Mississippi may soon end its Prohibition-era law from 1907 to allow all cities to sell alcohol unless residents petition to vote to turn the county dry under a bill the Mississippi House passed on Feb. 11.
House Bill 91 would continue the state’s law of not allowing counties to have liquor stores or sell alcohol without resort status, but the bill would amend the law to say that all cities and towns can have package stores and legally sell alcohol. Restaurants could apply for a resort status to be able to sell alcohol in the county, House Rep. Brent Powell, R-Brandon, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Feb. 11.
If the legislation becomes law, all jurisdictions in the state would be wet starting on Jan. 1, 2026.
“You had a bill, I think, two sessions ago that made a few areas moist. How does this impact that?” Rep. Shanda Yates, I-Jackson, asked Powell on the House floor on Feb. 11.
“It increases the wetness of it,” Powell replied, prompting the people in the House chamber to erupt in laughter.
Mississippi has 13 dry counties. Under current law, citizens of a dry county can sign a petition and vote to make the county wet. Rep. Noah Sanford, R-Collins, said he did not understand why the state would make all counties wet when the residents of the 13 dry counties have not tried to officially petition for alcohol sales.
“There’s no reason the state should dictate to them whether or not they can sell alcohol in my opinion,” Powell told Sanford. “Give it to them to let them decide. And I understand your position, I really do. I promise you. We’re just looking at it two different ways.”
The House passed H.B. 91 by a 72-34 vote on Feb. 11 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Sunday Alcohol Sales
Wet counties could soon start selling liquor at package stores on Sunday afternoons under House Bill 92.
Mississippi currently bans the sale of alcohol on Sundays, but if the legislation becomes law, package stores could sell liquor from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
“This is the same bill we’ve passed for the last two years. This will allow for spirit sales on Sundays,” Rep. Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs, said on the House floor on Feb. 11.
The House passed H.B. 92 by a 71-37 vote on Feb. 11 and sent it to the Senate for consideration. The Sunday alcohol sales bill from 2024 passed out of the House but died in the Senate Finance Committee.
Out-of-state wineries could also soon be allowed to ship wine to Mississippi addresses after the Senate passed Senate Bill 2145. It goes to the House for consideration.
New Speed Limits
Mississippi drivers may soon be able to travel at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour on state highways and up to 75 miles per hour on state interstate highways under House Bill 74.
The state’s current max speed limit is 65 miles per hour for highways and 70 miles per hour for interstates.
“If people went the speed limit, I’d agree with you. But I’m sorry, I know whatever we raise it to, they’re going to go five, eight miles (per hour) over that amount,” Rep. Greg Haney, R-Gulfport, told Rep. Daryl Porter, D-Summit.
“They’d be breaking the law, gentleman,” Porter replied.
“Well, right now the law is being broken by a lot of people that fly by me all the time,” Haney responded.
“You should speed up then, gentleman. Catch up with the rest of the state,” Porter replied, eliciting laughs from his colleagues.
Improving Medical Care at Correctional Facilities
The Mississippi Department of Health may soon conduct comprehensive reviews of the Mississippi Department of Correction’s medical-care quality for incarcerated people if House Bill 1474 becomes law. Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, said MSDH already has access to all of MDOC’s health-care files and records.
MSDH’s review would focus on the quality of medical care provided to incarcerated people, including “patient outcomes,” incarcerated people’s access to medical staff. The review “shall further address the adequacy and fitness of any facility wherein services are rendered,” the legislation says.
Currently, no medical professional is available at Mississippi’s correctional facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Currie said. The legislation would change that to ensure a nurse would be at each correctional facility at all times.
“Health care doesn’t stop at 4 p.m. every day and 4 o’clock on Fridays,” Currie said when introducing her bill on the House floor on Feb. 13.
Currie’s legislation would also require MSDH to establish a Hepatitis C program to help manage the spread of the disease in correctional facilities. She said MDOC already has a successful tuberculosis management program and she wants the same program for Hepatitis C.
MDOC would have to implement a plan to help with women’s health care because correctional facilities do not offer obstetrical or gynecological care for women, the representative said. H.B. 1474 also requires MDOC to set up a program to assist incarcerated people with disabilities and hire a dietician to help incarcerated people eat correctly according to their health condition.
“I did this after talking to many inmates. Inmates, right now, if they ask to see the physical or nurse practitioner, they are charged $10 a visit if they receive medicine and $6 a visit if they do not. We pay for their health care. Last year, we paid $109 million, and this year it’s going to be $119 million. We’re asking someone who has no money to pay for health care, and that will stop as soon as this bill passes,” Currie said when introducing her bill on the House floor on Feb. 13.
She noted that the proposal would not cost the state any extra money because the costs would come from a $119 million contract that is already part of the state’s annual budget.
Currie said Gov. Tate Reeves wants to hire an out-of-state firm to handle health care at MDOC, but she wants to fix the program without an outside firm potentially causing more harm.
