Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7 (2026)
Election of mayor and council members; reapportionment; vacancies; offices; clerical assistance and expenses
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) Each municipality operating under the mayor-council form of government shall be governed by an elected council and an elected mayor. Other officers and employees shall be duly appointed pursuant to this chapter, general law or ordinance.
- (2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, the mayor and council members shall be elected by the voters of the municipality at a regular municipal election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June as provided in Section 21-11-7, and shall serve for a term of four (4) years beginning on the first day of July next following the election that is not on a weekend.
- (3) The terms of the initial mayor and council members shall commence at the expiration of the terms of office of the elected officials of the municipality serving at the time of adoption of the mayor-council form.
- (4)
- (a) The council shall consist of five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) members. In the event there are five (5) council members, the municipality shall be divided into either five (5) or four (4) wards. In the event there are seven (7) council members, the municipality shall be divided into either seven (7), six (6) or five (5) wards. In the event there are nine (9) council members, the municipality shall be divided into seven (7) or nine (9) wards. If the municipality is divided into fewer wards than it has council members, the other council member or members shall be elected from the municipality at large. The total number of council members and the number of council members elected from wards shall be established by the petition or petitions presented pursuant to Section 21-8-3. One (1) council member shall be elected from each ward by the voters of that ward. Council members elected to represent wards must be residents of their wards for two (2) years as provided in Section 23-15-300 at the time of qualification for election, and any council member who removes the member's residence from the municipality or from the ward from which elected shall vacate that office. However, any candidate for council member who is properly qualified as a candidate under applicable law shall be deemed to be qualified as a candidate in whatever ward the member resides if the ward has changed after the council has redistricted the municipality as provided in paragraph (c)(ii) of this subsection (4), and if the wards have been so changed, any person may qualify as a candidate for council member, by changing the person's residence, not less than fifteen (15) days before the first party primary or special party primary, as the case may be, notwithstanding any other residency or qualification requirements to the contrary.
- (b) The council or board existing at the time of the adoption of the mayor-council form of government shall designate the geographical boundaries of the wards within one hundred twenty (120) days after the election in which the mayor-council form of government is selected. In designating the geographical boundaries of the wards, each ward shall contain, as nearly as possible, the population factor obtained by dividing the municipality's population as shown by the most recent decennial census by the number of wards into which the municipality is to be divided.
- (c)
- (i) It shall be the mandatory duty of the council to redistrict the municipality by ordinance, which ordinance may not be vetoed by the mayor, within six (6) months after the official publication by the United States of the population of the municipality as enumerated in each decennial census, and within six (6) months after the effective date of any expansion of municipal boundaries; however, if the publication of the most recent decennial census or effective date of an expansion of the municipal boundaries occurs six (6) months or more before the first party primary of a general municipal election, then the council shall redistrict the municipality by ordinance not less than sixty (60) days before the first party primary.
- (ii) If the publication of the most recent decennial census occurs less than six (6) months before the first primary of a general municipal election, the election shall be held with regard to the existing defined wards; reapportioned wards based on the census shall not serve as the basis for representation until the next regularly scheduled election in which council members shall be elected.
- (d) If annexation of additional territory into the municipal corporate limits of the municipality occurs less than six (6) months before the first party primary of a general municipal election, the council shall, by ordinance adopted within three (3) days of the effective date of the annexation, assign the annexed territory to an adjacent ward or wards so as to maintain as nearly as possible substantial equality of population between wards; any subsequent redistricting of the municipality by ordinance as required by this chapter shall not serve as the basis for representation until the next regularly scheduled election for municipal council members.
- (5) Vacancies occurring in the council shall be filled as provided in Section 23-15-857.
- (6) The mayor shall maintain an office at the city hall. The council members shall not maintain individual offices at the city hall; however, in a municipality having a population of one hundred thousand (100,000) and above according to the latest federal decennial census, council members may have individual offices in the city hall. Clerical work of council members in the performance of the duties of their office shall be performed by municipal employees or at municipal expense, and council members shall be reimbursed for the reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the duties of their office.
