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 elected county official withdraw a resignation before the board of supervisors meets to act on it?
The 2020 opinion confirmed that an elected Mississippi county official could withdraw a written resignation any time before the resignation's stated effective date. No board of supervisors acceptance …
If a Mississippi school district receives back-payments of federal Weeks Act forest funds, does it have to escrow them and reduce next year's tax levy?
The 2020 opinion concluded that federal Weeks Act payments (national forest revenue shared with local schools and roads under 16 U.S.C. § 500 and Miss. Code Ann. § 49-19-23) are not 'in lieu' tax paym…
When a Mississippi county civic center sells food, can the county absorb the credit card processing fees, or must the customer pay them?
The 2020 opinion concluded that a Mississippi county-owned civic center selling food for immediate consumption had to assess credit card processing fees to the customer, not absorb them. Section 17-25…
Can a Mississippi county prosecutor dismiss a justice court case on his own, without telling the judge or the arresting officer?
The 2020 opinion concluded that a Mississippi county prosecutor could not dismiss a case on his own. Only a judge has authority to dismiss a case after it has been filed; the prosecutor must file a mo…
Can the same person serve on a public school board and a charter school board in Mississippi at the same time?
The 2020 opinion concluded that simultaneously serving on a public school board and a charter school board did not violate Mississippi's separation of powers doctrine, because both positions are in th…
Can a Mississippi city give a developer cheap surplus land for condos and count economic benefits as 'good and valuable consideration'?
The AG concluded that the City of Vicksburg could declare three parcels surplus and convey them to a developer under Section 57-7-1 for condominium development as commercial use. Non-monetary economic…
Can a Mississippi county lower its tax levy for the local junior college below last year's level?
The AG concluded that under Section 37-29-141, a Mississippi county is not permanently locked into 3 mills for junior college support and 3 mills for enlargement, but it cannot reduce its levy from on…
How long does the buyer at a Mississippi tax sale have to wait before getting the deed?
The AG concluded that under Section 27-45-3, the redemption period for a Mississippi tax sale is two years from the date of the sale, and a chancery clerk cannot issue a tax deed before that period ru…
Can a Mississippi county pay an elected official 'leave with pay' under House Bill 1647, and when must constables be paid for state cases the prosecution loses?
The 2020 opinion concluded that elected officials like circuit clerks, chancery clerks, and constables were not 'employees' eligible for administrative leave with pay under House Bill 1647 (the 2020 e…
Can a Mississippi city hire a private company to take payments on the city's water and sewer bills?
The AG concluded that a Mississippi municipality may contract with a private business to bill and collect water and sewer fees under Sections 21-27-7 and 21-27-11. The AG declined to suggest specific …
What dollars count when the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer takes its 3% from a charter school?
The AG concluded that the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer's statutory 3% per-pupil allocation under Section 37-28-11 should be calculated on the same dollars that flow to the charter under Secti…
Can a Mississippi county pay 'hazard pay' to its employees for working through COVID?
The AG concluded that a Mississippi county could pay COVID hazard pay only if the incentive was contracted for before the services were performed, set by objective standards, and earned by personal se…
Can a Mississippi county pay rent for a district attorney's office that isn't in the courthouse?
The AG concluded that a Mississippi county Board of Supervisors could rent or fund the rental of office space for the district attorney if the Board determined the funding was necessary for the proper…
Does Mississippi's Fresh Start Act limit the Massage Therapy Board's ability to deny a license based on a criminal record?
The 2020 opinion concluded that the Mississippi Massage Therapy Board's specific licensing statutes qualified as 'applicable state law' that overrode the Fresh Start Act's general restrictions on usin…
During COVID, can a Mississippi school district close schools and keep paying employees who didn't work?
The AG concluded that the Cleveland School Board could close schools for the COVID-19 epidemic under Section 37-13-65 if it made the required factual findings, subject to the 180-day school-session ru…
Can a Mississippi HOA charge a transfer fee when a homeowner sells the property?
