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Mississippi Gov. Reeves signed HB 188 mandating correctional-facility housing and restroom segregation by sex assigned at birth

On March 18, 2025, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 188, the "Dignity and Safety for Incarcerated Women Act," after it passed the House 103-4 on February 10, 2025 and the Senate 48-0 on March 7, 2025. The law defines "sex" in state corrections law as biological sex observed or verified at birth and requires restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters in Mississippi correctional facilities to be segregated on that basis rather than gender identity. It also creates a private civil cause of action letting an incarcerated person sue a facility for declaratory and injunctive relief if they encounter someone of the opposite biological sex in those spaces.

Jurisdiction
Mississippi
Location
Jackson, Mississippi

Abuses documented

Actors

On March 18, 2025, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 188, the "Dignity and Safety for Incarcerated Women Act," into law after it passed the state House 103-4 on February 10, 2025 and the Senate 48-0 on March 7, 2025. Sponsored by Rep. Gene Newman with drafting assistance from the Alliance Defending Freedom, the bill is a near-identical successor to Newman's 2024 House Bill 585, which carried the same title and provisions but did not become law.

The enacted law defines "sex" for Mississippi corrections purposes as "a person's biological sex, either male or female, as observed or clinically verified at birth," and requires every multi-occupancy restroom, changing room, and sleeping quarter in a state correctional facility to be designated for exclusive use by one sex under that definition. It bars incarcerated individuals from entering or being housed in a space designated for the opposite sex, with narrow exceptions for custodial, medical, and emergency purposes. The law separately creates a private civil cause of action: an incarcerated person who encounters someone of the opposite biological sex in a restroom or changing room, or who is required to share sleeping quarters with someone of the opposite biological sex in violation of the act, may sue the correctional facility for declaratory and injunctive relief and recover reasonable attorney fees. The law took effect July 1, 2025.

Why we recorded this

Equal protection bars government from classifying people to their disadvantage based on a protected characteristic. Mississippi's corrections law defines "sex" as the classification observed at birth and requires prison restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters to be assigned on that basis rather than gender identity, then gives inmates a right to sue over any deviation. By writing a birth-sex classification directly into state corrections law and attaching a private enforcement mechanism to it, the state uses its custodial authority to categorically restrict where transgender people are housed and where they may use basic facilities, regardless of individual circumstances.

Sources

  1. Mississippi HB188 | 2025 | Regular Session — LegiScan primary accessed July 12, 2026
  2. House Bill 188 (As Sent to Governor) - 2025 Regular Session — Mississippi Legislature primary accessed July 12, 2026
  3. Mississippi governor signs bill to protect women's safety, privacy at correctional facilities — Alliance Defending Freedom secondary accessed July 12, 2026
  4. Mississippi bill would let those incarcerated sue state over trans inmates — The Advocate secondary accessed July 12, 2026

See also