Mississippi

Elvis's Birthplace, Tupelo MS

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

Miss. Code Ann. 2019 §§45-33-21 through 45-33-61

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Initial registration: 3 business days §45-33-27(1).  New residents must notify DPS 10 days before first residing in or returning to state and changes to address §45-33-29(1), then 3 business days to register with county sheriff §45-33-27(5) and 10 days to register at the “Driver’s License station.” 3 business days for most other changes. §45-33-29. NOTE: "Permanent residence" means 14 or more aggregate days per 6 mo. period. §45-33-23(d).

Visitors: “Temporary residence” defined as “resides for a period of 7 or more aggregate days.” §45-33-23(i).  Updated Aug. 2024. However, SOR office claims to still use 7 or more consecutive days even after I pointed out new language. Updated Aug. 2024.

Per MS SOR office, partial days count & the 7th day triggers obligation to register. Also, all residence & presence restrictions apply to visitors! However, per SOR office there is no limit on return visits per month or year. Updated Aug. 2022.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction:  3000 ft. of school; child care facility; “residential child-caring agency;” a children’s group home; or playground, ballpark, or other recreational facility used by children.  §45-33-25(4)(a).

Presence restriction: loitering w/in 500 ft. of school, and may not enter school without permission; exceptions apply to both. §45-33-26.

Per Rolfe Survey, visiting registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED.

Duration & updates:

Life. Petition to remove – Tier 1 – 15 yrs; Tier 2 – 25 yrs.

Updates: Registrants who are electronically monitored – annually.  §45-33-31.  All others quarterly, in person at the Drivers’ License station to obtain a new “sex offender card.” §45-33-31.

Mississippi's Petrified Forest

Most recent visit: March & April 2022

Mississippi is a pretty tough state, both for registered citizens and for visitors.  Despite what its state law says, the friendly lady at the state SOR office informed me that if you stay four or more days (or partial days) in any calendar month, whether or not consecutive, you must register.  I’m sure that like me, you don’t want to have to do that! 

The only silver lining is that, at least according to that same friendly SOR lady, they only start counting the days when you spend a night.  However, like so many other states, you have to assume that once you spend that night you now have 2 partial days to count toward your maximum of three for that month (because the fourth day triggers the registration requirement).  So plan your trip carefully.

During your whopping three days in Mississippi you will have to contend with a list of residence and presence restrictions.  Wherever you spend the night you’ll have to be at least 3000 feet from the usual ridiculous list of child centered establishments.  Fortunately almost all Interstate motels, truck stops and National Forest campgrounds can meet this standard.  During the day just stay away from any school and you should be okay.

Also, notice that Parks aren’t on either list!  So you can visit any state or local park you like.  However, I have noticed in the past that Mississippi state parks seem to have a lot of play equipment in them so you won’t be able to camp in them.  *Sigh*

As part of my 2022 Deep South Tour I passed through Mississippi not once but twice. But I did so in two separate calendar months, which meant I could count my days per month separately on each pass.  Early one morning in late March I entered the state from Alabama.  My first destination was the Mississippi Petrified Forest, just outside Jackson.  Yes there is such a thing, and it’s quite impressive!  It also turns out there are quite a few Indian Mounds in Mississippi, they are well marked and organized into a “Mississippi Indian Mound Trail” with brochures and little museums on site (but most of those are closed).

It rained really hard that day as I traveled west from Jackson, such that when I arrived at my intended National Park campground near the Mississippi River it was completely underwater.  Had to find a cheap motel nearby, making sure it was far away from anything.

My second day on that trip I drove down part of the Great River Road (a state designated scenic highway), then tried to visit the BB King Museum (but it was closed that day). Then it was on to Arkansas.

On the return leg of my Deep South Tour, in early April, my first stop in Mississippi was the Museum of the Mississippi Delta which, while interesting, turned out not to be nearly as big a thing as the name implied.  The rest of that day I moseyed eastward until I came upon the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi’s answer to North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Parkway.  And a very nice thing it is.  I stayed the night at a National Forest campground off the parkway. 

The next morning I backtracked to the town of Vardaman, MS which bills itself as a the “Sweet Potato Capital of the World” (!) where there are stores specializing all sorts of sweet potato sweets and a festival the first weekend in November … oh well I missed that!

Next stop – Tupelo and Elvis Presley’s birthplace.  Worth the stop!  But it turns out you don’t actually have to make a separate trip to Tupelo to see this landmark.  Instead you can go to Graceland in Memphis, and get on the Graceland Excursions bus that will take you to Tupelo as a side trip.

In my case, once I was done with Pressley’s birthplace I headed east on I-22 onward to Alabama.