Mississippi funds courts and related services for fiscal year 2027

The law allows Mississippi courts and related services to spend up to $122,574,715. The budget covers Mississippi's Supreme Court, trial judges, court administration, Court of Appeals, and services for lawyers. The Supreme Court budget includes up to $6,684,374 from the general fund and $1,427,641 from special funds. Trial judges have up to $40,011,007 from the general fund and $24,495,094 from special funds. The Administrative Office of Courts has up to $17,790,761 from the general fund and $24,210,294 from special funds. The Court of Appeals has up to $7,062,759 from the general fund and $176,362 from special funds. Special funds provide up to $332,997 for continuing lawyer education and $383,426 for the Board of Bar Admissions, which handles admission to practice law. Within these totals, $15.6 million pays for trial judges' support staff, capped at $130,000 per judge for the fiscal year. Up to $1,047,121 supports the court serving the Capitol Complex Improvement District, identified as CCID in the law. The funding covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The law took effect July 1, 2026.

The law sets aside money for courts that connect participants with substance use or mental health treatment. These amounts support adult felony drug courts, youth drug courts, family courts, and three mental health treatment court pilots. Adult felony drug courts operated by 23 circuit courts have $6 million from the general-fund allocation and $2 million from the Opioid Settlement Fund. Reimbursements depend on participant counts. The $8 million cannot pay the Administrative Office of Courts' administrative expenses. The settlement money must support targeted substance use treatment. To receive settlement funding, courts must certify under oath that they have no prohibited contract tying compensation to the success or failure of legislation or executive action. Funding cannot go to recipients who fail this requirement. The general-fund allocation also includes $2.25 million for youth drug courts and family courts, plus $750,000 split equally among mental health treatment pilots in the 4th, 6th, and 7th Circuit Districts. Funding covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The law calls for settlement-funded adult drug courts to report opioid-related participant and reimbursement information by August 1, 2027.

The law sets aside $2.5 million for the Youth Court Support Fund and up to $2 million for workers handling youth court intake. The main funding supports youth courts and workers who handle cases as they enter those courts. Before spending support-fund money, the Administrative Office of Courts must establish standard procedures for handling incoming cases and provide annual training. To receive support-fund money, a court's intake officer must attend that training, and the court must provide information for the annual youth court report. The general-fund allocation also includes $500,000 for secretarial and support services for the Court-Appointed Special Advocate program. The special-fund allocation includes $200,000 for the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission. The law also permits $200,000 from the general-fund allocation for the Civil Legal Assistance Program. Funding covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The law calls for an annual youth court report within 90 days after the fiscal year ends.

The law directs $1,159,361 within the court budgets toward specified judges' salary increases. The designated salary funding covers Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, chancery judges, and circuit judges. Annual salaries, excluding benefits, are $194,171 for the Supreme Court chief justice, $190,614 for each presiding justice, and $187,625 for each associate justice. Annual salaries, excluding benefits, are $182,624 for the Court of Appeals chief judge and $179,871 for each associate judge. Each chancery judge and circuit judge has an annual salary of $171,063. The funding follows the State Personnel Board's report issued once every four years and the judge-pay law as amended in 2026. The salary funding covers the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027.

The law sets aside money to replace youth court records and update electronic court systems. Funding covers youth court records, the Mississippi Electronic Courts system, and a court technology fund administered by the Administrative Office of Courts. Within the Administrative Office of Courts' special-fund budget, up to $8.75 million comes from the Capital Expense Fund. The State Treasurer determines its allocation for replacing the youth court record system, including data cleanup. The same special-fund budget includes $280,000 for updates to the Mississippi Electronic Courts system. Up to $2,460,500 from the overall budget may also support the Comprehensive Electronic Court Systems Fund. This allocation is allowed rather than required. These amounts cover July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.