Bill Text: MS SB2756 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Protecting Disabled Citizen Choice in Residential Access Act; enact.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [SB2756 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-SB2756-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Housing; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Rhodes
Senate Bill 2756
AN ACT TO PROTECTING DISABLED CITIZEN CHOICE IN RESIDENTIAL ACCESS ACT; TO STATE LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE AND INTENT; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS RELATING TO THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR CITIZEN CHOICE IN ACCESSING THE BENEFITS OF SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL SURROUNDINGS; TO AMEND SECTION 17-1-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and shall be cited as the "Protecting Disabled Citizen Choice in Residential Access Act."
SECTION 2. The purpose and intent of this act is:
(a) To ensure that persons with disabilities are integrated into their communities and have full access to the benefits of community living in residential surroundings.
(b) To ensure that counties and municipalities of this state do not prohibit the choice of access and location of residences of persons with disabilities in single-family dwellings or exclude disabled citizens from access to the benefits of single-family residential surroundings.
SECTION 3. For the purpose of this act:
(a) "Supervised living services home" means any dwelling occupied by four (4) or fewer persons with a disability who need not be related by blood, which dwelling is certified by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
(b) "Disability" means, with respect to a person:
(i) A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities;
(ii) A record of having such an impairment; or
(iii) Being regarded as having such an impairment. Such term does not include current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance, as defined in Section 102 of the Controlled Substance Act, 21 USC � 802.
(c) "Certified provider" means a person, agency or organization who provides supervised residential living services for persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities pursuant to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) programs as defined by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Final Rule, such as the ID/DD Waiver and IDD Community Support Program, and is certified by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health pursuant to Section 41-4-1 et seq.
SECTION 4. (1) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Mississippi that persons with a disability shall not be excluded from the benefits of single family residential surroundings by any county or municipal zoning ordinance, resolution or regulation.
(2) (a) No disabled person shall be eligible for placement in a supervised living services home unless such person has been evaluated by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and a determination has been made that the disabled person is suitable for supervised living services home placement. A supervised living services home shall not be a certified provider for the purposes of evaluating or approving for placement a disabled person in a supervised living services home.
(b) No person shall be eligible for placement in a supervised living services home if such person is:
(i) Assigned to a community corrections program; (ii) On parole from a correctional institution or on probation for a felony offense; or
(iii) In a state mental institution following a finding of mental disease or defect excluding criminal responsibility.
(3) No person shall be placed in a supervised living services home under this act unless such dwelling is certified as a supervised living services home by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health;
(4) No county or municipality shall prohibit the location of a supervised living services home in any zone or area where single-family dwellings are permitted. Any zoning ordinance, resolution or regulation that prohibits the location of a supervised living services home in such zone or area or that subjects supervised living services homes to regulations not applicable to other single-family dwellings in the same zone or area is invalid. Notwithstanding the provisions of this act, supervised living services homes shall be subject to all other regulations applicable to other property and buildings located in the zone or area that are imposed by any county or municipality through zoning ordinance, resolution or regulation, building regulatory codes, subdivision regulations or other nondiscriminatory regulations.
(5) No person or entity shall contract or enter into a contract, restrictive covenant, equitable servitude or such similar restriction that would restrict supervised living services homes or their location in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.
SECTION 5. Section 17-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
17-1-3. (1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 17-1-21(2), Section 4 of this act and in Article VII of the Chickasaw Trail Economic Development Compact described in Section 57-36-1, for the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community, the governing authority of any municipality, and, with respect to the unincorporated part of any county, the governing authority of any county, in its discretion, are empowered to regulate the height, number of stories and size of building and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of the yards, courts and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes, but no permits shall be required with reference to land used for agricultural purposes, including forestry activities as defined in Section 95-3-29(2)(b), or for the erection, maintenance, repair or extension of farm buildings or farm structures, including forestry buildings and structures, outside the corporate limits of municipalities. The governing authority of each county and municipality may create playgrounds and public parks, and for these purposes, each of such governing authorities shall possess the power, where requisite, of eminent domain and the right to apply public money thereto, and may issue bonds therefor as otherwise permitted by law.
(2) Local land use regulation ordinances involving the placement, screening, or height of amateur radio antenna structures must reasonably accommodate amateur communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish local authorities' legitimate purposes of addressing health, safety, welfare and aesthetic considerations. Judgments as to the types of reasonable accommodation to be made and the minimum practicable regulation necessary to address these purposes will be determined by local governing authorities within the parameters of the law. This legislation supports the amateur radio service in preparing for and providing emergency communications for the State of Mississippi and local emergency management agencies.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
