What Are the CLE Requirements for Mississippi Attorneys?
Mississippi attorneys must complete 12 hours of approved continuing legal education each CLE year, which runs from August 1 through July 31, including 1 hour of ethics or professionalism.
The Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education, under the Mississippi Supreme Court, administers the program.
The annual report is due by August 15, online, telephone and recorded courses are capped at 6 hours, up to 12 excess hours carry forward, and newly licensed lawyers complete a 12-hour new-lawyer program by the end of their second CLE year.
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At a glance
The Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education, under the Mississippi Supreme Court.
12 hours of approved CLE each CLE year, including 1 hour of ethics/professionalism.
One year: August 1 through July 31, with the annual report due by August 15.
1 hour of ethics/professionalism, which may be met with malpractice prevention, substance abuse or mental health content.
Online, telephone and recorded or satellite CLE are capped at 6 hours; other self-study earns no credit.
A 12-hour new-lawyer program (6 basic skills, 6 ethics/professionalism) by the end of the second CLE year.
A report filed after August 15 carries a $25 late fee.
How many CLE hours does Mississippi require?
Mississippi lawyers must complete 12 hours of approved continuing legal education during each CLE year, which runs from August 1 through July 31.
Inside that total, 1 hour must be ethics or professionalism.
The Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education administers the state's CLE program under the Mississippi Supreme Court, so credit questions run through the Commission.
Rules can change, so confirm the current hour total with the Commission before you plan a CLE year.
What specialty credits are required (ethics, bias, wellness, tech)?
The one specialty credit the Mississippi rules our research read name separately is ethics/professionalism: 1 of the 12 hours in each CLE year must be it.
The rules also let that hour be met with malpractice prevention, substance abuse or mental health content, so those subjects can satisfy the special hour.
Beyond it, the rules our research read name no separate bias, wellness or technology credit.
Credit categories can change, so confirm the current list with the Commission before you plan a year around a specific credit type.
When is the Mississippi CLE deadline, and how do you report?
The CLE year ends on July 31, and the annual report is due by August 15.
A report filed late carries a $25 late fee.
The rule text our research read states the deadline but does not set out the filing mechanics we could verify — where the report goes and in what form — so confirm the reporting process with the Commission before your first deadline.
What are the rules for newly admitted Mississippi attorneys?
Newly licensed Mississippi lawyers must complete a 12-hour new-lawyer program by the end of their second CLE year: 6 hours of basic skills training and 6 hours of ethics/professionalism.
A lawyer admitted to Mississippi with 5 or more years of practice in another jurisdiction can skip the basic skills portion by affidavit.
How the new-lawyer program fits with the regular annual 12 hours is not laid out in the rules we read, so a first- or second-year attorney should confirm the combined obligation with the Commission.
Can you complete Mississippi CLE online or on demand?
Yes, but within a cap.
The Mississippi rules allow no more than 6 hours of CLE credit per year through online, telephone, satellite-transmitted or electronically recorded or reproduced material — one shared 6-hour ceiling for all of those formats.
Because the annual requirement is 12 hours, at least 6 of the year's hours must come from formats outside the cap.
The rules give no CLE credit for other self-study.
“No attorney shall be permitted to claim more than six (6) hours of CLE credit through the use of satellite-transmitted or electronically recorded or reproduced material”
Do Mississippi CLE credits carry over, and who is exempt?
Carryover goes up to a full year's requirement: 12 hours of credit in excess of the annual minimum may be carried forward into the succeeding CLE year, a cap equal to the whole annual requirement.
Excess ethics hours do not carry forward as ethics hours.
On exemptions, all members of the Mississippi bar are exempt from the CLE requirement on and after their seventieth birthday.
Other exemption categories — hardship, active military service and the like — are not named in the rules we read, so an exemption question beyond the age rule belongs with the Commission.
“Twelve (12) hours of credit in excess of the minimum annual requirement may be carried forward for credit in the succeeding CLE year.”
What happens if you miss the Mississippi CLE deadline?
The Mississippi rules our research read state one direct consequence: a report filed after the August 15 deadline carries a $25 late fee.
What we did not find is the rest of the enforcement path — whether an attorney who stays out of compliance faces suspension, or how a missed year gets made up — so those questions belong with the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education.
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 CLE requirements series, current as of October 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education publishes.
For the rest of the picture in Mississippi, see bar admission rules in Mississippi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mississippi CLE due every year or every three years?
Every year.
Mississippi's CLE year runs from August 1 through July 31, and 12 hours of approved CLE — including 1 ethics/professionalism hour — come due in each one.
The annual report is due by August 15 after the year closes, and a late report carries a $25 late fee.
Up to 12 excess hours can carry forward into the next year.
Does Mississippi require a separate bias, wellness or technology CLE credit?
Not that our research found.
The Mississippi CLE rules our research read require 1 hour of ethics/professionalism within the 12-hour annual total, and they allow that hour to be met with malpractice prevention, substance abuse or mental health content.
Beyond that named hour, the rules we read identify no separate bias, wellness or technology credit.
Credit categories can change, so confirm the current list with the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education.
How many online CLE hours can Mississippi attorneys count?
At most 6 of the 12.
Mississippi's rules cap online, telephone and satellite-transmitted or recorded material at 6 hours of CLE credit per year — all of those formats share the single cap.
Because the annual requirement is 12 hours, the other 6 must come from formats outside it.
The rules also give no credit for self-study outside those categories.
What CLE do new Mississippi lawyers have to take?
A 12-hour new-lawyer program, due by the end of their second CLE year: 6 hours of basic skills training and 6 hours of ethics/professionalism.
A lawyer admitted to Mississippi with 5 or more years of practice in another jurisdiction can skip the basic skills portion by filing an affidavit.
New admittees should confirm with the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education how the program fits with the regular annual requirement.
Do extra Mississippi CLE hours roll over to the next year?
Up to 12 of them.
Mississippi allows 12 hours of credit in excess of the annual minimum to be carried forward into the succeeding CLE year.
Excess ethics hours are the exception — they do not carry forward as ethics hours.
And all members of the Mississippi bar are exempt from the CLE requirement on and after their seventieth birthday.
More Mississippi Resources
Sources
- Mississippi Supreme Court rules: Continuing Legal Education (courts.ms.gov) (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 Commission on Continuing Legal Education.