The 2020 opinion confirmed that Mississippi's 2019 ban on private transfer fees in § 89-1-69 left a carve-out for HOA transfer fees: a property owners' association in a subdivision with more than one …
Can a Mississippi city let private organizations or the chamber of commerce use the municipal auditorium without paying a fee?
The 2020 opinion concluded that a Mississippi city did not have to charge fees to non-municipal users of a municipal auditorium, but had to recover any direct costs (utilities, cleaning) the city incu…
Can a Mississippi city forgive part of a cleanup assessment when the cost to clean up exceeds what the property is worth?
The AG concluded that cleanup assessments imposed under Section 21-19-11 are property liens that a Mississippi municipality cannot reduce, waive, or postpone, even when the cost exceeds the property's…
Can a Mississippi county board of supervisors shrink, dissolve, or audit the trustees running a county hospital?
The 2020 opinion concluded a Mississippi board of supervisors could (1) decline to fill an at-large hospital trustee vacancy, letting the trustee board operate with six members until it could shrink t…
Can a Mississippi county tax assessor send employees home with pay during COVID without the Board of Supervisors' approval?
The AG concluded that under Executive Order 1460 and H.B. 1647 (2020), only county boards of supervisors, municipal governing authorities, and local school boards could grant administrative leave with…
Can a Mississippi municipal court expunge a first-offense drug-related DUI?
The AG concluded that a Mississippi municipal court could expunge a first-offense drug-related DUI that had been nonadjudicated under Section 63-11-30(14), but could not expunge any DUI conviction. Co…
Can a Mississippi municipal court start its own veterans treatment court for misdemeanor cases?
The AG concluded that the Greenwood Municipal Court could not create a municipal veterans misdemeanor treatment court. Only the Mississippi Legislature can establish inferior courts, and the Legislatu…
When a Mississippi city vacates an old street it acquired by common-law dedication, who owns the underlying land?
The AG concluded that when the City of Clinton vacated a former Livingston Road right-of-way it had acquired by common-law dedication, the underlying fee reverted to the abutting property owners. The …
Who pays the lawyer when a Mississippi chancery court appoints counsel for someone facing private-facility commitment for drugs or alcohol?
The AG concluded that in Mississippi alcohol and drug commitment proceedings to private facilities under Section 41-32-5, attorney fees for court-appointed counsel had to be paid by the non-indigent r…
Can a Mississippi county or its garbage vendor stop collecting trash from people who don't pay, and can the county block their car tags?
The AG concluded that neither the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors nor its third-party garbage vendor could suspend service to delinquent households. The county could, however, withhold car tag issu…
Can a Mississippi school district buy a Bluebird bus from a vendor that didn't bid in the state contract process if the price matches the state contract?
The AG concluded that Mississippi school districts could buy school buses only through one of the three procurement methods in Section 37-41-101: an approved-vendor list, a district-run advertised bid…
Does a Mississippi city have to pay to run a water tap line from its main to a private property owner's lot, or does the owner pay?
The AG concluded that under Mississippi law, a Mississippi municipality maintains the main sewer or water line up to the point of connection, while the property owner is responsible for the personal s…
Does a Mississippi county owe just compensation to neighboring shopping-center stores in a cross-parking agreement when it takes only a non-owner's land?
The AG concluded that under Section 43-37-3, only the owner of the real property a Mississippi county acquires through eminent domain is entitled to just compensation. Other shopping-center stores tha…
Can a new Mississippi Board of Supervisors throw out the personnel handbook the previous board adopted, and can it create an assistant county administrator?
The AG concluded that a Mississippi Board of Supervisors could amend or void a personnel handbook adopted by a prior board, and that an assistant county administrator could be hired by the county admi…
Can a Mississippi mayor or alderman serve on a private board the city helped create as part of a public-private partnership?
The AG concluded that Port Gibson, under its municipal home-rule authority, could appoint members (including a sitting mayor or alderman) to a private board created by a public-private partnership agr…
Does a Mississippi school district issuing a shortfall promissory note have to prove the shortfall would prevent it from meeting its financial obligations?
