Mississippi Judicial Redistricting SB 2768 Enacted 2025

MEMORANDUM

TO: ALL SENATORS FROM: LEGISLATIVE SERVICES DATE: AUGUST 5, 2025 _______________________________________ Enclosed is an updated summary of judicial redistricting bills which

were enacted during the 2025 Regular Legislative Session, as amended during the 2025 First Extraordinary Session.

SUMMARY OF JUDICIAL

REDISTRICTING LEGISLATION

2025 REGULAR SESSION

2025 FIRST EXTRAORDINARY SESSION

Prepared by Senate Legislative Services Office

AUGUST 5, 2025

Chancery Court Districts SB 2768. Effective 7/1/25. Signed 4/23/25. SB 2768 is one of two bills passed by the Legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligation to redistrict the circuit and chancery court districts of the state. SB 2768 redistricts the chancery court districts and HB 1544 redistricts the circuit court districts. SB 2768 also includes procedural language for both bills that govern the geographic boundaries of the district, the severability of the acts, and the purpose of the acts. Importantly, SB 2768 provides that the redistricting of each circuit and chancery court district shall be deemed to be separate and distinct from one another. Thus, the invalidity of any individual district of either the circuit or chancery courts shall not affect or require the redistricting of any other district. Except as noted for the Fifth, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth Chancery Districts, the amendments to the chancery court districts in SB 2768 take effect in January 2027 and are as follows: Second. Under the bill, Covington, Jefferson Davis, Simpson, and Smith counties are added to the district. An additional chancellorship is added to the district for a total of three chancellors. Third. Desoto County is removed from the district, and Carroll and Tallahatchie counties are added. A chancellorship is removed from the district for a total of two chancellors, and the subdistricts are deleted. The text of the bill removes a third and fourth chancellor. The fourth chancellor for Desoto, however, had not yet become effective. The chancellorship follows Desoto county to the new Seventeenth.

Fourth. Adams, Jefferson, and Wilkinson counties are added to the district. An additional chancellorship is also added to the district for a total of three chancellors. Fifth. From and after January 1, 2031, the subdistricts are deleted from the district. Sixth. Carroll County is removed from the district, and Webster County is added. Seventh. Tallahatchie County is removed from the district, and Sunflower County is added, and a chancellorship is removed from the district for a total of two chancellors. Eighth. Stone County is removed from the district. Ninth. Sunflower County is removed from the district, and a chancellorship is also removed for a total of two chancellors. Tenth. Forrest and Perry counties are removed from the district, and Walthall County is added. Further, the senior chancellor in the district is authorized to divide the court into separate divisions for the efficient handling of cases based on subject matter, judicial economy, or other factors. Eleventh. Precinct geography is updated in the subdistricts of the district. Thirteenth. All of the counties in the district are removed, and Forrest, Perry, and Stone counties are added to the district. Fourteenth. Webster County is removed from the district, and the subdistricts are amended to reflect that removal and geographically connect Chickasaw and Oktibbeha counties in Subdistrict 14-1. Fifteenth. Claiborne and Lawrence counties are added to the district, and an additional chancellorship is added to the district for a total of two chancellors. Sixteenth. From July 1, 2025, until January 1, 2031, the local contributions required for the maintenance of the district

shall be paid on a pro rata basis by each county in the district based on the proportion of that county's population to the district as a whole according to the most recent federal decennial census. The amount of these local contributions shall be determined by the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to be ordered by the senior chancellor of the district. From and after January 1, 2027, an additional chancellorship is added to the district for a total of four chancellors. From January 1, 2027, and until January 1, 2031, Greene County is removed from the district. From and after January 1, 2031, George County is removed from the district. Seventeenth. All of the counties in the district are removed, and Desoto County is added to the district. An additional chancellorship is also added to the district for a total of three chancellors. Nineteenth. From and after January 1, 2027, an additional chancellorship is added to the district for a total of two chancellors. From January 1, 2027, and until January 1, 2031, Greene County is added to the district. From and after January 1, 2031, George County is added to the district. Circuit Court Districts HB 1544. Effective on Passage. Signed 4/23/25. HB 1544 is one of two bills passed by the Legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligation to redistrict the circuit and chancery court districts of the state. HB 1544 redistricts the circuit court districts, and SB 2768 redistricts the chancery court districts. HB 1544 also revises the number of

