The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. The

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

Legislature is composed of the

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Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

, with 122 members, and the upper

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. The Legislature convenes at the

Mississippi State Capitol The Mississippi State Capitol or the “New Capitol,” has been the seat of the state’s government since it succeeded the old statehouse in 1903. Located in Jackson, it was designated as a Mississippi Landmark in 1986, a National Historic La ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

History

Church in Washington, Mississippi (1937)

The Mississippi Legislature, originally known as the Mississippi General Assembly, was first constituted in 1817 at the Methodist Meeting House,

Washington, Mississippi Washington is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Located along the lower Mississippi, east of Natchez, it was the second and longest-serving capital of the Mississippi Territory. History This area along t ...

. Since 1833, the legislature has been known by its present name.

Powers and process

The

Constitution of Mississippi The Constitution of Mississippi is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Mississippi delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Mississippi's original constitution was adopted at a constitut ...

gives the state legislature 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 the membership of his or her chamber.Constitutional Provisions The Legislature And Legislation Rules of Procedure
Mississippi Legislature (accessed May 27, 2013) A bill may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other, and must be read by its title on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house dispenses with the rules. The Mississippi Constitution prohibits amending a bill to change its original purpose. Bills amended in the second house, must return for a vote to accept amendments. The

Governor of Mississippi A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

has the power to veto legislation, but legislators can override the veto with a two-thirds decision.

Membership

Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives are elected to four-year terms and Mississippi State Senators are also elected to four-year terms.

Notes

External links

Mississippi Legislature
{{Authority control

Leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

Bicameral legislatures