Mississippi Traffic Camera Ticket Laws: Banned at Home, Recognized From Other States

Mississippi is a genuinely two-sided story. State law bans local governments from running red light or speed camera programs, full stop. But the same body of Mississippi law contains a separate statute that lets the state recognize, and act on, an unpaid camera-based fine issued by a different state. If you live in Mississippi and think «cameras are banned here» settles the question of whether a camera ticket can ever touch your license, this page is the correction.

The Home Ban: No Local Camera Ordinances

Mississippi's ban lives at Miss. Code sec. 17-25-19, enacted as 2009 HB 1568. Its text is direct: «Neither the board of supervisors of any county nor the governing authority of any municipality shall adopt, enact or enforce any ordinance authorizing the use of automated recording equipment or system to enforce compliance with traffic signals, traffic speeds or other traffic laws, rules or regulations on any public street, road or highway within this state or to impose or collect any civil or criminal fine, fee or penalty for any such violation.» The same bill required that «any county or municipality using automated recording equipment or system shall remove the equipment or system before October 1, 2009.»

Notice the specific reach of that language: it is a bar on county and municipal ordinances. It does not, by its own text, address a state agency running a camera program directly, which is worth flagging because of 2025 reporting describing Mississippi's Department of Public Safety deploying AI-equipped mobile camera units for real-time violation monitoring. Whether, and how, that kind of state-level activity interacts with sec. 17-25-19 was not confirmed from a DPS primary source this session, so this page notes the reporting exists without confirming what those units actually do or whether any citation has issued from one. Statutory silence is not permission, though. No Mississippi statute affirmatively authorizes state-level automated traffic enforcement, and Miss. Code sec. 63-9-35 describes automated traffic law enforcement as «a traffic law enforcement method not authorized by the State of Mississippi.»

Recent Attempts to Tighten the Ban All Failed

The Mississippi Legislature has tried, three times, to close a perceived loophole in the 2009 ban, and all three attempts failed in 2025. Senate Bill 2201 would have extended the ban's definition to cover manually operated automated equipment, a response to reports of handheld devices being used for camera-style enforcement in some cities. It passed the Senate on February 12, 2025, but died in a House committee on March 4, 2025. House Bill 528, which would have extended the ban to automated license plate reader systems, was not enacted either. A third bill, House Bill 1090, introduced January 20, 2025 and defining «manually operated automated recording equipment» in nearly identical terms to SB 2201, would have required positive driver verification before a handheld-camera citation could issue; it died in committee on February 4, 2025. That means the ban, as written, still tracks its original 2009 language, and the handheld-device question the Legislature declined to resolve three separate times remains genuinely open. An April 2026 complaint to the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor requesting investigation of camera-assisted radar-gun programs named at least eight cities: Moss Point, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Pearl, Senatobia, Batesville, Saltillo, and New Albany. No appellate ruling on any of these disputes had been found as of this session's research, so treat them as pending rather than resolved.

The 2026 Regular Session repeated the pattern exactly. House Bill 1104, the successor to HB 1090, would have amended sec. 17-25-19 to require that when a law enforcement officer uses manually operated automated recording equipment, that officer «shall prove and, at the time of the incident, positively verify who was operating a vehicle.» It was referred to Judiciary B on January 19, 2026 and died in committee on February 3, 2026. House Bills 566 and 725, both captioned to prohibit the use of automated recording equipment to enforce automobile insurance requirements, died in committee the same day. That is six bills across two consecutive sessions, none of them enacted.

The Interstate Twist: Mississippi Can Recognize Another State's Camera Fine

Here is the statute that makes Mississippi's story genuinely unusual. Miss. Code sec. 63-9-37, enacted as 2013 HB 91, governs how Mississippi's Department of Public Safety treats camera-based fines from other states. Its text: DPS «shall only recognize» another state's camera-based fine «if that state is a member of the Driver License Compact,» and DPS «shall not suspend the driver's license of a person for failure to pay any civil or criminal fine, fee, citation or penalty for such a violation unless the state that is due the fine... is a member of the Driver License Compact.»

Read that carefully and the contradiction becomes clear. Mississippi will not let its own counties or cities run a camera program. But its own statute contemplates DPS suspending a Mississippi driver's license because that driver did not pay a camera-based fine issued by a different state, as long as that state belongs to the Driver License Compact. A Mississippi resident who gets a camera ticket while driving through, say, a Compact-member state with an active red light camera program cannot assume that Mississippi's local ban protects them from consequences back home.