“I don’t want an outside firm. I want to know what’s going on and I want to know that we fix it,” she said.
Rep. Bo Brown, D-Jackson, said he has filed unsuccessful bills during multiple legislative sessions that offered mental-health care for people after their release from prison. He asked why Currie did not include mental-health care in her bill.
Currie said she is aware of the mental-health issues in prisons, noting that about 50% of Mississippi’s incarcerated people have a mental-health condition. She said she would work on a contract for mental-health care next year since she just celebrated one year as being the chairwoman of the House Corrections Committee.
“I need to get in there first and see what’s going on, and then I’ll be in a better position next year to contract with the Department of Mental Health,” she told Brown.
Selling Goods Produced by Incarcerated People
Mississippi may soon allow the sale of goods, services and merchandise that incarcerated people produce under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections if House Bill 1001 becomes law.
The MDOC commissioner must create a commission to “review and approve” the incarcerated people’s production of items and services, the legislation says. Incarcerated people would not be able to handle any form of payment from the sales, it says.
“This bill is designed to promote rehabilitation through productive labor while also ensuring the inmate meets the financial obligation and gains valuable skills,” Rep. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Feb. 11.
The legislation shows how MDOC would divvy the incarcerated person’s earnings: 50% of the incarcerated person’s income would go into a fund that they can access after completing prison time, 10% would go to the person’s prison account to “purchase incidental expenses,” 25% would pay child support for dependents and pay any other court-ordered fines, and 15% would go to MDOC for “administrative expenses.”
H.B. 1001 says MDOC must provide “educational programs” and financial literacy training to all incarcerated people.
The House passed the legislation by a 115-0 vote on Feb. 11 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Job Opportunities for Incarcerated Women in the Mississippi Delta
Incarcerated women at the Mississippi Delta Correctional Facility who are not sex offenders and are convicted of nonviolent crimes with three years or less left of their sentence may soon be able to work for Milwaukee Tools while completing their sentences under House Bill 1476.
Mississippi House Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, said Milwaukee Tools asked her for 400 women from the Mississippi Department of Corrections to work at the prison in Greenwood, Miss. But if the bill becomes law, it will start with 100 women in the program and add more in the future, she said.
“I can’t do as many as they would like. We’re going to start with 100 because after they get up and go to work, they’ll have to be searched before they come back in. But in this building, they will not go into the general population at all. So, if anything goes on outside and they’re bringing anything in, they do not go into general population,” Currie said when introducing the legislation on the House floor on Feb. 10.
Under H.B. 1476, MDOC would open the Milwaukee Tools facility in an old building on the MDOC property. Milwaukee Tools opened a new facility about 30 miles away in Grenada, Miss., in October 2024.
Currie said that so far, 75 women have gone through the work-release program with Milwaukee Tools. The company pays the incarcerated women the same wages as nonincarcerated employees, she said. Milwaukee Tools will hire the women to work full-time after they finish their prison sentence, she said.
Currie encouraged her colleagues to pass the bill, predicting the recidivism would decrease for incarcerated women who participate in the program..
“I think it’s a great bill, especially for our women’s correctional facility. They don’t get these kinds of chances,” she said.
The House passed the legislation by a 118-0 vote on Feb. 10 and sent it to the Mississippi Senate for consideration.
Personal Protective Equipment for Incarcerated People
The Mississippi Department of Corrections may soon have to provide gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment for incarcerated people working with toxic chemicals under House Bill 658.
“We are not doing our job as state legislators if we are not protecting those who do not have the capacity to protect themselves. House Bill 658 seeks to do just that,” the legislation’s sponsor, Rep. Justis Gibbs, D-Jackson, said at a press conference on Feb. 5.
The House passed the bill by a 115-0 vote on Feb. 10 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Read reporter Shaunicy Muhammad’s full report on the bill here.
Intentional Failure to Transmit Ballots
House Bill 724 would make it illegal for a person who is authorized to transmit ballots to intentionally fail to send a voter’s ballot to the correct destination.
“This is not to catch someone who negligently doesn’t turn your ballot in. This requires the intention of doing so to deprive you of your vote,” Rep. Noah Sanford, R-Collins, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Feb. 11.
A person who violates the legislation would face a felony conviction, serve no more than three years in county jail and pay a fine of no more than $5,000 if it becomes law.
The House passed the bill by a 91-18 vote on Feb. 11 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Dead Bills
Mississippi will continue to take away voting rights for people convicted of any of the 23 disenfranchising crimes after House Constitution Committee Chairman Rep. Price Wallace, R-Mendenhall, killed a bill that would have restored voting rights and expunged criminal records five years after a person completed their sentencing requirements. Wallace, who was the principal author of the bill, did not bring it up for a vote on the House floor before a Feb. 13 legislative deadline.
The state will not expand literacy proficiency for fourth-grade through eighth-grade students after House Education Chairman Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, let House Bill 837 die on the Feb. 13 deadline.