Mississippi bar exam: Legacy or current exam until Date TBA; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | Feb. 1, late filing Apr. 1 |
| February exam | Sept. 1, late filing Nov. 1 |
| Fees | First-time $525 / $825; attorney $825 + C&F; repeater $550; laptop Varies |
| MPRE minimum | 75 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Mississippi, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | No dedicated military-spouse rule identified |
| Accommodation | Standard admission by comity and reciprocity (Rule VI) applies: 5 years' practice, $1,500 fee, reciprocal-state requirement; no military-spouse waiver found in the published rules |
| Duration | N/A |
| Supervision | N/A |
| Adopted | No dedicated rule |
Mississippi publishes no dedicated military-spouse admission rule as of this review. Confirm current status directly with Mississippi's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
The Mississippi board lists registration for the February 2027 exam. The regular deadline is September 1, 2026, the late deadline is November 1, 2026, and the retake deadline is also November 1, 2026. Every application is completed online, then printed, notarized and delivered to the Board's office with the fee by the filing deadline, and an applicant who already applied to the Board files an Application Update instead.
The Board accepts online payment, exact cash, money order or certified check, and it does not accept personal or business checks. Every fee includes a $25 application and processing fee. The examination fee is $525 for an applicant who registered as a law student under Rule III and $825 for one who did not (Rule IV, sections 2 and 3), filed by September 1 for the February exam or February 1 for July. The Board does not refund any fees, and an applicant whose application is dismissed, voluntarily or not, forfeits all fees already paid. An applicant who wants to type the essays and performance test on a laptop pays ExamSoft directly, submits Form 8-B, registers the laptop, downloads Examplify and completes a mock exam by the Board's deadline.
Source: Mississippi bar admissions ↗
An applicant who has lived outside Mississippi for six months or longer, consecutively or cumulatively, since turning 18, counting residence for school, work or military service, must complete an NCBE Character and Fitness Application in addition to the Mississippi application. It is submitted with its own fee at the same time as the bar exam application, and the NCBE fee and the Board's fee must not be combined in one payment.
A law student registers on a notarized application filed with the Board, with the NCBE application if it applies. A late registration is permitted with a late fee, but must be filed by March 1 before the February deadline or August 1 before the July deadline of the exam the applicant plans to sit. The Mississippi Bar, which is a separate agency, holds a bar admissions ceremony in the spring and the fall.
Since August 1, 2019, admission on motion applications must be submitted online, then printed, signed and notarized, and delivered with the NCBE background investigation application and both fees. Eligibility is limited to lawyers who have practiced at least five years in a jurisdiction, or jurisdictions, that accept Mississippi attorneys without examination (Rule VI, comity and reciprocity).
The five years must be general legal work, not work that is very narrow, that needs no attorney, or that does not generally require an attorney's services. If the reciprocal state's rules are more demanding, they govern the applicant, and if the applicant is licensed in more than one state the Board decides which state to use. An applicant the Board finds ineligible for admission without examination may still take the exam.
Source: Admission on Motion ↗
The Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions posts a results list for each exam. It shows an applicant number, a final result of pass or fail, and a column headed eligible for admission. It gives no names and no summary rates, so the figures below are counts of the saved lists, not rates the Board states.
The July 2026 list has 127 applicants: 102 passed and 25 failed. Of the 102 passers, 94 are marked eligible for admission and 8 are not. NCBE's own table shows no Mississippi figure for July 2026, so this count is the only rate for that exam. The February 2026 list has 66 applicants, 48 passers and 18 failures, and 5 of the 48 passers are marked not eligible. The July 2025 list has 126 applicants, 104 passers and 22 failures.
The lists give no reason for the not-eligible marking. A candidate who passes should read the Board's letter and its admission requirements before assuming a license follows.
September 1, 2026 is the regular deadline. The late deadline and the retake deadline are both November 1, 2026.
No. The Board does not refund any fees, and an applicant whose application is dismissed, voluntarily or involuntarily, forfeits every fee already paid.
No. The Board accepts online payment, exact cash, money order or certified check, all payable to the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions. Personal and business checks are refused.
If you have lived outside Mississippi for six months or longer since your 18th birthday, consecutively or cumulatively. Pay its fee separately and file it with your bar exam application.
Not less than five years in a jurisdiction that accepts Mississippi attorneys without examination. The work must be of a general legal nature and normally require an attorney.
Submit Form 8-B Laptop User Release, register the laptop, download Examplify and complete the mock exam by the Board's deadline. ExamSoft's laptop fee is paid directly to ExamSoft.
An application and processing fee added to every application. You may combine it in the same payment as your filing fee.
The Mississippi Bar, a separate agency from the Board, holds a bar admissions ceremony in the spring and the fall. Ask the Mississippi Bar for dates and locations.
About 80.3%: the Board's results list shows 102 of 127 applicants passing, which is a count of that list and not a rate the Board states.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Mississippi ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.