Laws, 1973, ch. 328, § 4; Laws, 1974, ch. 336 § 1; Laws, 1976, ch. 355, § 4; Laws, 1977, ch. 310; Laws, 1980, ch. 373; Laws, 1987, ch. 509, § 1; Laws, 1990, ch. 304, § 1; Laws, 1994, ch. 358, § 1; Laws, 2001, ch. 302, § 1; Laws, 2010, ch. 319, § 2; Laws, 2011, ch. 496, § 1, eff. 4/6/2011.
Amended by Laws, 2022, ch. 341, HB 1341,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2022.
Brought forward without change by Laws, 2019, ch. 340, HB 914,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2019.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8
cases, 1975–2015 · leading case: DuPree v. Carroll, 967 So. 2d 27 (Miss. 2007).
DuPree v. Carroll, 967 So. 2d 27 (Miss. 2007). “See Miss.Code Ann. § 21-8-7(2) (Rev.2007). Accordingly, the council members who originally confirmed the nomination of a director may no longer be on the council at the beginning of the new term.”
Fairley v. Hattiesburg, Miss., 584 F.3d 660 (5th Cir. 2009). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7 . The 2000 Census indicated a City population of 44,779, of whom 49.”
Stewart v. United States, 404 F. Supp. 206 (N.D. Miss. 1975). “(4) That members of the defendant class who are officials of Mississippi *220 municipalities affected by the terms of Section 21-3-7 and who have, at any time subsequent to May 24, 1962, adopted an at-large system of electing aider-men in reliance upon and as required by Section…”
Dupree v. Mabus, 776 F. Supp. 290 (S.D. Miss. 1991). “…Those residing in the annexed areas may vote in municipal elections if a proper ordinance is adopted by the council. Miss.Code Ann. § 21-8-7(4)(d) (1972). Prior to the 1977 and 1978 amendments to § 21-1-59 and the 1986 repeal of § 37-7-611, municipal school district lines…”
Kirksey v. City of Jackson, Miss., 506 F. Supp. 491 (S.D. Miss. 1981). “It provides that “the council shall consist of five, seven or nine members.”
Dorothy Ann Glenn v. Andrew Powell, 149 So. 3d 480 (Miss. 2014). “” 4 Mississippi Code Section 21-8-7(4)(a) (Supp. 2014) provides that “[c]ouncilmen elected to represent wards must be residents of their wards at the time of qualification for election, and any council member who removes the member’s residence from the municipality or from the…”
Fairley v. Hattiesburg, 122 F. Supp. 3d 553 (S.D. Miss. 2015). “” Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7 (c)(i). *558 Hattiesburg adopted the mayor-council form of government in 1985, and for the past .”
Johnny L. DuPree v. Carter Carroll (Miss. 2006). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7 (2) (Rev. 2007).”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7(2) — 1 case
DuPree v. Carroll, 967 So. 2d 27 (Miss. 2007). “See Miss.Code Ann. § 21-8-7(2) (Rev.2007). Accordingly, the council members who originally confirmed the nomination of a director may no longer be on the council at the beginning of the new term.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7(4)(a) — 2 cases
Dorothy Ann Glenn v. Andrew Powell, 149 So. 3d 480 (Miss. 2014). “” 4 Mississippi Code Section 21-8-7(4)(a) (Supp. 2014) provides that “[c]ouncilmen elected to represent wards must be residents of their wards at the time of qualification for election, and any council member who removes the member’s residence from the municipality or from the…”
Fairley v. Hattiesburg, 122 F. Supp. 3d 553 (S.D. Miss. 2015). “” Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7 (c)(i). *558 Hattiesburg adopted the mayor-council form of government in 1985, and for the past .”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-7(4)(d) — 1 case
Dupree v. Mabus, 776 F. Supp. 290 (S.D. Miss. 1991). “…Those residing in the annexed areas may vote in municipal elections if a proper ordinance is adopted by the council. Miss.Code Ann. § 21-8-7(4)(d) (1972). Prior to the 1977 and 1978 amendments to § 21-1-59 and the 1986 repeal of § 37-7-611, municipal school district lines…”
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