The Eichelberger Law Firm, PLLC

09/04/2026

A misdemeanor in Mississippi can actually be tried in four different places: municipal court, justice court, county court, or circuit court. Here's why. The initial case starts at either the justice court or municipal court level. If it's appealed, it goes to county court or circuit court, depending on which county you're in, since not every Mississippi county has a county court. Where there isn't one, appeals go straight to circuit court instead. We'll cover the appeals process itself in a separate video, this one's just about that initial level.

09/03/2026

What counts as a misdemeanor in Mississippi? Traffic tickets, possession of a small amount of ma*****na (less than an ounce) including in a vehicle, public drunkenness, resisting arrest, failure to comply, simple assault, first and second offense DUI, trespassing, and minor shoplifting offenses all fall into this category. Possession of a small amount of drugs other than ma*****na can sometimes be charged as a misdemeanor too, though that's rare, those cases are usually handled as felonies. Once you're charged with a misdemeanor, you'll be in either justice court for the county where you were charged, or municipal court.

09/02/2026

If you're charged with a misdemeanor in Mississippi, you'll end up in either municipal court or justice court, and which one depends entirely on which law enforcement agency handled your case, not where it happened. If a municipal police department makes the arrest or writes the citation, you're in that city's municipal court. But if a county sheriff's department makes the exact same arrest, even inside city limits, you're in that county's justice court instead. Highway Patrol and game wardens also send cases to justice court. So the same conduct, in the same location, can land in two completely different courts depending on which agency was involved.

09/01/2026

In Mississippi's justice and municipal courts, the judge is almost always the one deciding the facts of a case, not a jury, and that's true about 99% of the time. Municipal court judges are required to be licensed attorneys, who have attended law school and passed the bar exam. Municipal judges are appointed by the mayor/city council. Justice court judges have a different path. They aren't required to hold a law license. The requirements are a high school diploma or its equivalent, and being elected by the voters. A justice court judge can also go on to serve as a municipal court judge as well.

08/27/2026

DUI non-adjudication in Mississippi involves more than just the license impact. The first thing to know about is MASEP, the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program. It's mandatory, everyone doing a non-adjudication has to complete it. When you're in court, you'll be given an order laying out exactly what day you're supposed to start.

08/26/2026

If your license gets suspended after a DUI stop in Mississippi, you do have the right to challenge it. You'll get what's called a 10 day letter, and it does two things: it tells you when the suspension starts, and it gives you a 10 day window, starting from the date of the letter itself, not the date you receive it, to file a challenge arguing the officer didn't have probable cause to ask for the breath test. That puts a judge directly in the position of reviewing the officer's probable cause.

08/20/2026

Almost everybody knows .08. It is the number people plan around, argue about, and assume is the line.

If the driver is under 21 in Mississippi, it is the wrong number.

A driver under 21 can be charged under Mississippi's Zero Tolerance for Minors law at a BAC well below .08. The same reading that sends an adult home from that traffic stop with no DUI at all can put a 20 year old into a charge. And the threshold is low enough that a single drink puts a lot of people past it.

That is the trap. Not that minors get treated more harshly on penalties, because in that window they actually get some grace. The trap is that the door to a charge opens much earlier for them, and most young drivers have no idea it exists.

If you have a kid who just went off to school, this is the conversation worth having this week.

08/19/2026

Parents hear that Mississippi's Zero Tolerance for Minors law carries a lighter penalty than a standard DUI and understandably exhale. That relief is real, and it is also narrower than it sounds.

Inside that window, the statute genuinely gives ground. There is a meaningful piece of exposure an adult faces at .08 or above that simply is not available against a driver under 21 in that range. The fine is fixed too, and I mean fixed. Not a range a judge works within, one number, no movement in either direction. That is unusual in criminal sentencing and worth understanding.

Here is the part that gets missed. Everything else that comes with a DUI still comes with this one. Court costs. License suspension, which gets worse with each subsequent offense. It goes on the criminal record and the driving record. Insurance rates move. And for a college student who is pre-med, headed to law school, or aiming at any licensed profession, this shows up later at exactly the moment it is least welcome.

On repeat offenses in that same window the statute keeps escalating the fine rather than escalating the way an adult DUI escalates, which is its own important distinction if a second one happens.

So yes, there is some grace built into the law for drivers under 21. Grace is not the same thing as no consequences. Full breakdown of both sides in the video.

08/18/2026

If your kid is under 21 and facing a DUI in Mississippi, the first thing to figure out is which DUI you are actually dealing with. They are not all the same, and the difference is not a matter of degree.

Mississippi's statute has tiers, and the most serious tier is not available against a driver under 21 whose BAC falls below a certain number. Below that line, the charge is a violation of Mississippi's Zero Tolerance for Minors law, which carries its own set of rules that look nothing like a standard DUI.

Worth saying plainly: an officer can allege whatever they are willing to swear to, and a judge who finds probable cause will sign the warrant. What ends up on the charging document is not the same as what the State can prove. But the statute itself sets real limits on where this can go, and knowing those limits early changes how you approach the whole case.

One minute, and it is the piece parents most often get wrong.

08/17/2026

Under 21 and facing a DUI in Mississippi? The rules aren't the same as they are for an adult. Mississippi's Zero Tolerance for Minors law covers a specific BAC range with its own penalties, no jail time, but a fixed fine and the same lasting record consequences. Here's what every parent and young driver should know.

Mississippi's Zero Tolerance for Minors law creates a separate BAC threshold and penalty structure for drivers under 21. No jail time, a fixed $250 fine, but the same license and record consequences. Here's how it actually works.