Supreme Court of Mississippi
Seal of the Mississippi Judiciary
Established	1818
Jurisdiction	Mississippi, United States
Location	Jackson, Mississippi
Composition method	Nonpartisan election
Authorized by	Mississippi Constitution
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States (matters of federal law only)
Judge term length	Eight years
Number of positions	Nine
Website	Official website
Chief Justice
Currently	Michael K. Randolph
Since	January 31, 2019

TheSupreme Court of Mississippi is thehighestcourt in the state ofMississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the firstconstitution of the state and was known as theHigh Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1869. The court is anappellate court. The court consists of nine justices elected in nonpartisan contests from three districts to serve eight-year terms. The most senior justice serves as thechief justice. It is housed in the Carroll Gartin Justice Building inJackson, Mississippi, the statecapital.

The state constitution grants the Supreme Court broad jurisdiction to review cases that raise questions of law. It only hasoriginal jurisdiction over legal cases arising from actions taken by theMississippi Public Service Commission to alter utility rates and in investigating instances of judicial misconduct. State law gives the Supreme Court direct appellate jurisdiction over cases involving capital punishment,municipal annexation,bond issues, election disputes, judicial disciplinary affairs,certified questions from federal courts, and laws found unconstitutional in lower courts. All appeals of statetrial court rulings concerning other matters are initially brought before the Supreme Court, which can then assign them to theMississippi Court of Appeals at its discretion. The court's members are divided into "divisions" of three justices each, and most cases are heard and ruled upon only by one division. The justices siten banc to review split-decisions from a division—at the dissenting justice's request—and to hear cases involving capital punishment, utility rates, constitutional matters offirst impression, and issues deemed to likely have a significant impact on the public.

TheMississippi Territory was established byUnited States federal law in 1798. Its court system evolved over time to eventually include a supreme court.^[1]Mississippi became aU.S. state in 1817, and its judiciary was established in the state's constitution.^[1][2] Under its first constitutional construction, the Supreme Court was composed of judges to be elected by theMississippi Legislature. The judges spent most of their time presiding over statesuperior courts, but would convene together twice a year inNatchez to consider appeals from the superior courts.^[3][4] The legislature appointed the first Supreme Court on January 21, 1818.^[5] The state's constitution of 1832 provided for the court, renamed the High Court of Errors and Appeals, to have three popularly-elected judges serving six-year terms.^[6] In 1839, three constituencies, known as the northern, central, and southern districts, were created for the justices. They changed little over the ensuing decades.^[4][6]

During theAntebellum era, the court's docket was dominated by cases involving land, banks, bonds, railroads, and slavery. In 1836, the constitution was amended to require the court to convene inJackson. Three years latera state capitol building was completed, and the court moved its sittings to a dedicated courtroom within the structure. The court's workflow was interrupted by theAmerican Civil War. As a result of the conflict, Mississippi came under federal military occupation. In 1866, the court ruled inEx parte Lewis that the federalCivil Rights Act of 1866 was unconstitutional. With the federal military commander in the state choosing to ignore the decision and Mississippi citizens being placed before military tribunals, in 1867, all justices of the court resigned to protest military rule. The court was then filled by the commander's appointees, who served for another two years. Years later, the court ruled all decisions made by the military appointees legally invalid.^[4]

The High Court of Errors and Appeals was abolished by the state's 1869 constitution and replaced with a new "Supreme Court of Mississippi", with the judges to be appointed by thegovernor with the advice and consent of theMississippi Senate.^[7][8] The constitution also required that one justice each was to be a resident of one of the districts, serving staggered nine-year terms.^[3] During theReconstruction era, the court was primarily occupied with cases concerning the aftermath of the Civil War—including war debts—and the regulation of large corporations.^[4]

The provisions of the constitution of 1869 regarding the court were largely repeated in the constitution of 1890.^[7][4] The new document prescribed the popular statewide election of the body'sclerk.^[9] In 1898, the legislature passed a resolution to amend the constitution to provide for the popular election of all judges in the state, including the Supreme Court justices. The amendment was ratified by wide margin in a 1899 statewide referendum but was overturned by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the amendment was substantively equivalent to four separate amendments and thus violated constitutional prohibitions on bundling amendment questions together in referendums.^[10] In 1903, the court relocated to chambers in the newMississippi State Capitol.^[4]