Mississippi does protect its drivers on the other half of that problem, and any account of the interstate picture is incomplete without it. Miss. Code sec. 63-9-35, enacted by Laws 2012, ch. 398 and effective July 1, 2012, provides that a traffic citation issued by another state «from the use of an automated traffic law enforcement system or a traffic law enforcement method not authorized by the State of Mississippi» «shall not be placed on the person's driving record in this state» and «shall not be reported to an insurance company for insurance purposes.» So the two interstate statutes pull in opposite directions: an unpaid fine can still reach your license under sec. 63-9-37 when the issuing state is a Compact member, but the citation itself is kept off your Mississippi driving record and away from your insurer.

That shield narrows the comparison usually drawn with South Dakota, another state that bans local camera enforcement and is often held up as the model for shielding drivers from other states' camera programs. Mississippi is not simply exposed where South Dakota is protected; it wrote a record-and-insurance shield of its own in 2012. The live Mississippi exposure is narrow and specific, license suspension for an unpaid fine owed to a Driver License Compact member state, rather than a driving-record or insurance consequence.

What This Means If You're a Mississippi Driver

If you were ticketed by a camera somewhere in Mississippi, sec. 17-25-19 by its terms bars the county or municipal ordinance that would authorize it, so ask first which body issued the ticket. The statute does not by its terms reach a state agency, but that silence is not an authorization: no Mississippi statute affirmatively empowers a state agency to run automated traffic enforcement either, and sec. 63-9-35 refers to automated traffic law enforcement as a method «not authorized by the State of Mississippi.» A camera ticket traced to a state agency therefore sits in an open question rather than a settled one, and that is a distinction worth raising if you contest it, not conceding. If you were ticketed by a camera in another state and you are a Mississippi license holder, the interstate statute means nonpayment can carry real consequences at home, specifically if the issuing state is a Driver License Compact member, so do not assume distance protects you from that particular fine.

Information last verified on 2026-09-22. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Related Resources

• Traffic Camera Ticket Laws by State
• Do You Have to Pay a Camera Ticket?
• How to Fight a Camera Ticket
• Louisiana Traffic Camera Ticket Laws
• DUI Laws by State
• Can You Get a Speeding Ticket Without Being Pulled Over?

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Last updated: 2026-09-22.

More Mississippi Laws

• Mississippi Car Accident Laws
• Mississippi Dashcam Laws
• Mississippi DUI Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Are red light and speed cameras legal in Mississippi?

No. Miss. Code sec. 17-25-19 bars any county or municipality from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that authorizes automated recording equipment to enforce traffic laws or to collect a related fine. Existing systems had to be removed before October 1, 2009.

Can Mississippi suspend my license over an out-of-state camera ticket?

Potentially, yes, for a specific category. Miss. Code sec. 63-9-37 lets the Department of Public Safety recognize another state's camera-based fine, and suspend a Mississippi license for failing to pay it, if the issuing state is a member of the Driver License Compact. A separate statute, Miss. Code sec. 63-9-35, limits the damage in the other direction: an out-of-state citation from an automated traffic law enforcement system may not be placed on your Mississippi driving record and may not be reported to an insurance company for insurance purposes.

Isn't it contradictory to ban cameras at home but recognize them from other states?

It is a genuine tension in Mississippi law, and it is intentional to point out rather than smooth over. The home ban (sec. 17-25-19) restricts what Mississippi counties and cities can do; the interstate statute (sec. 63-9-37) restricts when DPS can act on another state's camera fine. They are separate statutes addressing different questions.

Has Mississippi tried to extend its camera ban recently?

Yes, six times across the 2025 and 2026 sessions, and none passed. In 2025: SB 2201, which would have extended the ban to manually operated automated equipment, passed the Senate but died in a House committee; HB 528, which would have extended the ban to license-plate-reader systems, was not enacted; and HB 1090, which would have required positive driver verification before a handheld-camera citation could issue, died in committee. In 2026: HB 1104, the positive-verification successor to HB 1090, plus HB 566 and HB 725, both aimed at cameras used to enforce automobile insurance requirements, all died in committee on February 3, 2026.

Are handheld camera devices legal in Mississippi?

This is genuinely unsettled. Some Mississippi cities have reportedly used handheld or vendor-operated devices to issue tickets, and those programs have drawn legal challenges. The Legislature has not amended the statute to squarely address handheld devices one way or the other, so treat any specific city's program as a disputed legal question rather than confirmed law.

Does the Driver License Compact affect points, not just suspension?

The Compact's mandatory-transfer rule under Article IV applies to specific serious convictions like DUI, not ordinary camera-based civil penalties. Mississippi's sec. 63-9-37 addresses fine recognition and suspension for nonpayment specifically, which is a narrower and different mechanism than a points transfer.

Which states are Driver License Compact members?

Membership varies and this page does not list a current roster, since that was not independently verified from a primary source this session. Confirm current DLC membership for the specific state that issued your out-of-state camera ticket before assuming sec. 63-9-37 applies.