Bill Text: MS SB2855 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Industrial project; define and allow to enter 30-year agreement with municipality that municipality shall not annex.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [SB2855 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-SB2855-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Finance; Municipalities
By: Senator(s) Wiggins
Senate Bill 2855
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 21-1-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE AN INDUSTRIAL ZONE AS A PROJECT WHOSE OPERATOR MAY ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH A MUNICIPALITY, FOR A PERIOD NOT TO EXCEED 30 YEARS, PROVIDING THAT THE MUNICIPALITY SHALL NOT ANNEX THE PROJECT SITE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE OPERATOR OF THE PROJECT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 21-1-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-59. (1) No municipality shall be created or shall change its boundaries so as to include within the limits of such municipality any of the buildings or grounds of any state institution, unless consent thereto shall be obtained in writing from the board of trustees of such institution or such other governing board or body as may be created for the control of such institution. Inclusion of the buildings or grounds of any state institution within the area of a municipal incorporation or expansion without the consent hereinabove required shall be voidable at the option of the affected institution within six (6) months after the institution becomes aware of the inclusion. Upon consent to inclusion within the area of a municipal incorporation or expansion, a state institution may require, subject to agreement of the municipality involved, conditions relating to land use development, zoning requirements, building codes and delivery of governmental services which shall be applicable to the buildings or grounds of the institution included in the municipality.
Provided further, that any future changes in the boundaries of a presently existing municipality which extends into or further extends into a county other than the county in which the municipality's principal office is located shall not affect the public school district located in the annexed area, unless and until consent thereto shall have first been obtained in writing from the board of trustees of the school district proposed to be partially or wholly included in the change of municipal boundaries.
Provided further, that any change in the boundaries of a presently existing municipality of any Class 1 county having two (2) judicial districts, being traversed by U.S. Highway 11 which intersects U.S. Highway 84, shall not affect the public school district located in the annexed area and shall not change the governmental unit to which the school taxes are paid, unless approved by referendum as hereinafter provided.
In the event that twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters residing within the area to be annexed by a municipality petition the governing body of such municipality for a referendum on the question of inclusion in the municipal school district within sixty (60) days of public notice of the adoption of such ordinance, such notice given in the same manner and for the same length of time as is provided in Section 21-1-15 with regard to the creation of municipal corporations, the governing body of the county in which the area to be annexed is located shall hold a referendum of all registered voters residing within the area to be annexed on the question of inclusion in the municipal school district. Approval of the ordinance shall be made by a majority vote of the qualified electors voting in said referendum to be held within ninety (90) days from the date of filing and certification of the petition provided for herein on the question of such extension or contraction. The referendum shall be held in the same manner as are other county elections.
The inclusion of buildings or grounds of any state institution within the area of a municipal incorporation or expansion in any proceedings creating a municipality or enlarging the boundaries of a municipality prior to the effective date of Senate Bill 2307, 1987 Regular Session (Chapter 359, eff March 18, 1987), is hereby ratified, confirmed and validated, regardless of whether such inclusion was in conformity with the requirements of this section at the time of such proceedings, and such inclusion shall not be void or voidable by any affected state institution on or after the effective date of Senate Bill 2307, 1987 Regular Session (Chapter 359, eff March 18, 1987). This paragraph shall not be applicable to and shall not be construed to validate the inclusion of buildings or grounds of any state institution within the area of a municipal incorporation or expansion where such inclusion or the proceedings involving such inclusion were declared invalid or void in a final adjudication of a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the effective date of Senate Bill 2307, 1987 Regular Session (Chapter 359, eff March 18, 1987), and the decision of such court was not appealed within the applicable time period for appeals from such court or was not overturned by any court to which an appeal may have been made.
(2) The governing
authorities of a municipality may enter into an agreement with an enterprise
operating a project as defined in Section 57-75-5(f)(iv)1, * * * 57-75-5(f)(xxi), * * * 57-75-5(f)(xxviii) or * * * 57-75-5(f)(xxix), or subsection (3)
of this section, providing that the municipality shall not change its
boundaries so as to include within the limits of such municipality the project
site of such a project unless consent thereto shall be obtained in writing from
the enterprise operating the project. Such agreement may be for a period not
to exceed thirty (30) years. Such agreement shall be binding on future
governing authorities of such municipality.
(3) A project referenced in subsection (2) of this section includes an industrial zone defined by the following boundaries:
Commencing at a point at the common corner of Sections 32 and 33 of Township 7 South, Range 5 West and Sections 4 and 5 of Township 8 South Range 5 West, said Point lying on the north Right of Way of Stennis Blvd and said point being the POINT OF BEGINNING;
thence run west along the southern line of section 32 of Township 7 South, Range 5 West approximately 1334 ft to the intersection with the existing corporate limits of the City of Pascagoula as recorded In the Matter of the Enlargement and Extension of the Municipal Boundaries of the City of Pascagoula, Jackson County Mississippi, Civil Action No. 99-1175-WM, on July 09, 1999;
thence run southerly, westerly and southwesterly along said corporate limits of the City of Pascagoula to the intersection with the eastern line of Section 19 Township 8 South Range 5 West;
thence continue south along the east line of Section 19 and west line of section 20 approximately 6469 ft along a southerly extension of the west line of Section 20 Township 8 South Range 5 West to a point in the Mississippi Sound that intersects an easterly extension of the southern boundary of the Pascagoula City Limits as described in In the Matter of the Enlargement and Extension of the Municipal Boundaries of the City of Pascagoula, Jackson County Mississippi, Civil Action No. 99-1175-WM, on July 09, 1999;
thence run easterly approximately 13,210 ft to the east line of the West half section 27 Township 8 South Range 5 West;
thence run northerly approximately 24,158 ft along the east line of the West half of sections 27, 22, 15, 10, and 3 Township 8 South Range 5 West to the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 3 Township 8 South Range 5 West;
thence run westerly approximately 2648 ft along the north line of section 3 Township 8 South Range 5 West to the northwest corner of section 3 Township 8 South Range 5 West;
thence run northerly approximately 97 ft along the east line of section 4 Township 8 South Range 5 West to the northeast corner of section 4 Township 8 South Range 5 West;
thence run westerly approximately 5273 ft along the north line of section 4 Township 8 South Range 5 West to the northwest corner of section 4 Township 8 South Range 5 West, said point being THE POINT OF BEGINNING.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
