Mississippi
Mississippi’s Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEOST) certifies officers and may reprimand, suspend, or cancel certification after notice and a chance for a hearing. Since 2023 the State has given the board power to investigate and use hearing panels, required agencies to report resignations and disciplinary separations within 72 hours, and in 2026 gave officers discovery before sanction hearings and a hair-follicle retest before termination for a failed drug test. BLEOST rules effective September 2026 let the director revoke certification administratively on a felony charge, not only a conviction. The board must keep a list of sanctioned officers, but no published list was found.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Officer Ledger
At a glance
- Certifying body
- Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEOST), 13 members, staffed by the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Standards and Training (Miss. Code 45-6-5, 45-6-7). Jail officers are certified separately by the Board on Jail Officer Standards and Training (BJOST; rules at 31 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 101).
- Statute
- Law Enforcement Officers Training Program, Miss. Code 45-6-1 et seq.: 45-6-5 (board), 45-6-7 (powers), 45-6-11 (certification, sanctions, hearings, reporting), 45-6-16 (drug retesting, 2026), 45-6-17 (non-complying officers), and 45-6-19 (continuing education). Rules: 31 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 301 (BLEOST).
- Minimum standards
- No one may be appointed or employed as a full- or part-time officer unless certified. Trainee status is limited to 1 year for full-time officers and 2 years for part-time, reserve, or auxiliary officers (45-6-11(3)). The board sets the standards by rule (45-6-11(4)). The rule requires: age 21 (since September 3, 2026, “upon graduation from a training academy”); a high school diploma or GED; U.S. citizenship; physical and mental fitness verified by a physician; good moral character, with no conviction, plea, diversion, or fine for a felony, a moral-turpitude misdemeanor, or a job-related crime; a background investigation; and, for former members of the Armed Forces, a discharge under honorable conditions. Since September 10, 2026, those discharged under other than honorable conditions may appeal to the Board (Pt. 301, Rules 1.1 and 2.2).
- Decertification
- Certificates remain board property. The board may reprimand, suspend on conditions, or cancel and recall a certificate for administrative error, fraud, conviction of a moral-turpitude crime or a felony, malfeasance or dismissal from the employing agency, or other due cause, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing. Appeal lies to chancery court within 30 days, and a person whose certificate was cancelled may reapply after 2 years. Since July 1, 2026, the officer may request discovery before a sanction hearing, and it “shall be provided” (45-6-11(7) to (10)). Since September 3, 2026, the director may also impose administrative ineligibility or revocation on a felony charge or a court’s probable-cause finding (Pt. 301, Rule 4.3).
- Public decertification list
- None published. The board “shall maintain a current list” of all certified persons placed on probation, suspended, or revoked, but the statute does not say the list is public (45-6-7(d)). No list was found on the Department of Public Safety’s Standards and Training pages; BLEOST meeting minutes are posted.
- National Decertification Index
- None found. Neither Miss. Code 45-6 (as reprinted in the 2024–2026 acts) nor the current BLEOST (Pt. 301) and BJOST (Pt. 101) rules name the Index or IADLEST (Pt. 301).
- Continuing training
- Chiefs and officers of state agencies, counties, municipalities, public colleges and universities, and the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District must complete annual board-approved continuing education. The hour schedule, pegged to July 1, 2004, now stands at 24 hours a year. Chiefs need 20 hours of executive-level training (40 in their first year), and sheriffs 20 hours by rule. Non-compliance can lead to revocation (45-6-19; Pt. 301, Rule 10.2).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Applicants with an other-than-honorable military discharge may appeal to the Board
Rules 1.1(12) and 2.2(1)(C)(5) already required former members of the Armed Forces to have been discharged under honorable conditions; that requirement is not new. The amendment adds: “Former members of the Armed Forces discharged under other than honorable conditions may appeal to the Board for consideration, after providing all official discharge documents, and any additional or supporting documentation that may be requested by the Board.” The appeal is discretionary, and the rule sets no standard or deadline for the Board’s decision.
For officers: With an other-than-honorable discharge, you may ask the Board to consider you; you must provide all discharge documents, and the Board decides.
BLEOST rules: administrative revocation on a felony charge, shorter break-in-service windows, and a wider residence area for reciprocity
Rule 4.3(1)(F): the director may issue temporary or permanent declarations of ineligibility, and administrative revocations, for certificate holders “charged with” a felony (the rule had said “adjudicated guilty of”), when a court finds probable cause under Miss. Code 99-3-28, or when “adjudicated guilty of a misdemeanor crime” other than offenses that need not be reported on the application. Rule 4.3(1)(G): “Any applicant who shall have voluntarily surrendered” a certificate in writing or by sworn statement is deemed to have waived a board hearing; the rule text dates this from July 1, 2026. Rule 4.3(1)(J): at specially convened certification hearings, the Board uses a special hearing panel of at least three members, citing HB 691. Rule 2.2: the age-21 requirement now applies “upon graduation from a training academy.” Rule 7.3: an academy may refuse an applicant who has attended three times without completing, and that applicant must wait 5 years.
Rule 9.2: an officer whose break in service came from a closely related criminal-justice job, or from service in another state or federal jurisdiction, can restore certification without training only by returning before a 2-year break; the window was 5 years. For in-state officers returning after more than 2 years, and for officers returning from other jurisdictions, the skill tests must be given at a Board-accredited academy, no longer by a certified instructor. Certification based on another state’s license, or on work experience in a state that does not certify officers, had required establishing residence in Mississippi; applicants may now establish residence within 50 miles of Mississippi’s borders. Those paths and the military paths now require the refresher skill tests and law courses at an accredited academy. Rule 10.2: continuing education covers all law enforcement officers, not only municipal police, matching HB 691.