No. The AG concluded a school district issuing a shortfall promissory note under § 37-57-108 must only make a good-faith determination that revenue is short of budget; the financial-distress test unde…
Can a Mississippi state agency keep granting paid COVID administrative leave to employees who can't come back to work?
Yes, conditionally. Under § 25-3-92(2)(b), the head of a state agency can grant paid administrative leave to employees during an emergency, but the agency itself has to make the factual call that COVI…
Can a Mississippi school district pay students cash incentives for ACT scores, and can it pay teachers and staff for school-wide ACT improvements?
Student cash incentives are out (no contract, so a Section 66 donation), but employee incentives can work if contracted in advance, tied to objective standards, and paid for services performed. Fundin…
What is an 'administrative review' under Mississippi's youth court juvenile-detention statute, and what factors should the court consider?
The statute requires administrative review of juvenile detention longer than 45 days, but does not define the term or specify factors. The youth court has discretion to design the review, and the yout…
Can a Mississippi county pay an attorney to represent the tax assessor in defending an election contest?
It depends on the board's factual finding. The AG reaffirmed that the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors may pay legal fees for the tax assessor/collector in an election contest only if the board d…
Can a Mississippi county patrolman bring littering charges, and is the $50 littering surcharge added to convictions under § 97-15-30?
Justice court cases start under § 99-3-2 and the criminal procedure rules. County patrolmen employed by the board of supervisors may enforce § 97-15-30 littering. But the $50 assessment in § 97-15-29(…
Who has to write up the minutes for a Mississippi county board of supervisors meeting, the chancery clerk or someone else?
The chancery clerk has the duty to take, prepare, and present board of supervisors minutes under § 19-3-27. The board may appoint another person as recording clerk to draft the minutes for board appro…
Can a Mississippi county clean and repair a flooding creek that runs across private property?
Yes, with conditions. The AG concluded an Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors may clean or clear a flooding creek on private property if it makes the public-health findings required by § 19-5-92.1, …
Can Mississippi state-owned property be used to rebury prehistoric Native American remains?
Yes. The AG concluded the Mississippi Department of Archives and History may use existing state-owned property, or acquire new property, to rebury prehistoric Native American remains, as long as the M…
Can a Mississippi city stop using bound minute books and store its meeting minutes only electronically?
Yes. The AG concluded a Mississippi municipality may stop maintaining bound minute books and keep all meeting minutes electronically, as long as the signing and seal requirements of § 21-15-3 are met …
Can a Mississippi community college spend public funds on PPE for students and employees without violating the constitutional ban on donations?
Yes, with a finding. The AG concluded a community college board may purchase PPE for students and employees if it determines the spending serves a statutory purpose (here, safe campus reopening) rathe…
Can a Mississippi town's Board of Aldermen order the mayor to make an employee show up at a board meeting, and what happens if the mayor refuses?
Mostly no. The AG concluded the Board of Aldermen cannot order the mayor to deliver a particular employee to a meeting (that crosses the legislative-executive line), but it can seek mandamus when the …
In Mississippi DUI cases, does law enforcement have to certify a defendant's prior record before the judge can take a guilty plea on a first offense?
Section 63-11-30(8)(b) requires law enforcement to submit certification (driving record, confidential registry, NCIC search) before a defendant pleads guilty to a second or subsequent DUI offense. The…
Can a Mississippi county Board of Supervisors second-guess a circuit judge's order on how much to pay an appointed indigent-defense lawyer?
The AG concluded that Section 99-15-17 vested discretion to set indigent-defense compensation in the appointing judge alone. The Adams County Board of Supervisors had no authority to increase, decreas…
Can a Mississippi city refund a contract fee to a developer if the developer never actually used the service the city was paid for?
