HB 142 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

Election commissioners; authorize board of supervisors to pay additional compensation to for election days.

HB 142 allows Mississippi county boards of supervisors to pay election commissioners an additional $35 per election day for duties performed during primary, runoff, general, or special elections. This amendment to Mississippi Code Section 23-15-153 authorizes counties to provide this extra payment on top of existing per diem rates ($110/day for election work). It directly affects election commissioners in all Mississippi counties, giving local officials discretion to offer this supplemental pay. The bill does not change existing pay structures but adds a new optional payment mechanism for election-day work. This is a procedural change focused solely on compensating election staff for specific election-related duties.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Last action Mar 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced → Current version · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Mississippi election commissioner compensation laws to allow county boards of supervisors to pay an additional $35 per election day on top of the existing $165 per election day rate. The bill also clarifies payment rules for voter roll revision work, adds a new certification form requiring commissioners to sign under oath, and establishes contest procedures for disputed compensation claims. These changes aim to improve election administration funding and accountability.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of compensation authority from the election commission alone to include county boards of supervisors' discretion in approving additional per diem payments for election day duties.

FISCAL

Added authority for county boards of supervisors to pay an additional $35 per election day to election commissioners on top of the existing $165 per election day rate.

Clarified that the $165 per election day rate applies to primary, runoff, general, and special elections, with the new $35 discretionary supplement available for election day duties.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new certification form requiring election commissioners to document hours worked under oath, with penalties for false claims.

Added requirement that election commissioners must receive certification from the Secretary of State confirming completion of required elections seminar instruction before receiving compensation.

ENFORCEMENT

Established contest procedures allowing any person to challenge compensation certifications, including the right to a hearing and appeal to circuit court.

SCOPE

Expanded compensation provisions to include payment for voter roll revision work and audit duties with specific day limits based on county population.

TECHNICAL

Added new subsections clarifying that only one per diem payment is allowed when commissioners perform multiple duties on the same day.

Floor votes · House Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

113–0

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 119

Feb 11, 2025

D Democratic39

38 Yea 1

97% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican78

73 Yea 5

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Referred To Elections

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To Senate

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass

lower

Jan 10, 2025

Committee

Referred To Apportionment and Elections

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors