Mississippi. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1869. The court is an appellate court. The court consists of nine justices elected in nonpartisan contests from three districts to serve eight-year terms. The most senior justice serves as the chief justice. It is housed in the Carroll Gartin Justice Building in Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital. The state constitution grants the Supreme Court broad jurisdiction to review cases that raise questions of law. It only has original jurisdiction over legal cases arising from actions taken by the Mississippi Public Service Commission to alter utility rates and in investigating instances of judicial misconduct. State law gives the Supreme Court direct appellate jurisdiction over cases involving capital punishment, municipal annexation, bond issues, election disputes, judicial disciplinary affairs, certified questions from federal courts, and laws found unconstitutional in lower courts. All appeals of state trial court rulings concerning other matters are initially brought before the Supreme Court, which can then assign them to the Mississippi Court of Appeals at its discretion. The court's members are divided into "divisions" of three justices each, and most cases are heard and ruled upon only by one division. The justices sit en banc to review split-decisions from a division—at the dissenting justice's request—and to hear cases involving capital punishment, utility rates, constitutional matters of first impression, and issues deemed to likely have a significant impact on the public.