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

Miss. Code Ann. § 97-31-33: Sale, possession, etc. of intoxicating beverages prohibited; exceptions; records to be kept by carrier; exceptions may be relied upon as defense.

Nothing in this chapter shall make it unlawful:
(a) For any minister or priest of any religious sect or denomination in actual charge of a church, religious order or congregation to order, purchase, and have shipped, transported and delivered, wine for sacramental purposes, nor for any common carrier to ship, transport, carry or deliver wine for said purposes to any such minister or priest, nor for any such minister or priest to have, receive, control or possess wine for sacramental purposes, but the said wine shall remain in the possession of such minister or priest save when the wine is being administered in the sacramental service or in the service in commemoration of the Lord’s Supper.
(b) For any practicing physician, who is the sole proprietor of a drugstore, any licensed druggist, wholesale druggist, pharmacist, manufacturer, college, medical or pharmaceutical college, public or charity hospital, or state institution or chemists or bacteriologists, to order, purchase and have shipped and delivered, or to have, receive and possess, nor for any common carrier to transport, ship and deliver to any of said persons, firms, corporations or institutions grain or pure alcohol for any purpose now permitted by the laws of the state, to any such person, college, hospital, or institution, and to be used only for medicinal, mechanical, and scientific purposes not contravening in any way the prohibition laws of this state. Nor for any dentist to order, purchase, nor for any dentist to have, control, receive and possess alcohol as is herein provided in the case of a physician.
(c) But, records shall be kept by the carrier, or delivering party, of such wines for sacramental purposes, and of all such alcohol and statement thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court as provided by law.
(d) The exceptions defined in this section may be relied upon as a defense and the burden of establishing the same shall be upon the person claiming the benefits thereof.

Where this section sits in the code

Title 97. Crimes
Chapter 31. Intoxicating Beverage Offenses

Nothing in this chapter shall make it unlawful:

(a) For any minister or priest of any religious sect or denomination in actual charge of a church, religious order or congregation to order, purchase, and have shipped, transported and delivered, wine for sacramental purposes, nor for any common carrier to ship, transport, carry or deliver wine for said purposes to any such minister or priest, nor for any such minister or priest to have, receive, control or possess wine for sacramental purposes, but the said wine shall remain in the possession of such minister or priest save when the wine is being administered in the sacramental service or in the service in commemoration of the Lord’s Supper.

(b) For any practicing physician, who is the sole proprietor of a drugstore, any licensed druggist, wholesale druggist, pharmacist, manufacturer, college, medical or pharmaceutical college, public or charity hospital, or state institution or chemists or bacteriologists, to order, purchase and have shipped and delivered, or to have, receive and possess, nor for any common carrier to transport, ship and deliver to any of said persons, firms, corporations or institutions grain or pure alcohol for any purpose now permitted by the laws of the state, to any such person, college, hospital, or institution, and to be used only for medicinal, mechanical, and scientific purposes not contravening in any way the prohibition laws of this state. Nor for any dentist to order, purchase, nor for any dentist to have, control, receive and possess alcohol as is herein provided in the case of a physician.

(c) But, records shall be kept by the carrier, or delivering party, of such wines for sacramental purposes, and of all such alcohol and statement thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court as provided by law.

(d) The exceptions defined in this section may be relied upon as a defense and the burden of establishing the same shall be upon the person claiming the benefits thereof.

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

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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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