assistant district attorneys (ADAs) and criminal investigators assigned to certain circuit court districts. HB 49, 2025 First Extraordinary Session (effective on passage; signed 6/17/25), adjusts the number of assistant district attorneys assigned to certain circuit court districts. The primary amendments to the circuit court districts are as follows: First. The bill amends the residency requirements of the judges in the district. Third. From and after January 1, 2031, an additional judgeship is added to the district for a total of four judges. Fourth. From and after January 1, 2031, Holmes and Humphreys counties are added to the district. Sixth. From and after January 1, 2027, Pike County is added to the district. An additional judgeship is also added for a total of three judges in the district. Seventh. Until January 1, 2027, a judgeship is added for a total of five judges in the district. From and after January 1, 2027, Claiborne and Jefferson counties are added to the district. From January 1, 2027, until January 1, 2035, an additional judgeship is added to the district for a total of six judges. From and after January 1, 2035, a judgeship is removed from the district for a total of five judges. During this time, several revisions are made to the subdistricts in the district. Also, the authority of the senior circuit court judge to divide the district into civil and criminal divisions is deleted. Last, two state-funded ADAs that were previously authorized only until July 1, 2025 in the district are made permanent in the bill. The district has a total of 16 state-funded ADAs, including the two ADAs under Section 25-31-37. Ninth. From and after January 1, 2031, Yazoo County is added to the district. Effective January 1, 2027, an

additional, state-funded ADA is added to the district for a total of four state-funded ADAs. Tenth. From and after January 1, 2027, Wayne County is removed from the district. Eleventh. From and after January 1, 2031, the subdistricts within the district are revised. Fourteenth. From and after January 1, 2027, Lincoln, Pike, and Walthall counties are removed from the district, and Copiah, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, and Lincoln counties are added to the district. From and after January 1, 2026, one state-funded ADA is removed from the district for a total of five ADAs. Fifteenth. From and after January 1, 2027, Jefferson Davis and Lawrence counties are removed from the district, and Walthall County is added. Eighteenth. From and after January 1, 2027, George, Greene, and Wayne counties are added to the district, and an additional judgeship is added for a total of two judges. Effective January 1, 2027, the district is authorized to employ two additional, state-funded ADAs for a total of four state- funded ADAs. Nineteenth. From and after January 1, 2027, George and Greene counties are removed from the district, and an additional judgeship is added for a total of four judges. Further, one of the four judges, as designated by the senior judge of the circuit, shall be dedicated to intervention court with at least 75% of the cases on that judge's docket to be drug court eligible cases. Twentieth. Upon passage, the district is authorized to employ three additional, local-funded ADAs for a total of five local-funded ADAs. From and after January 1, 2027, the district is authorized to employ three additional, state-funded ADAs for a total of ten state-funded ADAs.

Twenty-first. Until January 1, 2031, the district shall be designated as the Twenty-second Circuit Court District. Effective January 1, 2027, the district shall have four ADAs. From and after January 1, 2031, the district shall stand repealed. Twenty-second. Until January 1, 2027, the district shall be designated as the Twenty-third Circuit Court District. Until January 1, 2027, the district shall have four ADAs. From and after January 1, 2027, the district shall stand repealed. Twenty-third. The district is redesignated as the Twenty- first Circuit Court District. Until January 1, 2027, an additional judgeship is added to the district for a total of three judges. From and after January 1, 2027, an additional judgeship is added to the district for a total of four judges. Until January 1, 2028, the district shall have seven state- funded ADAs. From and after January 1, 2027, the district shall have a total of eight state-funded ADAs.