The legality of selling alcoholic beverages in Mississippi differs by county. Since 1966, when the statewide prohibition on alcohol was lifted, each of Mississippi's 82 counties has had the power to decide by referendum whether to allow alcohol sales (to become a "wet" county) or to forbid them (remain "dry"). As of August 2025, there are 51 wet counties, 26 counties that are dry except for the county seat and other specific municipalities, three counties where one judicial district is dry and the other is wet, one county that is dry outside of specific businesses exempted by the state legislature (Greene County), and one dry county with no exceptions (Benton County).
Separately, cities and counties may choose whether or not to allow the sale of beer, wine coolers, and other beverages with an alcohol content by weight of less than five percent, which have been legal in the state since 1934."Beer, Alcohol, and Tobacco FAQs", Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved August 27, 2025. As of August 2025, seven counties allow beer while remaining at least partially dry for liquor, while five counties and two judicial districts maintain the prohibition on beer in some areas while allowing liquor sales.
Up until 2020, counties which forbid the sale of alcoholic beverages also forbid the possession of such beverages. This changed with the passage of House Bill 1087, which made the possession of alcohol legal in every part of the state, regardless of whether alcohol sales were allowed there or not. This law took effect on January 1, 2021.Thrailkill, Laurel. "Prohibition officially ends in Mississippi", Picayune Item, July 11, 2020, Web.
History Origins and national Prohibition (1886–1933) As of 1880, county-level bans on the sale of alcohol had been enacted in 11 counties in Mississippi.Perlman, Elisabeth, and Casey Petroff. "What Motivates Activism? Evaluating the American Prohibition Movement", Harvard University Department of Government. In 1886, the Mississippi state legislature passed a local option law, allowing counties to hold a referendum to decide whether to prohibit the sale of alcohol."Historical and Statistical Information", Mississippi Blue Book, page 712. By 1890, Mississippi had more dry counties than any state where alcohol was not banned entirely.Andrews, Kenneth T., and Charles Seguin. "Group Threat and Policy Change: The Spatial Dynamics of Prohibition Politics, 1890–1919", American Journal of Sociology 121:2, September 2015, page 490. By the time a statewide ban was considered, 69 of Mississippi's 76 then-existing counties had voted for prohibition.Foxcroft, Frank. "Prohibition in the South", The Atlantic, May 1908, pages 627–634.
On December 31, 1908, the state government revoked all liquor licenses in Mississippi, effectively making the sale of alcohol illegal statewide, but not its possession, consumption, manufacture, distribution, or use as medicine. The law was poorly enforced in its first decade, due to the ease of importing alcohol from other states. The state legislature responded by making it a criminal offense to transport liquor over a distance greater than 100 feet, but illegal saloons remained widespread.Cresswell, Stephen. "The Era of Verdaman and Bilbo", Rednecks, Redeemers, and Race: Mississippi After Reconstruction, 1877-1917, University Press of Mississippi, 2021, page 219–220.
When the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was introduced, proposing to ban the sale and manufacture of alcohol nationwide, Mississippi became the first state to ratify the amendment on January 7, 1918. The state legislature approved the amendment on the first day of its legislative session and with less than 20 minutes of debate before doing so. The National Prohibition Act took effect on January 17, 1920, one year after the amendment was added to the Constitution.
Dry state (1933–1965) Prohibition at the national level ended on December 5, 1933, with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment. Mississippi was not one of the 38 states to ratify the amendment, and the previously existing state laws banning alcohol were not affected by the repeal of national Prohibition. However, the Mississippi law lacked enforcement at the state level, so when federal enforcement ended, it was left to county and district officials to prosecute alcohol offenses."Prohibition Will Be Ended Officially Tonight When Utah Declares For Repeal: No Celebration in Mississippi Today", Biloxi–Gulfport Daily Herald, December 5, 1933, front page.
The sale of beer and light wine, then legally defined as having an alcohol content by weight of four percent or less, was made legal in all parts of Mississippi on February 26, 1934.Farrington, Sam S. "Signing of Beer Bill Starts Flow Over Mississippi", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, February 27, 1934, front page and page seven. The law provided for counties to hold a referendum once every five years on whether to continue allowing the sale of beer, as well as for a statewide referendum on the question of legalizing hard liquor. If the referendum question had been approved by a majority of Mississippi voters, it would have created a state liquor commission, responsible for state-owned liquor stores located only in those counties where a majority voted "yes". The statewide referendum was held on July 10, 1934, and legal liquor was rejected by a wide margin. Additionally, Jefferson Davis County scheduled its beer referendum on the same date, becoming the first county in Mississippi to re-prohibit beer."Mississippi Votes Dry by 2 to 1", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, July 11, 1934, front page.
