracting Corp. v. Kimmins Indus. Serv. Corp., 743 So.2d 954, 971 (Miss. 1999) — "Mississippi has long held that the prevailing party in a breach of contract suit is entitled to have added legal interest on the sum recovered computed from the date of the breach of the contract to the date of the decree." Accessed 2026-07-05 via CourtListener (legalresearch tool).
- Arcadia Farms P'ship v. Audubon Ins. Co., 77 So.3d 100, 105-07 (Miss. 2012) — confirms § 75-17-7 governs prejudgment interest and that its filing-date floor does not apply to contract claims. Accessed 2026-07-05 via CourtListener (legalresearch tool).
- Falkner v. Stubbs, 121 So.3d 899, 902-03 (Miss. 2013) — "an award of prejudgment interest under Section 75-17-1 would be improper where a claim for damages is unliquidated... where there is a bona fide dispute as to the amount of damages as well as the responsibility for the liability therefor, a claim is unliquidated and prejudgment interest is unavailable." Accessed 2026-07-05 via CourtListener (legalresearch tool).
- City of Jackson v. Williamson, 740 So.2d 818 (Miss. 1999) — holds the Tort Claims Act's interest bar applies only prior to judgment, not to post-judgment interest. Accessed 2026-07-05 via CourtListener (legalresearch tool).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.