For officers: A felony charge, not only a conviction, can now lead to administrative revocation, and a voluntary surrender gives up your right to a board hearing.
Officers who fail a urine drug test get a hair-follicle retest before termination
An officer accused of drug use based on urinalysis “must be afforded” a more reliable test before termination. After a positive urine test, the officer is placed on unpaid leave and has 2 business days to contest it and 5 more days to take a hair-follicle test. The officer pays for that test and is reimbursed if it is negative. If the hair test does not support the urinalysis, the officer is reinstated with back pay. In 45-6-17(2), an employer may now pay an officer whose certificate was suspended or revoked once “the person is lawfully reinstated.”
For officers: After a positive urine test, you have 2 business days to contest it and then 5 days to get a hair-follicle test.
Officers facing BLEOST sanctions get discovery, including exculpatory information
For any sanction hearing, an officer “may request and shall be provided”: documentary evidence that could be introduced to support the sanction; exculpatory information held by the Office of Standards and Training that is material to the hearing; and a witness list with names, addresses, and contact information. The executive director may redact confidential information.
For officers: Before a sanction hearing, ask for the evidence, any exculpatory information, and the witness list; the board must provide them.
Agencies must report resignations and disciplinary separations within 72 hours
When a certified officer resigns, the agency “shall notify” the board in writing and by email within 72 hours. If an officer is terminated or resigns “due to disciplinary action,” the agency must notify the board and give a written explanation within the same 72 hours. An agency the board finds out of compliance, after notice and a hearing, is ineligible for state grants and other state funding and gets no continuing-education reimbursement while out of compliance. The agency may appeal, and the board may adopt implementing rules.
For officers: If you leave, especially after discipline, the board hears about it within 72 hours, with the agency’s written explanation.
BLEOST may investigate and use hearing panels; continuing education extended beyond municipal officers
45-6-7(d): the board “is authorized to conduct investigations” on revocations and “may establish a hearing panel” that gives written findings and recommendations to the board. Its subpoena power and the duty to keep a list of sanctioned officers predate the act. 45-6-5: Governor appointees now include two sheriffs (one from a county under 20,000) and a current academy director, who may not serve successive terms; the Attorney General’s designee must be a deputy attorney general, and the Commissioner of Public Safety takes an ex officio seat. The board stays at 13 members. 45-6-19: the annual continuing-education duty, which had covered municipal chiefs and officers, now also covers chiefs and officers of state agencies, counties, public colleges and universities, and the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District. The hour schedule is unchanged.
For officers: If you work for a state agency, county, or public college, annual continuing education now applies to you by statute.
Jail officer certification rules reorganized
According to the filing summary, BJOST added definitions as Chapter 1, renumbered its policies, and removed the enabling legislation, forms, areas of inquiry, background-investigation information, and general information from the rule text. The filing is scanned and was not compared line by line, so no change to a jail officer standard is credited here.
For officers: Jail officer rules were renumbered; check the current Part 101 for section numbers.
Not yet in force and pending
- Rule 6.2 (transfer reimbursement): would redefine “immediate re-employment” as within three years of initial employment. Proposed April 17, 2026 (Filing 28577). No final filing found. Filing 28577
- Rule 9.5 (part-time to full-time certification): proposed May 21, 2026 (Filing 28649). No final filing found. Filing 28649
- Rule 7.4 (full-time basic curriculum): a 524-hour curriculum, including 20 hours of use of force. Proposed July 29, 2026 (Filing 28853; the Bulletin summary mislabels it as the part-time rule). No final filing found. Filing 28853
These bills were not enacted: SB 2086 (2026, agency policies barring officer masks; died in committee) and SB 2798 (2026, masks on public ways); the Trust in Law Enforcement Act (HB 828 in 2024, HB 754 in 2025, and HB 598 in 2026), which would have required a public database of officer misconduct; SB 2439 (2024, revocation for a pattern of proscribed conduct) and SB 2286 (2024, BLEOST provisions); body-camera bills HB 927 (2023), HB 61 (2024), HB 707 (2025), and HB 408 (2026); no-knock warrant bans HB 102, HB 941, HB 560, and HB 1010; and SB 2346 and SB 2590 (2026, certified sheriffs). Earlier drug-retest bills died in 2023 to 2025; the idea was enacted in 2026 as SB 2416.
Checked and unchanged
- Miss. Code 45-6-11(7) (sanction grounds), (9) (chancery appeal), and (10) (two-year reapplication bar): reprinted without change in HB 565 (2025) and HB 611 (2026).
- The continuing-education hour schedule (8, 16, then 24 hours by years after July 1, 2004): unchanged; HB 691 only widened who must comply.
- A 2023 BLEOST proposal on training after breaks in service (Filing 26817) has no final filing. The break-in-service rule changed only through Filing 28859 (2026).
- HB 691’s title says it revises the board “from thirteen to nine,” but the enacted 45-6-5(1) still says 13 members. The enacted text controls.
- The BLEOST manual posted on the Department of Public Safety site still reads “adjudicated guilty of a felony crime” in Rule 4.3(1)(F). The Secretary of State’s Administrative Code, which controls, reads “charged with a felony crime” since September 3, 2026.
Last updated October 20, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Mississippi officer certification: Officer Ledger,” uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/mississippi (last updated October 20, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.