Mississippi Code

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (2026)

Duties of the mayor; authority of the board of aldermen

✓ current as of July 2026

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(1) The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the board of aldermen, and in case there shall be an equal division, shall give the deciding vote. The executive power of the municipality shall be exercised by the mayor, and the mayor shall have the superintending control of all the officers and affairs of the municipality, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are executed.

(2)
- (a) The legislative power of the municipality shall be exercised by the board of aldermen by a vote within a legally called meeting. No member of the board of aldermen shall give orders to any employee or subordinate of a municipality other than the alderman's personal staff.
- (b) Ordinances adopted by the board of aldermen shall be submitted to the mayor. The mayor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving any ordinance, either approve the ordinance by affixing his signature thereto, or return it to the board of aldermen by delivering it to the municipal clerk together with a written statement setting forth his objections thereto or to any item or part thereof. No ordinance or any item or part thereof shall take effect without the mayor's approval, unless the mayor fails to return an ordinance to the board of aldermen prior to the next meeting of the board, but no later than fifteen (15) days after it has been presented to him, or unless the board of aldermen, upon reconsideration thereof on or after the third day following its return by the mayor, shall, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the board, resolve to override the mayor's veto.

(3) The term "ordinance" as used in this section shall be deemed to include ordinances, resolutions and orders.

Codes, 1892, § 2979; 1906, § 3377; Hemingway's 1917, § 5905; 1930, § 2513; 1942, § 3374-40; Laws, 1950, ch. 491, § 40; Laws, 1982, ch. 472; Laws, 2006, ch. 333, § 1; Laws, 2008, ch. 435, § 1, eff. 7/1/2008.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 16 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1982–2025 · leading case: City of Madison v. Bryan, 763 So. 2d 162 (Miss. 2000).

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City of Madison v. Bryan, 763 So. 2d 162 (Miss. 2000). · cites it 4× “Miss.Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1990) provides the authority under which a mayor may veto actions by the Board of Aldermen.”

Scott v. Stater, 707 So. 2d 182 (Miss. 1997). · cites it 12× “Scott bases her authority to suspend Stater on Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1) (1990), which states in part that the mayor "shall have the superintending control of all officers and affairs of the municipality, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are executed.”

Carolyn McAdams v. Sheriel F. Perkins, 204 So. 3d 1257 (Miss. 2016). · cites it 4× “§ 21-15-7, -9; see also Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (Rev. 2015) (powers and duties of mayor in a mayor-board of aldermen form of municipal government); Miss.”

City of Madison v. Shanks, 793 So. 2d 576 (Miss. 2000). · cites it 4× “The source of the mayor's veto power is Miss.Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1990) which provides: Ordinances adopted by the board of aldermen shall be submitted to the mayor.”

Grant v. City of Columbus, 812 So. 2d 976 (Miss. 2002). · cites it 7× “We opined, ‘While we do not decide the limits of the veto power granted by Miss Code Ann. § 21-3-15, it is clear to us that the veto power extends to an order by the board of aldermen appointing a municipal attorney.”

Callahan v. State, 419 So. 2d 165 (Miss. 1982). “Code § 21-3-15 (1972). The question here is whether or not it was a jury question as to Mayor Carthan, along with the other appellants, exceeding that authority.”

Gillespie v. City of MacOn, Miss., 485 F. Supp. 2d 722 (S.D. Miss. 2007). · cites it 2× “Defendants argue that because the mayor, by law, has “superintending control of all the offices and affairs of the municipality,” see Miss.Code Ann. § 21-3-15, he was privileged to interfere with the contract between plaintiff and the City.”

Bryan v. City of Madison, Miss., 130 F. Supp. 2d 798 (S.D. Miss. 1999). · cites it 2× “To-ney found on March 23, 1995, that Mayor Hawkins possessed broad veto power pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 21-3-15 7 and had been entitled to enter her veto.”

City of Canton, Mississippi Bd. of Aldermen v. L.C. Slaughter & Isiac Jackson (Miss. 2023). · cites it 15× “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (2)(b) (Rev. 2015).”

Tisdale v. City Council of Aberdeen, 856 So. 2d 323 (Miss. 2003). · cites it 2× “The fact that in Weeks , we relied on Miss.Code § 21-3-15 (code charter municipalities) which provided for the mayor to vote only in a case of a tie, is of no moment in the case before us today.”

Alice Scott v. Stanley F., III Stater (Miss. 1995). · cites it 12× “Scott bases her authority to suspend Stater on Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1) (1990), which states in part that the mayor "shall have the superintending control of all officers and affairs of the municipality, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are executed.”

James Grant v. City of Columbus, Mississippi (Miss. 2001). · cites it 7× “We opined, "While we do not decide the limits of the veto power granted by Miss Code Ann. § 21-3-15, it is clear to us that the veto power extends to an order by the board of aldermen appointing a municipal attorney.”

Show all 16 citing cases →

— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15(1) — 1 case

City of Canton, Mississippi Bd. of Aldermen v. L.C. Slaughter & Isiac Jackson (Miss. 2023). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (2)(b) (Rev. 2015).”

— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15(2) — 2 cases

Scott v. Stater, 707 So. 2d 182 (Miss. 1997). “Scott bases her authority to suspend Stater on Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1) (1990), which states in part that the mayor "shall have the superintending control of all officers and affairs of the municipality, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are executed.”

Alice Scott v. Stanley F., III Stater (Miss. 1995). “Scott bases her authority to suspend Stater on Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (1) (1990), which states in part that the mayor "shall have the superintending control of all officers and affairs of the municipality, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are executed.”

— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15(2)(b) — 1 case

City of Canton, Mississippi Bd. of Aldermen v. L.C. Slaughter & Isiac Jackson (Miss. 2023). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (2)(b) (Rev. 2015).”

— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15(3) — 1 case

City of Canton, Mississippi Bd. of Aldermen v. L.C. Slaughter & Isiac Jackson (Miss. 2023). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-3-15 (2)(b) (Rev. 2015).”

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