Mississippi Legislature

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Mississippi Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Bicameral
HousesSenate
House of Representatives
Term limits
None
Leadership
Delbert Hosemann (R)
since January 9, 2020
Speaker of the House
Philip Gunn (R)
since January 3, 2012
Structure
Seats174
  • 52 senators
  • 122 representatives
MS Senate Mississippi Nov 2019.svg
Senate political groups
  •   Republican (36)
  •   Democratic (16)
File MS House.svg
House of Representatives political groups
  •   Republican (74)
  •   Democratic (45)
  •   Independent (2)
  •   Vacant (1)
Salary$23,500/year
+ $144 per diem[1]
Elections
Senate last election
November 5, 2019
House of Representatives last election
November 5, 2019
Senate next election
November 7, 2023
House of Representatives next election
November 7, 2023
RedistrictingLegislative control
Meeting place
Mississippi State Capitol, Jackson, Mississippi (3931971195).jpg
Mississippi State Capitol
Jackson, Mississippi
United States
Website
www.legislature.ms.gov

The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without term limits. The Legislature convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.

History[]

The Mississippi Legislature was created as the Mississippi General Assembly in 1800, when Mississippi was still a territory.[2] Starting in 1833, it became known as the Mississippi Legislature.[2]

Powers and process[]

This brick church was erected in Washington, Mississippi in 1816. The first Constitution of Mississippi was written and adopted here; the state's first legislature convened here in 1817. The preliminary treason trial of Vice President Aaron Burr occurred under some nearby oak trees.[3]

The Constitution of Mississippi gives the state legislature the authority to determine rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and expel a member with a two-thirds vote of the membership of his or her chamber.[4]

A bill may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other, and must be read by its title on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house dispenses with the rules.[4] The Mississippi Constitution prohibits amending a bill to change its original purpose.[4] Bills amended in the second house, must return for a vote to accept amendments.[4]

The Governor of Mississippi has the power to veto legislation, but legislators can override the veto with a two-thirds decision.

Membership[]

Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives are elected to four-year terms and Mississippi State Senators are also elected to four-year terms.

See also[]

Past sessions:

Notes[]

  1. ^ "2018 Legislator Compensation Information". NCSL.org. National Conference of State Legislators. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Rowland, Dunbar (1908). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. p. 272.
  3. ^ "Mississippi Pictorial History, 1798-1937". Mississippi Historical Research - W.P.A. Project. 1937.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Constitutional Provisions The Legislature And Legislation Rules of Procedure, Mississippi Legislature (accessed May 27, 2013)

External links[]

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