Mississippi Code

Miss. Code Ann. § 25-4-5 (2026)

Creation of commission; composition; appointment of members; terms of office; successors; appointment of member by Chief Justice of Supreme Court

✓ current as of July 2026

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(1) There is hereby created the Mississippi Ethics Commission which shall be composed of eight (8) members, each of whom shall be a qualified elector of the State of Mississippi, of good moral character and integrity.

(2) Two (2) members of the commission shall be appointed by each of the following officers in strict accordance with the above standards: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. Not more than one (1) person appointed by each appointing authority shall be an elected official.

(3) The members of the initial commission shall be appointed for terms of office expiring one (1), two (2), three (3) and four (4) years, respectively, from November 15, 1979, the members appointed by the Governor having a one-year term and a four-year term, the members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor having a two-year term and a three-year term, the members appointed by the Speaker having a three-year term and a two-year term, and the members appointed by the Chief Justice having a four-year term and a one-year term.

(4) Successors to the members of the initial commission shall each be appointed for terms of four (4) years and until their successors are appointed and have been duly qualified.

(5) If any of the above-listed appointing authorities should fail to make his appointment to the initial commission within forty-five (45) days after November 15, 1979, fail to fill a vacancy within forty-five (45) days after such vacancy occurs, or fail to make his appointment for a full term to the commission, then the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shall make such appointment; provided, however, that the term of such appointee shall be for the period prescribed for the appointment by the authority who was to have made the appointment but who failed to do so. If at any time there should be a vacancy on the commission, a successor member to serve for the unexpired term applicable to such vacancy shall be appointed by the same appointing authority as the member whose unexpired term such successor is to fill.

(6) Any member of the commission who is indicted for any felony may be suspended by the commission from service on the commission. A commission member who is convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or convicted of any felony shall be ineligible to serve and the member's position on the commission shall be vacant and subject to reappointment as for other vacancies. A registered lobbyist shall be ineligible to serve as a commission member while registered and until one (1) year after the end of such lobbying relationship that required registration.

Laws, 1979, ch. 508, § 3(1)-(5); reenacted, Laws, 1982, ch. 488, § 3; reenacted, Laws, 1986, ch. 348, § 3; reenacted, Laws, 1990, ch. 491, § 3; Laws, 1995, ch. 360, § 3; reenacted without change, Laws, 1998, ch. 350, § 3; Laws, 2008, ch. 562, § 2, eff. 8/5/2008 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).

Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 497, SB 2799,§ 17, eff. 7/1/2024.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1987–2007 · leading case: Mississippi Ethics Comm'n v. Grisham, 957 So. 2d 997 (Miss. 2007).

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Mississippi Ethics Comm'n v. Grisham, 957 So. 2d 997 (Miss. 2007). “Toward the end of effectuating that policy, the Commission was created, see Miss.Code Ann. § 25-4-5(1), to ensure: that public officials and employees be independent and impartial; that governmental decisions and policy be made in the proper channels of the governmental…”

Frazier v. State by & Through Pittman, 504 So. 2d 675 (Miss. 1987). “Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-4-5 , 25-4-17, 25-4-19(f), (g).”

Towner v. Moore Ex Rel. Quitman Cty. Sch. Dist., 604 So. 2d 1093 (Miss. 1992). “The Mississippi Ethics Commission is an agency of the state, created by act of the Legislature, Miss. Code Ann. § 25-4-5 (Supp. 1989), and acted pursuant to its duty to enforce laws prohibiting conflicts of interest.”

Towner v. Moore ex rel. Quitman Cnty. Sch. Dist., 604 So. 2d 1093 (Miss. 1992). “The Mississippi Ethics Commission is an agency of the state, created by act of the Legislature, Miss. Code Ann. § 25-4-5 (Supp.1989), and acted pursuant to its duty to enforce laws prohibiting conflicts of interest.”

Mississippi Ethics Comm'n v. Dennis C. Grisham (Miss. 2006). “Toward the end of effectuating that policy, the Commission was created, see Miss. Code Ann. § 25-4-5 (1), to ensure: that public officials and employees be independent and impartial; that governmental decisions and policy be made in the proper channels of the governmental…”

— Miss. Code Ann. § 25-4-5(1) — 1 case

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