HB 1366 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

Judicial office allowance and court fees; revise.

HB 1366 revises Mississippi judges' office expense allowances and court fees. It increases the base annual office allowance for circuit and chancery judges to $15,000, adds a $7,000 supplemental allowance for judges without county-provided office space, and creates a $130,000 annual fund for support staff (e.g., law clerks, court administrators) managed by the Administrative Office of Courts. Judges must use the support staff fund before drawing on county funds, and staff hires require Administrative Office approval. The bill also updates court filing fees (e.g., $25 for first five pages of document recording) but does not change core judicial functions.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status died 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Governor

Introduced Feb 17, 2025 Last action Mar 31, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → Current version · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill amends Mississippi Code Section 9-1-36 regarding circuit and chancery judges' office expense allowances and court clerk fees. The main substantive change is a repeal of the act on June 30, 2025, despite the effective date being July 1, 2025, which creates a null period for the law. Several formatting changes were made to text spacing and line breaks throughout the document, but no new funding amounts, eligibility criteria, or fee structures were added or removed.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains the same regarding judge office expenses and clerk fees, but the effective date repeal means the provisions will not be in force for any period.

TIMELINE

Added a repeal clause stating the act shall be repealed on June 30, 2025, immediately after its July 1, 2025 effective date, rendering the law ineffective.

TECHNICAL

Various formatting adjustments including spacing changes around dollar amounts and line breaks in text sections.

As Introduced → Committee Substitute · 10 edits

MAJOR

This bill updates Mississippi's judicial office expense allowances and court clerk fee schedules. It increases circuit and chancery judge office allowances to $15,000 annually, adds $7,000 for judges without suitable county-provided office space, and creates a separate support staff fund with a $130,000 annual allocation per judge. The bill also modernizes court clerk fees for chancery and circuit courts to reflect current costs and establishes new fee structures for various legal services.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of office expense allowances to include out-of-state travel for continuing legal education and Mississippi Bar Convention, and creates a new support staff fund managed by the Administrative Office of Courts.

FISCAL

Increased circuit and chancery judge office operating allowance from unspecified amount to $15,000 per annum, effective July 1, 2023.

Added $7,000 annual allowance for judges who do not have suitable primary office space provided by the county.

Created a separate office allowance fund for support staff with $130,000 per fiscal year allocation per judge.

Updated chancery court clerk fees for various services including recording documents, certifying copies, and attending court sessions.

Revised circuit court clerk fees for filing complaints, motions, issuing writs, and other services.

REQUIREMENT

Requires Administrative Office of Courts approval before judges can hire support staff, with priority given to using support staff fund before county funds.

Added requirement that clerks itemize fee bills on original documents before fees are demanded from document filers.

DEFINITION

Added specific definitions for 'judges', 'support staff', 'compensation', and 'law clerk' to clarify usage of funds.

TIMELINE

Established different effective dates for various fee schedules: January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027 for one schedule, and January 1, 2028 for another.

ENFORCEMENT

Added requirement that Supreme Court submit itemized and certified expenses for office operating allowances to Department of Finance and Administration.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2025 · House Feb 13, 2025

How they voted

50–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 51

Mar 6, 2025

D Democratic16

16 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican35

34 Yea 1

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed As Amended

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Amended

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass As Amended

upper

Feb 18, 2025

Committee

Referred To Judiciary, Division A;Appropriations

upper

Feb 17, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To Senate

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed As Amended

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amended

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub

lower

Jan 20, 2025

Committee

Referred To Judiciary A;Appropriations A

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor