Mississippi Plane Coordinate System

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 89, ch. 6
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-1 Description of systems of plane coordinates.

The systems of plane coordinates established and maintained by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey (formerly the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey), or its successors, for defining and stating the geographic position or location of points on the surface of the earth within the State of Mississippi are hereafter to be known and designated as the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927 (MCS’27) and the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983 (MCS’83). These systems divide the area within the state into an “East Zone” and a “West Zone.” The area now included in the following eastern counties shall constitute the East Zone: Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leake, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Scott, Smith, Stone, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Wayne, Webster and Winston. The area now included in the following western counties shall constitute the West Zone: Adams, Amite, Bolivar, Carroll, Claiborne, Coahoma, Copiah, DeSoto, Franklin, Grenada, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Leflore, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Panola, Pike, Quitman, Rankin, Sharkey, Simpson, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wilkinson, Yalobusha and Yazoo. When any survey extends from one (1) into the other of the above coordinate zones, the position of all points involved may be referred to either of the two (2) zones.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-3 Plane coordinate values.

The plane coordinate values for a point on the earth’s surface, used to express the geographic position or location of such point in the appropriate zone of the systems described in Section 89-6-1, shall consist of two (2) distances expressed in U.S. Survey Feet and decimals of a foot when using the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927 and expressed in meters and decimals of a meter or U.S. Survey Feet and decimals of a foot when using the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983. One (1) of these distances, to be known as the “Y” or “N-coordinate,” shall give the position in a north and south direction; the other, to be known as the “X” or “E-coordinate,” shall give the position in an east and west direction. These coordinates shall be made to depend upon and conform to the plane rectangular coordinate values for the monumented points of the National Geodetic Reference System as published by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey (formerly the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey), or its successors, and whose plane coordinates have been computed on the system defined in this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-5 Definitions applicable to Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927.

For purposes of more precisely defining the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927, the following definition by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey) is adopted: The “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927 East Zone” is a transverse Mercator projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having a central meridian eighty-eight (88) degrees fifty (50) minutes west of Greenwich, on which meridian the scale is set at one (1) part in twenty-five thousand (25,000) too small. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian eighty-eight (88) degrees fifty (50) minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel twenty-nine (29) degrees forty (40) minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: X 500,000 feet and Y 0 feet. The “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927 West Zone” is a transverse Mercator projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having a central meridian ninety (90) degrees twenty (20) minutes west of Greenwich, on which meridian the scale is set at one (1) part in seventeen thousand (17,000) too small. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian ninety (90) degrees twenty (20) minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel thirty (30) degrees thirty (30) minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: X 500,000 feet and Y 0 feet.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-7 Definitions applicable to Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983.

For purposes of more precisely defining the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983, the following definition by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey is adopted: The “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983 East Zone” is a transverse Mercator projection of the North American Datum of 1983, having a central meridian of eighty-eight (88) degrees fifty (50) minutes west of Greenwich, on which meridian the scale is set at one (1) part in twenty thousand (20,000) too small. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian eighty-eight (88) degrees fifty (50) minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel twenty-nine (29) degrees thirty (30) minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: N 0 meters and E 300,000 meters. The “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983 West Zone” is a transverse Mercator projection of the North American Datum of 1983, having a central meridian ninety (90) degrees twenty (20) minutes west of Greenwich, on which meridian the scale is set at one (1) part in twenty thousand (20,000) too small. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian ninety (90) degrees twenty (20) minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel twenty-nine (29) degrees thirty (30) minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: N 0 meters and E 700,000 meters.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-9 Explanation of terms.

The use of the term “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927” (MCS’27) or “Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983” (MCS’83) on any map, report of survey, or other document shall be limited to coordinates based on the Mississippi coordinate systems as defined in this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-11 Recording coordinates; requirements for recognition.

No coordinates based on either Mississippi coordinate system, purporting to define the position of a point, shall be recorded on any plat or in any public record unless the coordinates are derived from an accurate connection to an identified existing or newly established permanently-monumented third order Class I(1:10,000) or higher order station of the National Geodetic Reference System. Standards and specifications of the Federal Geodetic Control Committee (FGCC) or its successor in force on the date of survey shall apply. Published existing control stations or the acceptance with intent to publish the newly established station by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Survey will constitute evidence of adherence to the FGCC specifications.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-13 Use of system of plane coordinates to describe location of point within state.

For purposes of describing the location of any point in the State of Mississippi, it shall be considered a complete, legal and satisfactory description of such location to give the position of such point on the system of plane coordinates defined in this chapter, provided the connection to the Mississippi Coordinate System is made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the standards of practice for surveying as adopted by the Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Whenever coordinates are affixed to any point which has previously been described by another system, the coordinates shall be construed as additional evidence of the location of the same point. In the event of any conflict as to the point or its location, the common rules of evidence shall be used to resolve the conflict. When used to reference the position of a point to be cited in recorded description of real property, the description must be written in a form that is tied to the existing land system.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-15 Effective date for usage of systems.

The Mississippi Coordinate System of 1927 shall not be used after December 31, 1999; the Mississippi Coordinate System of 1983 shall be the sole system after such date.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-17 Conversion of distances or coordinates between English and metric unit.

Any conversion of distances or coordinates between the English and metric unit shall be made using the following conversion factor: one (1) meter equals 3.280833333 1/3 U.S. Survey feet. A minimum of ten (10) significant figures shall be used when converting coordinates.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-6-19 Use of metes and bounds descriptions or lot and block descriptions.

No provision of this chapter shall prohibit or preclude the use of metes and bounds descriptions or lot and block descriptions.
Source: Public.Resource.Org MS CodeURL: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ms/transforms/ms/ocms/r78/gov.ms.code.title.89.htmlFetched: 6/10/2026

Starting a business in Mississippi? Mississippi LLC guide: costs and requirements