Mississippi House Of Representatives
Membership, qualifications, and apportionment
Article 4, Section 36 of the Mississippi Constitution specifies that the state legislature must meet for 125 days every four years and 90 days in other years. The Mississippi House of Representatives has the authority to determine rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and expel a member with a two-thirds vote of its membership. Bills must undergo three readings in each house, unless two-thirds of the house dispenses with the rules. They cannot be amended to a new purpose. Amendments to bills must be approved by both houses.
The governor has the power to veto legislation, but legislators can override the veto with a two-thirds decision. From 1890 to 2020, State representatives were authorized under the Mississippi Constitution to elect the Governor of Mississippi if no candidate had received 62 of the 122 electoral votes (one per district) and more than 50% of the popular vote. This occurred only once, in 1999, when Ronnie Musgrove had the most votes statewide, but was one electoral vote and 2936 votes (0.38%) shy of a majority: Musgrove was elected on the first ballot.
Leadership
The permanent position of Speaker pro tempore was established in a House vote on January 9, 1987. (It had been previously used in temporary situations if the Speaker was not available.) The Speaker Pro Tempore acts as Speaker in the Speaker's absence. The Speaker Pro Tempore also serves ex officio as the Chair of the House Management Committee and as a member of the House Rules Committee. The current Speaker pro tempore is Republican Manly Barton.
Salary
State representatives earn $23,500 per year.
Current composition
The following composition reflects the balance of power after the 2023 elections. Republicans secured a majority for the fourth time since 2011, the first year when Republicans won the majority of seats in the State House since 1870. The 2023 elections were marked by new leadership, as the past speaker Phillip Gunn retired, allowing his chief lieutenant, then-Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White to become the new speaker. The 2023 elections saw the seating of 25 new members.
State representatives are elected every four years by the qualified electors of the district for which they are running. Candidates are required to be at least 21 years of age and a resident of the state and district for which they are campaigning.
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Republican | Independent | Vacant | ||
End of previous legislature (2023) | 40 | 76 | 3 | 119 | 3 |
Start of current legislature (2024) | 41 | 79 | 2 | 122 | 0 |
Latest voting share | 33.6% | 64.8% | 1.6% |
List of members
List of speakers
The House has elected a speaker 63 times since 1817:
Name | Party | County/District | Term | Session | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Thomas Barnes | Claiborne | October 6, 1817
– February 8, 1818 |
1st | ||
2 | Edward Turner | Adams | January 4, 1819
– February 1819 |
2nd | ||
Adams (Natchez) | January 3, 1820
– February 12, 1820 |
3rd | ||||
3 | Beverly R. Grayson | Adams | January 1, 1821
– February 12, 1821 |
4th | ||
4 | Cowles Mead | Jefferson | November 5, 1821
– June 30, 1822 |
5th | ||
5 | Gerard C. Brandon | Wilkinson | December 23, 1822
– January 21, 1823 |
6th | ||
6 | Cowles Mead | Jefferson | December 22, 1823
– January 23, 1824 |
7th | ||
January 3, 1825
– February 4, 1825 |
8th | |||||
7 | Isaac R. Nicholson | Copiah | January 2, 1826
– January 31, 1826 |
9th | ||
January 1, 1827
– February 8, 1827 |
10th | |||||
8 | Charles B. Green | Adams | January 7, 1828
– February 16, 1828 |
11th | ||
