Mississippi school security camera law

Does Mississippi require or allow cameras in schools?

Any local school district may use audio/visual-monitoring equipment in classrooms, hallways, buildings, grounds and buses for the purpose of monitoring school discipline problems; this is a permission, not a duty. The same wording was still the law going into the 2026 session. The current text of that section took effect July 1, 2024. The Department of Education may run a pilot program on using video cameras in classrooms.

Who inspects school cameras?

A certified threat assessment officer must inspect and assess each public school in the state every year. That assessment must include an inspection of surveillance equipment and building-specific floor plans. The findings and improvement plan go to local law enforcement agencies and the local school board within four weeks; this provision does not give police access to the video itself. The state School Safety Manual (guidance from the Department of Education) says that where a school needs a surveillance system, it shall be monitored and/or recorded, and district policy shall say whether it serves as a deterrent or a monitoring tool.

How long must districts keep camera footage?

The state records retention schedule for school districts sets a minimum of 30 days for non-evidentiary surveillance camera recordings in public buildings and vehicles. Evidentiary surveillance recordings must be kept at least one year after final disposition of the case. These periods are the minimum time a district must keep the footage. Records involved in an investigation or litigation must be kept until at least 12 months after the case and any appeals are settled, whatever the normal schedule says.

Is school camera footage a public record?

Under the Mississippi Public Records Act, "public records" include photographs, films, tapes and recordings in any physical form that a public body uses or keeps, so school camera footage falls within the definition; whether an exemption applies is a separate question. The Act's definition of "public body" includes the governing board of a charter school. School safety plan documents that contain the preventive services listed in the school safety grant law, which include cameras, are exempt from the Public Records Act. 2025 SB 2181, which reenacted that exemption, was approved by the Governor on April 10, 2025. Under federal FERPA guidance, surveillance video that a school's law enforcement unit creates and keeps for a law enforcement purpose is not an education record.

How can schools pay for cameras?

Mississippi has a School Safety Grant Program within the State Department of Education for eligible public school districts. The program offers its listed preventive services only to the extent appropriations are available. One listed service is video surveillance cameras, communications equipment and monitoring equipment for classrooms, school buildings, school grounds and school buses. Each district may apply for school safety grant funds every year, subject to appropriations by the Legislature. The fiscal year 2026 Department of Education budget sets aside $1,400,000 for "the continuation of the current school safety platform"; the line does not name cameras or the grant program. That budget bill (2025 First Extraordinary Session HB 42) was approved by the Governor on June 17, 2025.

Have lawmakers tried to require cameras in special education classrooms?

Yes, but the bills died. 2026 HB 1248 would have required districts to install cameras with audio in each self-contained classroom that gives daily instruction to an exceptional child. It would have let only the superintendent, the principal and licensed staff in that building view the footage. HB 1248 died in committee on February 3, 2026. The same mandate was filed in 2025 as HB 791, which died in committee on February 4, 2025.

Have lawmakers tried to give police access to school cameras?

Yes, through Alyssa's Law bills that died in committee. 2026 HB 1549 would have required districts and charter schools to make cameras accessible to local law enforcement and emergency response agencies; it died on February 3, 2026. 2026 SB 2498 would have required school districts and charter schools to make cameras accessible to a local law enforcement agency; it died on February 3, 2026. 2025 SB 2534 would have required school districts to make cameras accessible to local law enforcement; it died on February 4, 2025. 2025 HB 1281 carried the same camera-access requirement; it died on February 4, 2025.