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Mississippi

In Mississippi, the statute of limitations on a written contract is 3 years under Miss. Code Ann. §§ 15-1-29, 15-1-49 (§ 15-1-49 quoted in O'Brien v. Pegues, Miss. Ct. App., 7 Sept. 2021).

Written contract

3 yr

Oral contract

3 yr

Open account

3 yr

Promissory note

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What the statute says

When does the clock start?

Three years from accrual. “The statute of limitations begins to run when the cause of action accrues, and the cause of action accrues when it comes into existence as an enforceable claim, that is, when the right to sue becomes vested” (Anderson v. LaVere, 136 So. 3d 404 (Miss. 2014), applied in Robinson v. Singh, Miss. Ct. App., 21 Apr. 2024). § 15-1-31, which governs when the period commences on an open account specifically, was not read and is not restated here. THREE TRAPS. An unwritten contract of EMPLOYMENT is one year, not three, under § 15-1-29. That section opens “Except as otherwise provided in the Uniform Commercial Code,” which routes negotiable instruments to § 75-3-118 — unread here, which is why the promissory-note column is blank. And the six-year figure aggregator tables carry for Mississippi is the pre-1990 § 15-1-49; it is wrong. NOTE ON THE SOURCE: Mississippi does not publish its own Code — the Legislature links out to LexisNexis, which serves no section text — so the citation above links to the Mississippi Court of Appeals’ opinion, which sets out § 15-1-49 in full; § 15-1-29 is reproduced in full by the Mississippi Supreme Court in Chimento v. Fuller (28 July 2006) at courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO43639.pdf.

What pauses it?

Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-73: an acknowledgment or new promise tolls only if it is in a writing signed by the party to be charged, and it must be definite and unequivocal — an oral promise does not toll (Culpepper Enterprises, Inc. v. Parker, Miss. Ct. App., 7 Aug. 2018). Whether a bare partial payment satisfies that writing requirement was not resolved at any source reachable here, which is why the partial-payment column is blank rather than true.

In practice

Mississippi does not publish its own Code. The Legislature's site links to the LexisNexis-published Mississippi Code at lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode/, which redirects to a JavaScript container carrying no statutory text and cannot be deep-linked to a section — the no-stable-official-URL case in editorial policy §2.3. The link on this row opens the Mississippi Court of Appeals' opinion in O'Brien v. Pegues (7 Sept. 2021) on the Judiciary's own server, which sets out § 15-1-49 in full. § 15-1-29 is reproduced in full by the Mississippi Supreme Court in Chimento v. Fuller (28 July 2006) at courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO43639.pdf: “Except as otherwise provided in the Uniform Commercial Code, actions on an open account or account stated not acknowledged in writing, signed by the debtor, and on any unwritten contract, express or implied, shall be commenced within three (3) years next after the cause of such action accrued, and not after, except that an action based on an unwritten contract of employment shall be commenced within one (1) year next after the cause of such action accrued, and not after.” THREE TRAPS. First, every column here is three years, which is right and is also the number aggregator tables most often get wrong for Mississippi — the six-year figure they carry is the pre-1990 § 15-1-49. Second, an unwritten contract of EMPLOYMENT is one year, not three. Third, § 15-1-29 opens “Except as otherwise provided in the Uniform Commercial Code,” which routes negotiable instruments to § 75-3-118; that section was not read, so the promissory-note column is blank rather than filled. The partial-payment column is blank for the same reason: § 15-1-73 requires a signed writing, and nothing reachable here decides whether a bare payment satisfies it.

Last reviewed 2026-07-27

This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.