Mississippi state holidays 2026: the ten paid days

Mississippi state employees receive ten paid legal holidays in 2026, listed in Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7. The list is unusual in two ways. Two of the ten dates each carry two names — Robert E. Lee's Birthday shares January 19 with Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, and Jefferson Davis' Birthday shares May 25 with National Memorial Day. And two days that are named in Mississippi law, Elvis Presley Day and Hernando de Soto Day, are explicitly not legal holidays.

The 2026 schedule

Ten paid holidays under Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7. The names are given here as the statute gives them, because in Mississippi the official name is often two holidays in one line.

Two dates, two names each

Mississippi does not keep separate days for these pairs — it combines them, which is the single most confusing thing about the state's calendar.

January 19, 2026 is both Robert E. Lee's Birthday and Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. Alabama is the only other state that combines the two, and its arrangement is slightly different. In Mississippi they share the third Monday in January.

May 25, 2026 is both National Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis' Birthday — the last Monday in May. This is the arrangement that predates the federal Memorial Day Act: the day was a Mississippi state holiday for Davis before it became a national one, and the state kept both names rather than dropping either.

One day does stand alone: Confederate Memorial Day, the last Monday in April, which in 2026 is April 27. It is a paid state holiday. Several other states have the day on their books in some form; Mississippi and a handful of others are the ones where it still closes offices.

Two days that sound like holidays and are not

Mississippi law names a number of days that are not holidays at all, and the statute is unusually blunt about it. § 3-3-7 provides that Elvis Presley Day (August 16) and Hernando de Soto Day (May 8) "shall not be recognized as a legal holiday."

The Presley day is the one that causes confusion, partly because August 16 is a genuine observance in Tupelo and Memphis and partly because a lot of calendars list it among Mississippi holidays without the qualification. Nothing closes. The statute's own wording is the answer to any argument about it.

Hernando de Soto Day on May 8 is the same situation: a named day of recognition, not a day off. It marks the Spanish expedition that crossed the region in 1540–42.

Not on the list: Juneteenth and Columbus Day

Mississippi's paid list has ten entries and neither of these is among them.

Juneteenth — a federal holiday since 2021, and the one with the strongest local roots anywhere, since the events it marks happened at Galveston on the far side of the same region. It does not appear in § 3-3-7, so state offices are open on Friday, June 19, 2026.

Columbus Day — on the federal list and on the calendar of most states, but not in Mississippi's statute. State offices are open on Monday, October 12, 2026. Note that the state names its February holiday Washington's Birthday rather than Presidents' Day, matching the federal statute.

The weekend rule, and the one date that is not settled

Mississippi's statute handles Sundays directly: a holiday falling on a Sunday means the following day is also a legal holiday. Saturday is a different story — § 3-3-7 leaves a Saturday holiday to be observed as declared by the Governor, rather than fixing the rule in law.

That matters in 2026, because July 4 falls on a Saturday. The state's published sources set out the rule but do not name an observed date, so this page shows July 4 as the holiday and does not assert a day it cannot source. If you need to know whether state offices are shut on Friday, July 3 or Monday, July 6, check the Governor's proclamation for the year.

Thanksgiving is worth a note for the same reason: it is set by gubernatorial proclamation that follows the President's proclamation, rather than by a fixed weekday written into the statute. In practice that always lands on the fourth Thursday in November — November 26 in 2026 — but the mechanism is a proclamation rather than a date in the code.

If you are not a state employee

Mississippi's ten days govern state government offices. Private employers are not bound by them — the Fair Labor Standards Act requires no paid holidays in the private sector, so which of these days you actually get depends on your employer.

Banks follow the Federal Reserve rather than the state list, which in Mississippi produces a fairly wide gap: a branch is typically closed on Juneteenth and Columbus Day, when state offices are open, and open on Confederate Memorial Day, when they are closed.

For anything that hinges on a specific office being shut — a courthouse filing, a licence renewal, a state agency appointment — the state's own published holiday schedule is the only safe check, because the county-level rules are not always identical to the state's.

Frequently asked questions

How many state holidays does Mississippi have in 2026?

Ten paid legal holidays, listed in Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7.

Why is Robert E. Lee's Birthday on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

Mississippi combines the two into a single holiday on the third Monday in January, which in 2026 is January 19. Alabama is the only other state that combines them.

When is Confederate Memorial Day in Mississippi in 2026?

Monday, April 27 — the last Monday in April. It is a paid state holiday, so state offices close.

Is Elvis Presley Day a Mississippi state holiday?

No. Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7 explicitly provides that Elvis Presley Day on August 16 shall not be recognized as a legal holiday. Nothing closes.

Does Mississippi observe Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is a federal holiday but is not on Mississippi's paid state holiday list, so state offices remain open. It falls on Friday, June 19 in 2026.

Does Mississippi observe Columbus Day?

No. Columbus Day is not in the state's holiday statute, so state offices are open on the second Monday in October.

What happens when a Mississippi state holiday falls on a weekend?

A Sunday holiday carries over to the following Monday by statute. A Saturday holiday is observed as declared by the Governor — the rule is not fixed in law, so the observed date varies.

Is Hernando de Soto Day a holiday in Mississippi?

No. May 8 is named in the statute as a day of recognition, but § 3-3-7 states it shall not be recognized as a legal holiday.

Official sources

• Mississippi Secretary of State — State Holidays — the holiday list and the text of § 3-3-7
• Mississippi State Personnel Board — FY2026 Employee Handbook (§3.1 Holidays) — "state employees receive regular pay for ten legal holidays"
• Mississippi Courts — State Holiday Schedule — judicial-branch closure list
• Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-7 — Legal holidays — the statute itself, including the Elvis Presley Day and de Soto Day exclusions
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Federal Holidays — the federal list Mississippi is compared against

Last verified against official sources on September 29, 2026.