The AG concluded that returning a $10,000 contract fee to a developer who never connected to Hattiesburg's wastewater system would not violate Section 66 of the Mississippi Constitution. A refund of c…
Can a Mississippi municipal court enroll unpaid criminal fines on the circuit court judgment roll, garnish wages, and proceed against an indigent defendant?
Yes to all three questions, with one limit. Mississippi municipal courts may enroll unpaid fines on the circuit court judgment roll to create a lien, may garnish wages, and may enroll judgments agains…
Can a Mississippi county board force other elected officials to use a county time-clock or computer-login payroll system?
No. The AG concluded that a Mississippi Board of Supervisors cannot require other county elected officials to use a countywide payroll documentation system if those officials have adopted and filed wi…
Can a Mississippi county forgive penalties and interest on a property tax bill the taxpayer did not know existed?
Yes. The AG concluded that when a Mississippi tax assessor's error caused a property owner to be delinquent (here, by assessing the wrong parcel and not assessing the right one), the Board of Supervis…
Is Mississippi's voluntary statewide association of election commissioners subject to the Open Meetings Act?
No. The AG concluded that the Election Commissioners Association of Mississippi is a voluntary association of individual election commissioners, not an entity created by statute or executive order, an…
Can a Mississippi municipal court charge a $50 filing fee for an expungement petition?
No. The AG concluded that Miss. Code Ann. § 21-23-7(11) explicitly forbids any filing fee for bringing an action in municipal court, so a court could not charge $50 for filing an expungement petition …
How does a Mississippi county split federal national-forest payments between two school districts when the forest land sits in both?
The Board of Supervisors had discretion to choose the formula. Section 49-19-23 told the county to spend 50% of the federal Weeks Act receipts on schools, but did not require a per-acre, per-pupil, or…
Can the same person serve as a Mississippi county administrator and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives at the same time?
Yes, under the Mississippi separation of powers doctrine. The AG concluded that a county administrator does not exercise 'core powers,' so simultaneous service as a state representative is not constit…
Can a Mississippi tax assessor still get the $3,500 dual-office bonus if a deputy who works the assessor's office sometimes covers shifts in the tax collector's office?
The AG concluded that whether Franklin County's tax assessor/collector maintained 'two full-time offices' under Section 25-3-3(5) was a factual finding for the Board of Supervisors, considering all fa…
Can a Mississippi public improvement district use the county's real property sale statute to sell tax-forfeited property it owns?
Yes. The AG concluded a Mississippi public improvement district may sell or otherwise dispose of real property using either § 19-7-3 (the county real property sale statute) or § 17-25-25 (the governin…
What is the candidate qualifying deadline for a Mississippi circuit-court judge special election?
60 days before the election. The AG concluded that since neither § 23-15-849 nor § 23-15-833 specify a qualifying deadline for circuit court judge special elections, and § 23-15-977's March 1 judicial…
Can a Mississippi Gulf Coast convention bureau borrow under the federal Paycheck Protection Program?
No. The AG concluded that the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, created by Chapter 926, House Bill 1716, Local and Private Laws of 2013, has neither express nor necessari…
Can a Mississippi special-charter city remove civil-service protection from its police chief?
No. The AG concluded that even though McComb operates under a special charter, the Mississippi legislature made the civil service system in §§ 21-31-1 to 21-31-27 specifically applicable to McComb via…
If a Mississippi city contracts with the county election commission to run its city elections, how much does the county get paid?
By agreement. The AG concluded that under Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-221(2), if a Mississippi city abolishes its municipal election commission and contracts with the county election commission to conduct…
Can a Mississippi elected official hire their grandchildren temporarily to open mail and answer phones during a busy season?
It depends on the job duties. The AG laid out the three-part nepotism test (relationship, appointing authority, prohibited position) but said only the hiring authority could decide on the third questi…
Is there still a Mississippi moratorium on permits for new or expanded swine concentrated animal feeding operations?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the swine CAFO moratorium written into § 49-17-29(3)(f) expired on January 1, 2000 by the statute's own terms, so the Permit Board has authority to consider new…
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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.