The Mississippi Legislature must redraw the state House and Senate district maps to create more Black-majority districts after a federal court ruled in 2024 that the maps do not offer Black voters equal participation in the political process.
Joint Resolution 1 would revise the composition of the Mississippi House Districts 12, 22, 36, 39 and 41 to comply with the court’s requirements. The court ruled that District 22, which includes Chickasaw County, did not comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
“Members have provided input about options for redraws,” Rep. Noah Sanford, R-Collins, said on the House floor on Feb. 6. “Every member in the affected area has met with me and the staff to review their district lines and accompanying data and make requests and suggestions.”
He said he had specifically met for input from Reps. Jonathan Lancaster, R-Houston, Rickey Thompson, D-Shannon, Karl Gibbs, D-West Point, Dana McLean, R-Columbus, and Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus to get their input. “We have received input from outside sources as well. The plaintiffs in the litigation sent their proposed plan with suggested districts,” Sanford said.
District 12 would comprise Lafayette County with Oxford 1, Oxford 2, Oxford 3, Oxford 4, and Oxford 5 and West Spring Hill precincts.
District 22 would represent Chickasaw County’s Anchor, Buena Vista, East Okolona, Egypt, North Houlka, North Okolona, Northwest Houston, Pearsall, Pleasant Grove, South Houlka, Southeast Houston, Sparta, Van Vleet, West Okolona and Woodland precincts; Clay County’s Pine Bluff precinct; Monroe County’s Aberdeen 3, Amory 5, Central Grove, North Aberdeen, South Aberdeen, Willis and Wren precincts.
District 36 would be made up of Clay County’s Cairo, Caradine, Cedar Bluff, Central West Point, East West Point, North West Point, Pheba, Siloam, South West Point, Tibbee, Union Star, Vinton and West West Point precincts; Lowndes County’s Air Base, Brandon, Townsend Park and University precincts; Monroe County’s Aberdeen 3, Athens, Becker, Darracott, Gibson, Lackey, North Aberdeen 4, Prairie, South Aberdeen 4 and Wren precincts; and Oktibbeha County’s Center Grove/North Adaton and Maben precincts.
District 39 would include Lowndes County’s Air Base, Brandon, Caledonia, First Assembly and University precincts; Monroe County’s Aberdeen 3, Amory 1, Amory 2, Athens, Becker, Bigbee 1, Boyds, Hamilton and Lackey Precincts.
District 41 would have Lowndes County’s 15th Street Church, Air Base, Coleman, East Columbus Gym, First Assembly, Hunt, Immanuel, New Hope, Rural Hill, Southside Church, Townsend Park, Trinity and University precincts.
The House passed J.R. 1 by an 84-33 vote on Feb. 6 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Child Care and Teacher Shortage Study Committee
House Bill 1100 would create the Mississippi Childcare Teachers Shortage Study Committee to study the shortage of child-care workers in the state and how to increase the number of affordable child-care spots available.
The bill says the committee would be responsible for studying and creating a report about wage incentive programs, their use in other states, and how they could benefit Mississippians; how to address the child care teacher shortage in the state and how other states combat these shortages; and “other child care related issues that the committee deems necessary to review and study.”
H.B. 1100 requires the committee to submit its report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Representatives, chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, the chairman of the House Workforce Development Committee and the chairman of the Senate Economic and Workforce Development committee by Dec. 1, 2025. After submitting the report, the bill says the committee would dissolve.
Under the bill, the committee would be comprised of a Mississippi senator the lieutenant governor appoints; a House representative the house speaker appoints, the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or a designee; the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Services; one person from the “childcare provider community” that the executive director of the Mississippi Office of Workforce Development appoints; and one person representing the child-care “business and industry” that the executive director of the Mississippi Office of Workforce Development appoints.
The officials will make appointments within 30 days of the final day of the 2025 Mississippi legislative session and the committee will meet 15 days after the appointments, H.B. 1100 says.
The House unanimously passed the bill on Feb. 5 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
No Patient Left Alone Act
Each minor and adult patient would have the right to have a visitor present while the patient is receiving treatment at a health-care facility under House Bill 403. The No Patient Left Alone Act says a patient would get to designate a “visitor with visitation rights,” a response to COVID-19 restrictions on visitors early in the pandemic.
“The gist of the matter is that the patient would sign for the individual they want. The individual would be advised of the risks that (could happen while) visiting, and if they assume those risks, they can still visit. What we don’t want to happen is (what happened) during COVID, and that’s for folks to die in a nursing home or hospital without having seen their loved ones,” Rep. Kevin Felsher, R-Biloxi, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Feb. 5.
The health-care facility could “limit or restrict visitation” under the bill if a visitor indicates a medical professional should not implement a medical or therapy treatment despite the medical professional using “best clinical options” to provide treatment. H.B. 403 says the facility could limit visitation if the visitors’ presence interferes “with the care of or rights of any patient;” if the visitors engage in “disruptive, threatening or violent behavior toward any staff member, patient or other visitor; or if visitors do not obey the health care facility’s policy.”
Under the bill, a health-care facility could require visitors to wear personal protective equipment if the facility provides the PPE and “comply with reasonable safety protocols and rules of conduct.” The facility can revoke visitation rights if the visitor does not obey H.B. 403.
“Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health care facility to allow a visitor access beyond the rooms, units or wards in which the patient whom the visitor is visiting is receiving care or beyond general common areas in the health care facility,” the bill says.
The bill requires the Mississippi State Department of Health to post educational materials with the information from H.B. 403 on its website.
The House passed the bill by a 114-0 vote on Feb. 5 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Joint Custody
Parents who undergo any kind of divorce would have joint custody of their child if a judge decides it is in the best interest of the child even in the case of fault-based divorce under Mississippi House Bill 1304.
“Under current law, if you get a fault-based divorce you cannot have a joint physical custody where each parent shares equal custody, and what we’re going to do is say that the law presumes that this is applicable; however, the best interest of the child will always prevail,” Rep. Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, said on the House floor on Feb. 5.
If the court gives one parent primary physical custody of the child, the bill says the court must create a “schedule that favors both parents equally” if it is in the best interest of the child.
The House passed a bill with the same language in the 2024 legislative session but it died in the Senate.
The House passed H.B. 1304 by a 113-0 vote on Feb. 5 and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Ban DEI in Public Schools
Mississippi public schools, state-accredited nonpublic schools and state-supported institutions of higher learning could not create, teach or promote diversity, equity and inclusion programs or require job applicants to use diversity statements and training in hiring, admission or employment processes under a bill the Mississippi House passed on Feb. 5.
House Bill 1193 says public schools should not “maintain any programs, including academic programs or courses, or offices that promote or endorse divisive concepts or concepts promoting transgender ideology, gender-neutral pronouns, heteronormativity, gender theory, sexual privilege or any related formulation of these concepts.”
PHOTO:https://www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2-6-25_-BoBrown.jpg
CAPTION: Rep. Bo Brown, D-Jackson, asked Rep. Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, on the House floor on Feb. 5, 2025, if House Bill 1193 was following President Donald Trump’s priorities to abolish DEI across the government and public schools. Photo by Heather Harrison
H.B. 1193 requires public schools to teach students that there are only two genders, male and female, as indicated by chromosomes and sex at birth. H.B. 1193 would not prevent a student from writing a paper about transgender or gender nonconforming people but it would prevent schools from teaching a curriculum that acknowledges trans and nonbinary people, Rep. Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Feb. 5.
Rep. Bo Brown, D-Jackson, asked if H.B. 1193 was following President Donald Trump’s priorities to abolish DEI across the government and public schools.
“That could be your opinion, but I don’t think it has any respect right now,” Hood replied. “I think there’s a lot of members of this body that want to see this passed. I think their constituents have reached out to them, and I’m sure your constituents have reached out to you.”
Several Democratic representatives asked Hood questions about his bill for over an hour on Feb. 5, many of them pointing out that DEI paves the way for all Mississippians to have equal access to education.
“A state that includes people recognizes diversity. I think that’s the future for the United States of America,” Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, told Hood on the House floor on Feb. 5.
The House passed H.B. 1193 by a 74-41 vote on Feb. 5. It heads to the Senate for consideration.
Transferring School Districts
Students could choose to transfer from one public school district to another without approval from the student’s current school district under House Bill 1435.
Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, said the goal of the bill is to “eliminate hangups” for students who want to attend school in another district and let the district decide whether to admit the student. If a school decides to provide transportation, they can only pick up students from residences within a 30-mile radius of the school district.
H.B. 1435 would create a $5 million Student Portability and Open Enrollment Fund to pay “the cost of the local portion of total funding formula base-student cost for the transferring student at the transferee district’s rate, which shall be allocated to transferee school districts on a first-come, first-served basis.”
Rep. John Faulkner, D-Holly Springs, said poorer students might be excluded from transferring school districts because of transportation issues. Owen said under the bill, some people could transfer school and some might not be able to transfer. Faulkner asked if Owen’s bill increases inequities in the education system. Owen said he did not think the bill would increase inequities but noted that he would not have been able to transfer school districts under H.B. 1435 when he was a student because his parents did not have transportation.
“I don’t think that we should tell parents that they don’t have that option,” he told Faulkner. “I believe that my parents would have rather (say), ‘OK, we might not be able to afford this, but I prefer the option and I will fight and find me some money to get there.’ I don’t believe we should hold kids back and remove their options and their choices based off of the concept that maybe some kids can’t afford it.”
Read Education Reporter Torsheta Jackson’s full report on the bill here.
Private-School Vouchers for Children in Low-Performing Districts
House Bill 1433, or the Flexible and Rightful Education Enrollment Act, would allow students in poorly performing public schools to use their allotment of public education funds to go to higher-rated public schools or private schools. The Mississippi House Education Committee advanced the bill to the floor on Feb. 4.
Read Education Reporter Torsheta Jackson’s full report on the bill here.
Dead: Immigrant Bounty Hunters
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety could have created a “bounty hunter” certification program to award residents $1,000 for providing information that leads to the arrest and deportation of undocumented migrants living in the state without authorization under a bill that died in the House Judiciary B and State Affairs committees on Feb. 4.
Rep. Justin Keen, R-Byhalia, drafted House Bill 1484, which drew support from DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton. House Judiciary B committee chairman Rep. Kevin Horan, R-Grenada, and House State Affairs committee chairman Rep. Henry Zuber III, R-Ocean Springs, let the bill die in their committees by not bringing it up for a vote by the Feb. 4 deadline.
