Cases Heard by the Mississippi Court of Appeals

Mississippi's appellate court system has two levels that review decisions made by the lower, local jurisdiction courts in the state. The Mississippi Supreme Court presides over appeals against decisions of the chancery, circuit and county courts, and of the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

Some appeals go directly to the Supreme Court. These include annexations, bond issues, constitutionality challenges, death penalty cases, disciplinary matters involving attorneys and judges, election contests, certified questions from federal court, utility rates, cases of first impression and issues of broad public interest.

Nine supreme court justices from 3 judicial districts are elected for 8-year terms by non-partisan election, and they decide appeals from the entire state. Decisions are taken by a majority vote. The Supreme Court also assigns cases to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

The Mississippi Court of Appeals was created by the state’s legislature to speed up appeals and relieve a backlog of cases before the Supreme Court. It has been in operation only since 1995.

It is an “error correction court" that decides the appeals on issues in which the law is settled, but the facts or their assessment is disputed. The Supreme Court may review Court of Appeals’ decisions. If it declines review, the Mississippi Court of Appeals decision stands. Ten Court of Appeals judges from five districts, appointed through non-partisan election, serve eight-year terms, hearing cases from all over the state.

In Mississippi, the appellate cases are filtered up through a number of lower courts – the circuit courts, chancery courts, county courts, justice courts, youth courts, drug courts and municipal courts.

How to File an Appeal in the State

How do you file an appeal from one court to the next higher one if you are dissatisfied with the trial court’s judgment? You can of course do that, but before an appeal can be filed you need to wait for a final judgment at the trial court. In a criminal case, this is the sentencing order of the court; in a civil case, the order disposing of all of the issues. When the final judgment is issued by the trial court, a Notice of Appeal is filed with it to serve notice to both the trial court and the other party or parties of a person's intention to appeal.

For an appeals court in any state to accept the case, it is essential that the Notice of Appeal is filed within a stipulated time, which may vary from state to state. Each state has a specific statute governing the time frame for which a Notice of Appeal must be filed.

Do take note of the fact that if you for some reason fail to file a Notice of Appeal within the time permitted by statute, you cannot ever raise that appeal again. You need to also know that from a technical standpoint, if it is not filed in the manner prescribed by law, the appellate court will have no jurisdiction over the case.

After the appellant’s brief is filed, in many cases a hearing is held. Both sides of the case present oral arguments to the court, usually presented by their attorneys. The judge then delivers the verdict. If either or both sides are dissatisfied they then appeal to the Supreme Court.