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Mississippi · Snapshot Mississippi Code Release 78 (2020-07), retrieved 2026-09-17

Miss. Code Ann. § 97-21-33: Penalty for forgery.

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. Title 97. Crimes
  2. Chapter 21. Forgery and Counterfeiting
  3. Article 1. General Provisions.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section for offenses under Sections 97-21-13, 97-21-15, 97-21-17 and 97-21-23, a person convicted of forgery shall be punished as follows:

(a) When the amount of value involved is under One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than six (6) months, or by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both, if the court finds substantial and compelling reasons why the offender cannot be safely and effectively supervised in the community, is not amenable to community-based treatment, or poses a significant risk to public safety. If such a finding is not made, the court shall suspend the sentence of imprisonment and impose a period of probation not exceeding one (1) year or a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both. A person convicted of a third or subsequent offense under this paragraph (a), where the value of the property is not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), shall be punished by imprisonment in the Penitentiary for a term not exceeding three (3) years or by a fine not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both.

(b) When the amount of value involved is One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or more but less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), by imprisonment in the Penitentiary for a term not more than five (5) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(c) When the amount of value involved is Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or more, but less than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), by imprisonment in the Penitentiary for a term not exceeding ten (10) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(d) When the amount of value involved is Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or more, by imprisonment in the Penitentiary for a term not exceeding twenty (20) years, or be fined not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(2) A person convicted of forgery under any of the following: Section 97-21-13, relating to counterfeiting of currency or treasury notes of the United States; Section 97-21-15, relating to the counterfeiting of currency of a foreign government; Section 97-21-17, relating to possession of counterfeited currency; or Section 97-21-23, relating to engraving or possessing a plate to counterfeit certain notes, bills, drafts, checks and other evidence of debt, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished as follows:

(a) When the amount of value involved is less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not more than five (5) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both;

(b) When the amount of value involved is Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or more, but less than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not exceeding ten (10) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both;

(c) When the amount of value involved is Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or more, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty (20) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(3) The total value of the forgery by the person from a single victim shall be aggregated in determining the gravity of the offense.

Collected 2026-10-27T05:55:07Z. Source file · JSON

Compilation CC BY 4.0, Open US Law (Vaquill AI). GroundRules uses only the releases published under CC BY 4.0: from v2026.09 the compilation is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, and GroundRules does not use those releases. Each affected row names its release in its vintage label. GroundRules parsed and filtered the compilation to retain enacted text. Source · License

Mississippi electronic product files were republished by Public.Resource.Org under a public-domain dedication. GroundRules uses enacted text from Release 78 only as a labeled supplement to the newer Open US Law rows. Source

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