In 1914, a series of constitutional amendments were ratified providing for the popular election of six justices to eight-year terms, with the first election taking place in 1916.^[11] In 1949, the justices began wearingjudicial robes during their sittings.^[12] In the first half of the 20th century, the court heard cases concerning cars,Prohibition, and economic relief efforts made in response to theGreat Depression. In the late 1940s, several cases brought before the court dealt withcivil rights issues.^[4]

The court was expanded to nine justices by constitutional amendment in 1952.^[13] In the latter half of the twentieth century, the court expanded the rights of criminal defendants and heard more cases concerningpersonal injury suits. In 1973, the court moved out of the capitol building into the Carroll Gartin Justice Building.^[4] An amendment three years later made the Supreme Court responsible for appointing its own clerk.^[14] From 1916 to 1980, all Supreme Court elections were effectively decided in theDemocratic Party's primary elections, as Mississippi was essentially aone-party state and noRepublicans or independents offered challenges in the state's general elections during that time. Judicial primaries were eliminated by law and judicial elections made nonpartisan in 1994.^[15]

In the 1970s, courts in Mississippi began moving for the adoption of standard rules ofcivil procedure.^[16] Over the course of the 1980s, the Supreme Court, citing an inherent authority granted by the state constitution andcommon law to formulate rules for all state courts, adopted several sets of rules, including rules of procedure, rules of evidence, and rules of practice.^[4][2][17] The adoption of such rules led to tension with legislature,^[2] which had up to that point specified most procedural rules in its laws.^[18] The legislature considered impeaching justices which had favored the rules adoptions or amending the constitution to limit the court's authority before eventually deciding to withdraw appropriations from the body.^[2][19] In 1991, the tension was resolved when the legislature modified about 2,000 state statutes to adhere to the court's rules.^[2][20] In 1993, the legislature established theMississippi Court of Appeals to ease the Supreme Court's increasing caseload burden and worsening delays in judgements rendered.^[21][22] The Carroll Gartin Justice Building was rebuilt in 2008 to house both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.^[4]

Lenore L. Prather served as the Supreme Court's first female justice from her appointment in 1982 and as its first femalechief justice from 1998 until she retired in 2001.^[23]Reuben V. Anderson served as the first black justice from 1985 until 1990.^[24]

The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the court of last resort in the state.^[25] The state constitution grants the Supreme Court broad jurisdiction to review cases that raise questions of law. It only hasoriginal jurisdiction over legal cases arising from actions taken by theMississippi Public Service Commission to alter utility rates and in investigating instances of judicial misconduct.^[26] Rulings of Chancery, Circuit and County Courts and the Court of Appeals can be appealed to the Supreme Court.^[25] When handling cases on appeal, the court may only consider facts raised in the original proceedings in the lower courts.^[22] State law gives the Supreme Court direct appellate jurisdiction over cases involving capital punishment,municipal annexation,bond issues, election disputes, judicial disciplinary affairs,certified questions from federal courts, and laws found unconstitutional in lower courts.^[22] All appeals of state trial court rulings concerning other matters are initially brought before the Supreme Court, which can then assign them to the Court of Appeals at its discretion.^[27] The court can alsoremand cases from one state court to another.^[28] Unlike some of its contemporaries in other states, the Mississippi Supreme Court cannot issueadvisory opinions.^[22]

The state constitution requires the court to hold two sessions per year at the state's seat of government at times fixed by the legislature. The legislature has provided for one term to begin in May and another in September of each year. In practice, the court meets continuously throughout the year.^[29] It is housed in the Carroll Gartin Justice Building inJackson.^[23] The court's members are divided into "divisions" of three justices each, and most cases are heard and ruled upon only by one division. The justices siten banc to review split-decisions from a division—at the dissenting justice's request—and to hear cases involving capital punishment, utility rates, constitutional matters offirst impression, and issues deemed to likely have a significant impact on the public.^[30] When the courts is sittingen banc, five justices constitute a quorum, while when sitting in a division, two justices constitute a quorum.^[31]

