Mississippi bill mandates all local school boards be elected

Bill proposes four-year terms, mechanism for board member recall

JACKSON, Miss. — All local school boards across Mississippi would shift to a fully elective system under a sweeping new legislative proposal. While districts like DeSoto County Schools already elect their board members, House Bill 1292 aims to standardize governance by requiring elective offices for all public school board positions statewide.

The act, introduced by Rep. Jansen Owen (R-Poplarville) and moving through the 2026 Regular Session, mandates that every school board member serve a four-year term. This requirement applies to all structures, including municipal separate, consolidated, and countywide districts, such as DeSoto County Schools.

Local boards choose their election timing

Local boards are granted the discretion to choose their specific election cycle. They may align with either:

• The statewide general election cycle beginning in November 2027.
• The presidential election cycle beginning in November 2028.

Once a board selects its cycle and records it in official minutes, the decision is final and binding unless revised by future legislative action. Districts must also determine whether members will represent single-member districts or be elected at-large.

New accountability and member recall procedures

A significant addition to the bill is the codification of a formal recall procedure for school board members. This mechanism allows qualified electors to petition the Governor for the removal of a member based on grounds such as malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office.

The recall provision was championed by state Rep. Kimberly Remak (R-Olive Branch). The legislative move follows intense public pressure regarding the DeSoto County Schools board. Community members have repeatedly called for the resignation of board member Michele Henley after she wrote a character letter for Lindsey Whiteside prior to Whiteside’s sentencing on child sex charges.

Under current Mississippi law, Henley cannot be recalled by voters, and she has publicly refused to resign from her seat. While the board voted in November 2025 to remove her from her role as board president, she remains an active member of the board. To initiate a recall under the proposed new law, a petition must be signed by not less than 30 percent of the qualified electors in the member’s district.

Structural changes for county school districts

For county school districts, the bill requires board member districts to be coterminous with the county’s supervisors districts.

Candidates seeking office must file a petition of nomination signed by not less than 50 qualified electors from their district. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a runoff election will be held three weeks after the general election.

The act is slated to take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026, if approved and signed into law.