How Do You Get Admitted to the Mississippi Bar?
The Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions admits lawyers under the Rules Governing Admission to the Mississippi Bar.
It is not a UBE jurisdiction: applicants sit the state's two-day exam, one day of the MBE and one of essays and/or performance tests, and need a scaled score of 132 plus a scaled MPRE score of at least 75.
Lawyers from other states also have a without-exam route: admission by comity, with conditions below.
Mississippi has announced it will adopt the NextGen UBE; NCBE's September 25, 2026 update listed no date.
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At a glance
The Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions, under the Rules Governing Admission to the Mississippi Bar.
Mississippi's own two-day exam — one day of the MBE and one day of essay and/or performance-test questions.
Not the UBE.
132 (scaled).
A scaled score of at least 75.
Mississippi says it will adopt the NextGen UBE; as of NCBE's September 25, 2026 update, no first administration date was set.
Admission by comity and reciprocity, a without-exam route for lawyers from other states: at least 5 years in practice, with admission requirements equivalent to Mississippi's, from a state that grants similar privileges to Mississippi lawyers.
$525 for registered law students (plus the $100 law student registration) or $825 without law-student registration; $725 or $1,025 late, plus a $25 application fee.
Ways to get admitted in Mississippi
- Admission by examinationBy examination
Sit Mississippi's own two-day exam — one day of the MBE and one day of Board- or NCBE-prepared essay and/or performance-test questions — with a scaled score of 132, plus an MPRE scaled score of at least 75.
- Admission by comity (without an exam)On motion
For lawyers who have practised at least 5 years in a state that grants similar privileges to Mississippi lawyers and whose own admission requirements are equivalent to Mississippi's.
- MBE score transfer by petitionScore transfer
Mississippi accepts transferred MBE scores by petition, but it does not accept transferred UBE scores.
Who admits lawyers in Mississippi?
Bar admission in Mississippi is run by the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions, under the Rules Governing Admission to the Mississippi Bar.
The Board takes the exam application and comity applications, and it is the body that admits lawyers in the state.
The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) prepares the MBE day of Mississippi's exam and runs the character and fitness application some applicants must file, but NCBE does not admit anyone.
Which bar exam does Mississippi give?
Mississippi is not a Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) jurisdiction and does not accept transferred UBE scores.
It gives its own jurisdiction-drafted two-day exam: one day is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) prepared by NCBE, and the other day consists of essay-type questions and/or written performance tests prepared by the Board or through NCBE.
The scaled passing score is 132.
For comparison, the UBE, which NCBE coordinates, combines the MEE, two MPT tasks and the MBE; Mississippi's exam shares the MBE day but pairs it with a day of Board- or NCBE-prepared essay and/or performance-test questions rather than being NCBE's uniform exam.
“One day of the examination will be devoted to the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and one day of the examination will consist of essay-type questions and/or written performance tests”
Who is eligible to sit for the Mississippi bar?
The Rules Governing Admission to the Mississippi Bar set the eligibility standards for the exam, and the Board's application pages we read do not restate them — read the rules and confirm your situation with the Board before you apply.
One filing requirement the Board's pages do spell out: applicants who have lived outside Mississippi for 6 months or longer since their 18th birthday must submit, in addition to the Board's application, an NCBE character and fitness application.
What MPRE score does Mississippi require?
Mississippi requires an MPRE scaled score of at least 75.
The timing rule matters as much as the score: the MPRE must be taken within 24 months before or 12 months after you pass the Mississippi bar exam.
The MPRE itself is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, a two-hour, 60-question multiple-choice exam offered three times a year.
How does character and fitness work in Mississippi?
Background investigations are part of the admission process in every jurisdiction, and NCBE conducts investigations and hosts applications for many boards.
The filing the Mississippi Board's pages spell out is residence-based: applicants who have lived outside Mississippi for 6 months or longer since their 18th birthday must complete an NCBE character and fitness application alongside the Board's application.
Comity applicants also cover NCBE investigation fees on top of their $1,500 application fee.
The pages we read do not set out how the Board weighs an individual history, so questions about your own record belong with the Board of Bar Admissions.
