Mississippi CLE Requirements: Hours, Ethics, and Carryover

To stay compliant with Mississippi CLE requirements, every active attorney must complete 12 hours of approved continuing legal education each CLE year, including at least one hour in ethics or professionalism, and file an annual report with the Commission on Continuing Legal Education by August 15. The CLE year runs August 1 through July 31.¹

Hours and the Ethics Requirement

Rule 3 sets the minimum at 12 approved hours per CLE year. One of those hours must cover ethics, professional responsibility, professionalism, malpractice prevention, substance abuse, or mental health.¹ A credit hour equals 60 minutes of instruction.²

The Six-Hour Distance Learning Cap

Mississippi limits online and pre-recorded CLE to six hours per year. The cap covers every distance format: live webcasts, on-demand programs, teleconferences, satellite broadcasts, and video replays. Your required ethics hour can come from a distance program and count toward the six, but anything beyond six distance hours won’t apply to your annual total and can’t be carried over.³ In practice, at least half of your yearly CLE has to come from live, in-person programs.

The CLE Year and August 15 Report

Under Rule 5, every non-exempt attorney must file a written annual report with the Commission by August 15, covering the CLE year that just closed on July 31.¹ That leaves about two weeks after the year ends to reconcile your hours and submit.

A late report carries a $25 fee, and the Commission treats a late report submitted without the fee as though it was never filed.¹

Carryover Credits

If you finish a CLE year with more than 12 hours, you can carry up to 12 excess hours into the following year. The extra hours have to be reported on the compliance report for the year you actually earned them, and you need to designate them as carryover when you file.¹

Ethics hours work differently. Ethics hours beyond the one required for the current year don’t carry forward as ethics credit. They can roll over as general hours, but you still owe a fresh ethics hour the next year.³ Stacking ethics credit in one year won’t cover you for the next.

Teaching and Law School Coursework

Teaching an approved CLE program counts, and the credit depends on the written materials. A presentation with thorough written materials earns six CLE hours for each hour taught. A presentation with only a brief outline or no written materials earns three hours per teaching hour. Repeat presentations earn half the credit of the initial one. The teaching cap is 12 hours per CLE year, and you cannot claim credit if you’re compensated beyond reimbursement of expenses.³

Law school work also counts. Auditing or enrolling in a course at an ABA- or AALS-accredited law school earns four CLE hours per academic credit hour, up to 12 CLE hours per year. Teaching a law school course earns six CLE hours per academic credit hour the school awards.³

New Lawyers: The Bridge the Gap Program

Newly admitted Mississippi attorneys have a one-time requirement on top of the annual 12 hours. Under Rule 3, they must complete 12 hours through the Bridge the Gap program, split evenly between six hours of basic skills and six hours of ethics and professionalism.⁴

The deadline is the end of the second CLE year after admission. An attorney admitted in October 2025, for example, would have until July 31, 2027 to finish.⁴

Attorneys already admitted elsewhere and actively practicing for at least five years can skip the basic skills half. To claim that exemption, file an affidavit with the Commission within three months of Mississippi admission listing every state of admission and your practice history. If accepted, you only need the six-hour ethics and professionalism component, and you must finish it within nine months of admission. Miss the three-month affidavit window and you owe the full 12 hours.⁴

Who Is Exempt

Rule 2 exempts several categories of attorneys from the annual CLE requirement:

Bar members on and after their 70th birthday.
Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Court of Appeals judges, and Circuit, Chancery, and County judges, along with U.S. Magistrate Judges, Bankruptcy Court judges, and Federal Court judges. Judges are still encouraged to participate.
Resident and non-resident attorneys licensed in Mississippi but not engaged in the practice of law in the state.

If you qualify for an exemption, confirm your status is reflected in Bar records. An out-of-date status can pull you into enforcement even when the rule doesn’t apply to you.

What Happens If You Fall Short

After August 15 the Commission builds three lists: attorneys who filed and are compliant, attorneys who filed but reported a shortfall, and attorneys who didn’t file. Anyone on the last two lists receives a certified-mail Order to Show Cause and has 60 days to respond with an affidavit either documenting completed hours or explaining good cause, such as illness.¹

If the 60 days lapse without a satisfactory response, the Commission notifies the Mississippi Supreme Court and can recommend sanctions, including license suspension. The Commission and the Court can also assess costs, and those fees can increase for attorneys non-compliant across two consecutive CLE years. An attorney who later files a satisfactory affidavit of compliance can be recommended for reinstatement.¹

Filing the Annual Report

The Commission runs an online attorney portal for reporting courses, uploading certificates, and paying fees.⁵ Your report has to list every approved program you attended during the CLE year, with general and ethics hours broken out separately. Any hours you want to carry forward must be designated as carryover on the same report.¹

Keep your certificates of attendance. The Commission can ask for documentation to verify your report, and sponsors don’t always keep records indefinitely. Filing through the portal creates an immediate digital record and generally moves faster than a mailed paper form.

1
Mississippi Judiciary. Mississippi Rules and Regulations for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
2
American Bar Association. Mississippi CLE Requirements and Courses
3
Mississippi Judiciary. CLE Frequently Asked Questions
4
The Mississippi Bar. Bridge the Gap: Rule 3 – New Lawyer Program
5
Mississippi Judiciary. Continuing Legal Education