July has arrived, and with it comes a new slate of laws now in effect across Mississippi.
While some viewed the 2026 session as busy but underwhelming, lawmakers still saw 372 of 4,006 bills filed became law, according to Mississippi Statewatch. That’s compared to 354 of the 3,707 filed bills during the 2025 session, with both years producing a success rate of roughly 9%.
Below is a quick recap of the state’s new laws with the highest impact.
Pay raises
After several numbers were tossed around throughout the session, lawmakers landed on a $2,000 annual pay raise for K-12 educators. Community-college and university professors are also getting a $2,000 raise.
Another measure gives circuit, chancery, and appellate court judges a $13,000 raise on average.
Biomarker testing
Mississippi is the 23rd state to require state-regulated insurance companies to cover biomarker testing for cancer.
The proven technology analyzes biological indicators, often through blood or tissue samples, to help doctors identify which treatments are most likely to be effective for a specific type of cancer. In some cases, the testing can help determine whether a patient is more likely to benefit from treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, or targeted therapies.
According to Jennifer Walker with the Alzheimer’s Association, biomarker testing will also be covered by state-regulated insurance companies to detect early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
SHIELD Act
The SHIELD Act was a Republican-backed measure signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves designed to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in Mississippi by adding new layers of verification to the voter registration process.
The law requires election officials to confirm a person’s citizenship – primarily using state records and a federal immigration database – and mandates ongoing checks of voter rolls, including annual audits to identify and potentially remove non-citizens.
With no evidence of noncitizens voting in large numbers, opponents of the bill argued it could create additional hurdles for eligible voters, particularly those lacking easy access to required documentation. Supporters, however, say it strengthens election integrity and prevents a problem.
Intercepting casino winnings for child support
After failed attempts in recent years, lawmakers pushed and passed legislation allowing the interception of casino winnings from parents who owe child support. Deadbeat parents who win $2,000 or more at slot machines or sportsbooks will now see that money taken. Card and table games do not apply.
PERS changes for first responders
After 2025 changes to the state Public Employees’ Retirement System were criticized by first responders, lawmakers passed a bill aimed at remedying those changes.
The legislation rolls back a requirement that new state hires work 35 years before qualifying for full retirement benefits, restoring it to 30 years, and also allows retirees to return to work sooner by shortening the required break in service from 90 days to 30 days. The latter is intended to help with recruitment and staffing shortages, specifically in K-12 classrooms and public safety settings.
Tax cut on agriculture equipment
Lawmakers passed a measure reducing taxes on certain agricultural items such as lime and fencing materials used to contain livestock. Those will now be subject to the 1.5% ag tax, rather than the standard 7% sales tax.
Teens charged as adults
Teenagers who commit certain gun crimes will automatically be tried as adults under a new law.
Lawmakers passed a bill ensuring people under 18 bypass youth court and go straight to circuit court if charged with certain violent felony offenses involving a firearm, including homicide, aggravated assault, and armed robbery. The bill was widely supported by Republicans, with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann vouching it will be a solution to rising youth gun crimes and reduce the number of “catch-and-release” incidents.
In-person absentee change
The state will process absentee ballots differently in an effort to speed up election results.
Under a bill passed with bipartisan support, voters casting absentee ballots in person at their circuit clerk’s office will no longer seal their ballot in an envelope to be counted after the polls close. Instead, their ballot will be fed directly into an election machine, allowing it to be tabulated alongside all other cotes once polls close. Sen. Jeremy England, a Republican from Vancleave who authored it, said the change is designed to reduce delays in reporting results and improve public confidence in elections.
The changes can be noticed by in-person absentee voters ahead November’s midterm elections.
What didn’t make the cut?
Several hot-topic items were brought up but failed to make it to the governor’s desk.
Those included restoring the ballot initiative process allowing citizens to propose and vote on new laws; widening school choice options to allow more K-12 public-to-public transfers or public money to be used on private-school tuition; legalizing mobile sports betting; reforming how pharmacy benefit managers can operate; and major funding to shore up a multi-billion-dollar unfunded liability within the state Public Employees’ Retirement System.