Can out-of-state lawyers waive into Mississippi (admission on motion or UBE transfer)?
There is no UBE transfer route: Mississippi is not a UBE jurisdiction and does not accept transferred UBE scores.
The Rules Governing Admission do set out a without-exam route for lawyers from other states: admission by comity and reciprocity, which the state opens to a lawyer from another state whose requirements for admission to the bar are equivalent to Mississippi's, whose home state grants similar privileges to Mississippi lawyers, and who has practised at least 5 years.
The comity application costs $1,500 plus NCBE investigation fees, and applicants who have failed the Mississippi exam in the past 5 years are ineligible.
One exam score does transfer in: Mississippi accepts transferred MBE scores by petition, though not UBE scores.
“Provided that the laws of the state from which the applicant comes grant similar privileges to attorney applicants from this state”
Mississippi bar pass rates, fees and results timing
Exam application fees are $525 for registered law students — on top of the $100 law student registration — and $825 for applicants who did not register as law students; late applications cost $725 or $1,025.
Every application also carries a $25 fee, laptop testing through ExamSoft costs $113 — a fee the Board notes may be subject to change — and the Board refunds no fees.
Applications are due September 1 for the February exam (late November 1) and February 1 for the July exam (late April 1).
On results: 126 examinees sat the July 2025 exam, 83% passed overall and 86% of first-time takers did; February 2026 came in at 73% overall and 82% first-time.
July 2026 results were not on NCBE's pass-rate table as of October 2, 2026, so confirm the latest results and dates with the Board.
When does Mississippi switch to the NextGen bar exam?
Mississippi has announced that it intends to administer the NextGen UBE, with first administration on a date to be determined; NCBE's September 25, 2026 update still listed no date.
For now, applicants sit the state's own two-day exam described above, and Mississippi does not accept transferred UBE scores.
“Mississippi has announced that it intends to administer the NextGen UBE, with first administration on a date to be determined.”
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Mississippi court rules, board and bar pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state bar admission rules series, current as of October 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions publishes.
For the rest of the picture in Mississippi, see CLE requirements in Mississippi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mississippi a UBE state?
No. Mississippi is not a UBE jurisdiction and does not accept transferred UBE scores.
The UBE is NCBE's uniform exam combining the MEE, two MPT tasks and the MBE; Mississippi's exam shares the MBE day but adds an essay and/or performance-test day prepared by the Board or through NCBE, with a scaled passing score of 132.
Mississippi does accept transferred MBE scores by petition, and it has announced that it intends to adopt the NextGen UBE, with no date set as of NCBE's September 25, 2026 update.
What is the passing score for the Mississippi bar exam?
132, on the exam's scale.
Recent published results: 126 examinees sat the July 2025 Mississippi exam, 83% passed overall and 86% of first-time takers did; February 2026 came in at 73% overall and 82% first-time.
July 2026 results were not on NCBE's pass-rate table as of October 2, 2026, so confirm current results with the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions.
How much does the Mississippi bar exam cost?
$525 for applicants who registered as law students (on top of the $100 law student registration) and $825 for those who did not register; late applications run $725 or $1,025.
Every application adds a $25 fee, laptop testing through ExamSoft costs $113 (the Board's page says the fee may be subject to change), and the Board refunds no fees.
Can I be admitted to the Mississippi bar without taking the exam?
Yes, by comity, a without-exam route the Rules Governing Admission set out for lawyers from other states.
Mississippi admits, without an exam, a lawyer from another state whose admission requirements are equivalent to Mississippi's, whose home state grants similar privileges to Mississippi lawyers, and who has practised at least 5 years.
The comity application costs $1,500 plus NCBE investigation fees, and you are ineligible if you failed the Mississippi exam in the past 5 years.
More Mississippi Resources
Sources
- Rules Governing Admission to the Mississippi Bar (Mississippi Judiciary) (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions: application information (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: Mississippi jurisdiction page (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: bar pass rates by jurisdiction (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: about the UBE (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: about the MPRE (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: character and fitness (retrieved 2026-10-02)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified October 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions.