Latest Mississippi state government News

Mississippi might allow incarcerated people to sue prisons over transgender inmates

Feb. 22, 2024 19:21 PM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A bill before Mississippi lawmakers might allow incarcerated people to sue jails and prisons if they encounter inmates from the opposite sex, such as those who are transgender, in restrooms or changing areas. State lawmakers advanced the proposal out of a...

US Supreme Court won't hear lawsuit tied to contentious 2014 Senate race in Mississippi

Feb. 20, 2024 17:09 PM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will not consider a dispute over a lawsuit filed by the family of a Mississippi lawyer who took his own life after he was arrested and accused of providing information to people who snuck into a nursing home and photographed the...

With few other options, football is hope for families in rural Mississippi

Feb. 19, 2024 10:29 AM EST

LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP) — A winter sun is setting over the brown, patchy field where Ronald Redmond’s kids have been playing football since they were 5. The goalposts are rusting and the fence is ripped. But Redmond knows what kids who played on this field have gone on to achieve: high school...

The first Black woman in the Mississippi Legislature now has her portrait in the state Capitol

Feb. 13, 2024 19:10 PM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Rep. Alyce Clarke was the first Black woman elected to the Mississippi Legislature, and now she is the first Black person — and first woman — to have a portrait on display in the state Capitol. She smiled Tuesday as fellow lawmakers, friends and...

Can public money go to private schools? Mississippi Supreme Court hears arguments

Feb. 06, 2024 17:48 PM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is violating its own constitution with a law that would put public money into infrastructure grants for private schools, attorneys for a public education advocacy group argued Tuesday to the state Supreme Court. But one attorney representing the...

Mississippi will spend billions on broadband. Advocates say needy areas have been ignored

Feb. 05, 2024 18:32 PM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's plan for spending $1.2 billion in federal funds to expand broadband access does not ensure the neediest communities in the state will benefit, a coalition of statewide organizations alleged Monday. At a news conference at the state Capitol,...

Mississippi Republican governor again calls for phasing out personal income tax in his budget plan

Feb. 01, 2024 10:12 AM EST

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is renewing his call for legislators to phase out the state's personal income tax over several years, and he is asking them to spend more money on economic development, highways and the judiciary. The Republican governor is also...

Editorial Roundup: Mississippi

Jan. 17, 2024 07:18 AM EST

Greenwood Commonwealth. January 16, 2024. Editorial: State Needs New Initiative Law The third attempt to get a new ballot initiative procedure into state law has had a bipartisan group of business and political leaders working on its behalf for the past several...

FBI calls bomb threats that led to brief lockdowns and evacuations of some state capitols a hoax

Jan. 03, 2024 21:07 PM EST

A bomb threat emailed to officials in several states early Wednesday briefly disrupted government affairs and prompted some state capitol evacuations, but no explosives were found and federal officials quickly dismissed the threats as a hoax. The threats follow a spate of false...

Federal appeals court temporarily delays new state-run court in Mississippi's majority-Black capital

Jan. 01, 2024 16:51 PM EST

JACKSON, MISS. (AP) — A federal appeals court has temporarily delayed Mississippi officials from creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson starting on Monday. The ruling came just before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed requests to...