Official rulings of the court are determined by a majority vote of the participating justices.^[25] In the event of a tie in an appellate case, the ruling of the lower court stands.^[32] Historically, the Supreme Court has exercisedjudicial restraint in its decisions. On questions of state law, the court usually examines the legal propriety of a statute, not its "wisdom".^[22] When presented with two possible interpretations of a statute that present different outcomes with regards to its constitutionality, the court has typically favored the interpretation which allows the law to be preserved.^[22]

The chief justice of the Supreme Court is the chief administrative officer of all state courts.^[33] The court is empowered by the state constitution to adopt its own set ofrules.^[34] It oversees procedure for other state courts.^[35] The justices of the Supreme Court appoint their court clerk.^[14] The court is also empowered to appoint judges to serve on lower courts in under three circumstances: if an incumbent judge is seriously ill or disabled, if the senior judge of a circuit or chancery court requests an additional judge to assist in handling emergency needs, or if the governor neglects to use their power to fill a vacant judgeship within seven days of the vacancy appearing.^[36] State law gives the court supervisory powers over the Mississippi State Library, which is housed in the Gartin Justice Building and serves as the court'slaw library.^[37]

In the event the governor is impeached by theMississippi House of Representatives, the chief justice of the Supreme Court or the next most-senior justice—if the former is not available—presides over the impeachment trial in theMississippi Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court can be impeached by the legislature for "treason, bribery, or any high crime or misdemeanor in office" or can be removed by the governor at the request of two-thirds of the legislature for lesser offenses.^[38]

The state constitution requires that all candidates for a seat on the Supreme Court be at least 30 years of age, have lived in the state for at least five years, and have practiced law for at least five years.^[30] The court is composed of nine justices—six associate justices, two presiding justices, and one chief justice^[39]—elected to eight-year terms in nonpartisan, staggered elections.^[25] The most-senior-tenured justice serves as the chief justice of the court, with the second and third most-tenured justices serving as the court's presiding judges.^[27] The governor is empowered to fill vacancies on the court.^[39]

The Supreme Court of Mississippi has three electoral districts in the state, commonly known as the northern, central, and southern districts.^[39] Three justices are elected from each. The districts also serve as constituencies for the three members of theMississippi Transportation Commission^[40] and the three members of theMississippi Public Service Commission.^[41] Each seat within a district listed on the ballot has a unique number to identify it.^[42] They are separated by county lines, as follows:^[43]

• Alexander, S. Allan; Steffey, Matthew (1994)."Laying the Groundwork for Court Reform - A Report of the Mississippi Bar's Commission on Courts in the 21st Century - Discussion Draft".Mississippi College Law Review.14 (2):511–607.
• Challener, Deborah J.; Hoffheimer, Michael H. (2017)."Mixed Cases of Law and Equity in Mississippi Supreme Courts".Mississippi College Law Review.35 (3):387–435.
• Christopher, John W. (2005)."Tort Reform by the Mississippi Supreme Court".Mississippi College Law Review.24 (2):427–435.
• Mississippi Public Service Commission Annual Report Ending June 30, 2022(PDF), Mississippi Public Service Commission, 2022
• Morton, Ronald C. (1992)."Rules, Rulemaking, and the Ruled: The Mississippi Supreme Court as Self-Proclaimed Ruler - Duncan v. St. Romain".Mississippi College Law Review.12 (1):293–335.
• Rowland, Dunbar, ed. (1904).The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Archives and History.OCLC 777030828.
• Somerville, Thomas H. (1899)."A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi".The Green Bag. Vol. XI. pp. 503–515.
• Southwick, Leslie (1998)."Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996".Mississippi College Law Review.18 (1):115–198.
• Winkle, John W. III (2014).The Mississippi State Constitution (second ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780199300631.

• Map:32°18′19″N90°10′56″W / 32.30528°N 90.18222°W /32.30528; -90.18222

• State supreme courts of the United States
• Mississippi state courts
• 1817 establishments in Mississippi
• Courts and tribunals established in 1817

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