9 | William L. Sharkey | Warren | January 5, 1829
– February 6, 1829 |
12th | ||
10 | Joseph Dunbar | Jefferson | January 4, 1830
– February 13, 1830 |
13th | ||
11 | M. F. Degrafenreid | Wilkinson | 1832–1833 | |||
12 | David Pembel | Adams | 1833–1834 | |||
13 | A. L. Bingaman | Adams | 1834–1836 | |||
14 | John Irvin | Carroll | 1836–1837 | |||
15 | William Vannerson | Lawrence | 1837–1838 | |||
16 | J. W. King | Rankin | 1838–1840 | |||
17 | Jesse Speight | Democratic | Lowndes | 1840–1841 | ||
18 | James A. Ventress | Wilkinson | 1841–1842 | |||
19 | Robert W. Roberts | Democratic | Scott | 1842–1844 | ||
20 | J. L. Totten | Democratic | Marshall | 1844–1846 | ||
21 | James Whitfield | Democratic | Lowndes | 1846–1848 | ||
22 | John J. McRae | Democratic | Clarke | 1848–1852 | ||
23 | William S. Patton | Lauderdale | 1852–1854 | |||
24 | Hiram Cassedy | Franklin | 1854–1856 | |||
25 | William S. Barry | Democratic | Lowndes | 1856–1858 | ||
26 | James L. Autry | Marshall | 1858–1859 | |||
27 | J. A. P. Campbell | Attala | 1859–1861 | |||
28 | William A. Lake | Warren | 1861–1862 | |||
29 | J. P. Scales | Democratic | Carroll | 1862–1863 | ||
30 | Lock E. Houston | Monroe | 1863–1865 | |||
31 | Samuel J. Gholson | Democratic | Monroe | 1865–1866 | ||
32 | Freeman E. Franklin | Republican | Yazoo | 1870 | ||
33 | Henry Waterman Warren | Republican | Leake | 1871–1872 | ||
34 | John R. Lynch | Republican | Adams | 1872–1873 | ||
35 | Hugh M. Street | Democratic | Prentiss | 1873–1874 | ||
36 | Isaac D. Shadd | Warren | 1874–1876 | |||
37 | Hugh M. Street | Democratic | Prentiss | 1876–1878 | ||
38 | William A. Percy | Democratic | Washington | 1878–1880 | ||
39 | Benjamin F. Johns | Democratic | Amite | 1880–1882 | ||
40 | W. H. H. Tison | Democratic | Lee | 1882 | ||
41 | William M. Inge | Democratic | Alcorn | 1884–1886 | ||
42 | Jacob H. Sharp | Lowndes | 1886–1888 | |||
43 | Charles B. Mitchell | Democratic | Pontotoc | 1888–1890 | ||
44 | James S. Madison | Democratic | Noxubee | 1890–1892 | ||
45 | Hugh M. Street | Democratic | Lauderdale | January 5, 1892
– January 2, 1894 |
1892–1896 | |
46 | J. K. Vardaman | Democratic | Leflore | January 2, 1894
– February 10, 1894 | ||
47 | James F. McCool | Democratic | Attala | January 7, 1896
– February 11, 1898 |
1896–1900 | |
48 | A. J. Russell | Democratic | Lauderdale | January 2, 1900
– March 5, 1902 |
1900–1904 | |
49 | Emmet Thomas | Democratic | Washington | 1904–1908 | ||
50 | Hugh M. Street | Democratic | Lauderdale | 1908–1912 | ||
51 | Hillrie M. Quin | Democratic | Hinds | 1912–1916 | ||
52 | Mike Conner | Democratic | Covington | January 1916
– March 1918 |
1916–1920 | |
1920–1924 | ||||||
53 | Thomas L. Bailey | Democratic | 1924–1936 | |||
54 | Horace Stansel | Democratic | Sunflower | 1936–1936 | ||
55 | Fielding L. Wright | Democratic | 1936–1940 | |||
56 | Samuel Lumpkin | Democratic | Lee | 1940–1944 | ||
57 | Walter Sillers Jr. | Democratic | Bolivar | 1944–1966 | ||
58 | John R. Junkin | Democratic | Adams | 1966–1976 | ||
59 | Buddie Newman | Democratic | 1976–1988 | |||
60 | Tim Ford | Democratic | 18 | January 5, 1988
– December 20, 1991 |
1988–1992 | |
1992–2004 | ||||||
61 | William J. McCoy | Democratic | 3 | January 6, 2004
– May 18, 2007 |
2004–2008 | |
2008–2012 | ||||||
62 | Philip Gunn | Republican | 56 | January 3, 2012
– April 5, 2015 |
2012–2016 | |
2016–2020 | ||||||
56 | January 2, 2020
– April 2, 2023 |
2020–2024 | ||||
63 | Jason White | Republican | 48 | January 2, 2024
– Present |
2024–2028 |
List of speakers pro tempore
Source for session dates:
Before the position was made permanent, Buddie Newman served as Speaker pro tempore in three different stints between 1974 and 1975.
