Mississippi Statewide Rule
Mississippi Casino Siting Zones and Location Limits
Key Facts
- Governing statute
- Miss. Code § 97-33-1 (gambling exception)
- Coastal zone counties
- Hancock, Harrison, Jackson (three southernmost counties)
- Onshore distance limit
- 800 feet from mean high-water line
- Harrison County alternate line
- South side of U.S. Highway 90 right-of-way
- River zone
- Mississippi River and navigable waters in bordering counties
- Local approval required
- County voter election under § 19-3-79
- Base penalty
- Up to $500 fine, 90 days jail per occurrence
Summary
Mississippi legalizes casino gaming only within two geographic bands carved out of its general gambling ban by Miss. Code § 97-33-1: the three southernmost Gulf Coast counties, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson, and counties bordering the Mississippi River. Coastal casinos must sit within 800 feet of the mean high-water line, or south of U.S. Highway 90 in Harrison County; river casinos must operate aboard a vessel on the river itself. Everywhere else, casino gaming is a crime.
(b) In a structure located, in whole or in part, on shore in any of the three (3) most southern counties in the State of Mississippi in which the registered voters of the county have voted to allow such betting, gaming or wagering on cruise vessels as provided in Section 19-3-79, if: ... (ii) The part of the structure in which licensed gaming activities are conducted is located entirely in an area which is located no more than eight hundred (800) feet from the mean high-water line (as defined in Section 29-15-1) of the waters within the State of Mississippi, which lie adjacent to the State of Mississippi south of the three (3) most southern counties..., or, with regard to Harrison County only, no farther north than the southern boundary of the right-of-way for U.S. Highway 90, whichever is greater; ... (c) On a vessel ... whenever such vessel is on the Mississippi River or navigable waters within any county bordering on the Mississippi River, and in which the registered voters of the county ... have not voted to prohibit such betting, gaming or wagering on vessels as provided in Section 19-3-79; or
Full Breakdown
Mississippi's casino law lives inside its criminal gambling statute, not a zoning code. Miss. Code § 97-33-1 makes betting or gaming a crime everywhere in the state except within two carved-out geographic zones. The first is the Gulf Coast: cruise vessels and onshore structures tied to them in the three most southern counties, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson, covering the Mississippi Sound, St. Louis Bay, Biloxi Bay, and Pascagoula Bay. S. Highway 90 right-of-way, whichever line is farther out. That onshore allowance dates to the state's 2005 response to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed the barge-mounted dockside casinos the original 1990 gaming law required; lawmakers rewrote § 97-33-1 so coastal operators could rebuild on solid ground instead of water.
Public street and highway easements do not count against the 800-foot measurement, so a road crossing the site does not break the distance calculation. The second zone runs along the Mississippi River: a vessel is exempt from the state's gambling ban if it operates on the river itself or on navigable waters within any county that borders it, the Delta counties from DeSoto down through Adams County, including Tunica, Coahoma, Washington, and Warren. Neither zone is automatic. Under Miss. Code § 19-3-79, gaming stays illegal in a coastal or river county until that county's board of supervisors calls a local-option election and registered voters affirmatively approve it; a county that votes no three separate times must wait at least eight years before another such vote can be held.
Outside these carve-outs, inland counties, or coastal and river counties that never held or lost that election, operating a casino is prosecuted the same as running an illegal card game: a straight violation of § 97-33-1.
Violations & Penalties
Betting or gaming outside these carved-out zones is a misdemeanor under § 97-33-1: a fine up to $500 per occurrence, up to ninety days in jail unless the fine is paid immediately, and forfeiture of the money and equipment used. For a licensee, siting the gaming floor even partly outside the 800-foot line, or past the Highway 90 boundary in Harrison County, is a licensing violation the Gaming Commission can act on, since location is a condition of the § 75-76-5 license itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a casino be built anywhere in Mississippi?
Why are Gulf Coast casinos built on land instead of on water?
Do all three Gulf Coast counties allow casinos?
Can a casino operate away from the Mississippi River in a river county?
Sources
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