By October 1937, a beer referendum had been held in 45 of Mississippi's 82 counties, with 42 voting to ban it and three choosing to allow its continued sale.Associated Press. "More Beer Being Sold Despite Votes To Prohibit It", Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald, October 22, 1937, front page. The state legislature modified the law in 1950 to allow cities with a population of 2,500 or more to hold a beer referendum separately from the surrounding county.Associated Press. "Road Program Gets Approval of Committee", via the Vicksburg Post, March 23, 1950, front page. In 1956, the possession of any quantity of beer in counties where it could not be sold was banned. At that time, 53 counties had voted to outlaw beer (with the exception of two cities inside those counties that had re-legalized it), while 29 counties continued to allow it."Signs Measure Outlawing Beer In Dry Counties", Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald, February 22, 1956, front page.
Beginning on April 1, 1944, Mississippi House Bill 892 levied a 10 percent tax on "any tangible property, articles or commodities whatsoever, the sale or distribution of which is prohibited by law"."Mississippi Reaps $30,000 From First Month's Tax Collections On 'Black Market' Whiskey", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, May 21, 1944, front page. Commonly known as the "black market tax" or "bootleg tax", this law was understood at the time to refer primarily to the sale of liquor. The National Tax Association observed that it was "unique in the annals of American state taxation" and that "except as a form of legal blackmail, it is difficult to see how such a tax can be effectively administered".Watson, George H. "1944 State Tax Legislation", Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation under the Auspices of the National Tax Association, Volume 37, 1944, page 4. However, in its first month, the tax collected revenues of $29,111 () from an estimated 1,000 illegal liquor dealers and sellers of other illegal goods.
The responsibility of collecting the black market tax receipts belonged to the Mississippi State Tax Collector's office, and the State Tax Collector and their staff were paid on commission, being given 10 percent of the proceeds for their work. After William F. Winter was appointed as collector in 1956, the state grew more efficient in levying the tax. Winter's office paid the state of Louisiana for the names of Mississippi residents who legally purchased liquor in Louisiana, then visited those persons to demand a payment of $4.20 () for each case of liquor. With the help of Winter's renewed enforcement, the state collected liquor taxes of $1.3 million in 1958 (equivalent to $ million in ). Winter personally received as much as $81,000 per year in commissions (), making him the second-highest-paid public official in the United States, behind only the President's $100,000 salary.Bolton, Charles C. "State Politics and Civil Rights", William F. Winter and the New Mississippi: A Biography, University Press of Mississippi, 2013, pages 104–108.
Another referendum on the legalization of alcohol was held on August 26, 1952. The majority again voted against liquor, although by a smaller margin than in 1934. Legalization received majority support in 15 of Mississippi's 82 counties, according to preliminary returns."Drys And Incumbents Win Election Battles", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, August 27, 1952, front page. The state legislature again considered a local option system in 1960,Herbers, John. "Delay Vote On Liquor Bill", Delta Democrat-Times, March 9, 1960, front page. but the bill lost momentum after the high-profile fatal shooting of Marion County sheriff J. V. Polk, believed to have been committed by liquor bootleggers."Kill Marion County Sheriff, Question Bootleggers", Hattiesburg American, April 23, 1960, front page. A two-question referendum was authorized by the state legislature in 1964, which would have asked voters first whether prohibition should be repealed, and then whether liquor stores should be state-owned or privately-owned if repeal was successful. Governor Paul B. Johnson Jr. vetoed the bill, taking issue with the provision that only those who voted for repeal could vote on the second question.
Repeal (1966) On February 2, 1966, Governor Johnson spoke before the Mississippi Legislature, recommending a referendum that would end the state's confusing and poorly enforced system of prohibition. The referendum, at first scheduled for March 15, would give residents the choice between legalizing the sale of alcohol or fully enforcing a continued ban. This was the first time that a Mississippi governor had taken such a position since statewide prohibition was introduced in 1909.Saggus, James. "Johnson Shatters Liquor Precedent", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, February 3, 1966, front page and page 11 C.
Johnson's proposal became more urgent on the night of February 4, when a high-profile liquor raid was carried out by Hinds County deputy sheriff Tom Shelton at the Jackson Country Club. Since being granted the power to enforce the law by Sheriff Fred Pickett in 1965, Shelton had become one of the state's few strict enforcers of the liquor law.Chaze, William L. "Hinds Becomes State's Most Dry County During Year", Jackson Clarion-Ledger, January 2, 1966, page 3 F. At first, this enforcement applied mostly to roadhouses in the rural part of the county with predominantly black customers, but Shelton grew determined to enforce the law against the wealthy white citizens of the state capital as well.Green, Joseph Stone. The Last Drinking Drys: The Repeal of Prohibition in Mississippi in 1966, University of Mississippi, December 2008. The Country Club raid, seizing bottles of champagne and breaking up a reception attended by Governor Johnson, William Winter, and many other prominent Mississippians, drew even greater attention to the poor enforcement of the laws in the rest of the state.Nash, Jere, and Andy Taggart. "Liquor and Gambling in Mississippi, 1989–1990: The Prelude", Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976–2006, University Press of Mississippi, 2006, pages 212–3.