Name | Party | County/District | Term | Session | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Cecil L. Simmons | Democratic | 37th | January 14, 1987
– August 29, 1987 |
1984–1988 | |
January 5, 1988
– December 20, 1991 |
1988–1992 | |||||
2nd | Robert G. Clark Jr. | Democratic | 47th | January 7, 1992
– September 16, 1992 |
1992 | |
January 5, 1993
– April 11, 1995 |
1993–1996 | |||||
January 2, 1996
– July 22, 1999 |
1996–2000 | |||||
January 4, 2000
– April 16, 2003 |
2000–2004 | |||||
3rd | J. P. Compretta | Republican | 122nd | January 6, 2004
– May 18, 2007 |
2004–2008 | |
January 8, 2008
– 2012 |
2008–2012 | |||||
4th | Greg Snowden | Republican | 83rd | January 3, 2012
– April 5, 2015 |
2012–2016 | |
2016
– 2020 |
2016–2020 | |||||
5th | Jason White | Republican | 48th | January 2, 2020
– April 2, 2023 |
2020–2024 | |
6th | Manly Barton | Republican | 109th | January 2, 2024
– Present |
2024–2028 |
Past composition of the House of Representatives
See also
- Mississippi State Senate
- Mississippi State Capitol
- Mississippi Legislature
- List of Mississippi state legislatures
Notes
- ^ It is 62 speakers with the most recent election of Jason White.
References
- ^ Constitutional Provisions The Legislature And Legislation Rules of Procedure, Mississippi Legislature (accessed May 31, 2013)
- ^ Breen, Dallas (January 6, 2021). "Mississippi Voted Out Its Electoral College-Like Election Process". Mississippi Free Press. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ "House vote trims speaker's power". Newspapers.com. January 10, 1987. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "Three times in 2 years". Newspapers.com. May 11, 1975. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Delbert Hosemann, State of Mississippi (2012). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register Blue Book 2008-2012. pp. 104, 147–148.
- ^ https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/house/Barton.xml
- ^ "Comparison of state legislative salaries". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ Wilkinson, Kaija (November 10, 2011). "GOP takes House; Busby leads Jones as of last count, but margin still very thin". gulflive.com. The Press-Register. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Corder, Frank (January 2, 2024). "Mississippi Legislature Gavels in for New Term". Magnolia Tribune. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Article 4, Section 34, Mississippi Constitution (accessed May 31, 2013)
- ^ Article 4, Section 41 Archived June 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Mississippi Constitution (accessed May 31, 2013)
- ^ Watson, Michael (2021). "Historical and Statistical Information" (PDF). 2020-2024 Statistical Register. Mississippi Secretary of State.
- ^ "Journal of the House of Representatives of the state of Mississippi". Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi. Jan 1828 11th Sess. January 1828 – via LLMC Digital.
- ^ Mississippi. Legislature (January 1, 1980). "Hand book : biographical data of members of Senate and House, personnel of standing committees [1980]". Mississippi Legislature Hand Books.
- ^ "Three times in 2 years". Newspapers.com. May 11, 1975. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Mississippi Legislature 1988 Handbook. 1988. p. 27.
- ^ "house/1984-88.tif - House of Representatives (1948-2016)". da.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "Past week very eventful with rules changes, Allain's eventful speech". Newspapers.com. January 21, 1987. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Eric Clark, State of Mississippi (2004). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register Blue Book 2000-2004. p. 61.
- ^ "Clark". June 6, 2000. Archived from the original on June 6, 2000. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "house/1992-96.tif - House of Representatives (1948-2016)". da.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "1992 MS Legislature". Newspapers.com. November 6, 1991. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Eric Clark, State of Mississippi (2008). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register Blue Book 2004-2008. p. 102.
- ^ Delbert Hosemann, State of Mississippi (2014). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register Blue Book 2012-2016. p. 105.
- ^ Delbert Hosemann, State of Mississippi (2017). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register Blue Book 2016-2020. p. 121.
- ^ "2020-2024 Mississippi Blue Book | Michael Watson Secretary of state". sos.ms.gov. Retrieved November 25, 2024.