---
type: "Bill"
title: "Department of Marine Resources; update authority regarding regulation of oyster beds and water bottoms."
description: "Department of Marine Resources; update authority regarding regulation of oyster beds and water bottoms."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ms"
legislature: "Mississippi Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 2544"
citation: "Mississippi SB 2544 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Marine Resources", "Ports and Marine Resources"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Thompson"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 26
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-01-16T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-17T05:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fb14ce93-14a9-4911-9ccf-8c0a54794cf6"
source_url: "http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2023/pdf/House_authors/Moran.xml"
source_hash: "63182379750154149896ecda4b9128fabb328df1ebcd02e5b01f8dedf6fb8354"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ms"]
---

# Mississippi SB 2544 (2023) — Department of Marine Resources; update authority regarding regulation of oyster beds and water bottoms.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/SB/2500-2599/SB2544IN.htm)
2. **Amendment No 1 (Adopted) (Voice Vote)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/pdf/ham/SB2544_H_Amend_01.pdf)
3. **Amendment Report for Senate Bill No. 2544** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/pdf/ham/Amendment_Report_for_SB2544.pdf)
4. **As Passed the upper** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/SB/2500-2599/SB2544PS.htm)
5. **Current version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/SB/2500-2599/SB2544SG.htm)

## Votes

- Adopt Conference Report — **113–4** (pass) · lower
- Adopt Conference Report — **52–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage as Amended — **119–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage as Amended — **51–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Thompson — primary (person)
- Moran — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-16T06:00:00+00:00** Referred To Ports and Marine Resources `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-31T06:00:00+00:00** Title Suff Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-09T06:00:00+00:00** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-09T06:00:00+00:00** Passed As Amended `passage`
- **2023-02-13T06:00:00+00:00** Transmitted To House `introduction`
- **2023-02-14T06:00:00+00:00** Referred To Marine Resources `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-22T06:00:00+00:00** Title Suff Do Pass As Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-01T06:00:00+00:00** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2023-03-01T06:00:00+00:00** Passed As Amended `passage`
- **2023-03-02T06:00:00+00:00** Returned For Concurrence
- **2023-03-14T05:00:00+00:00** Decline to Concur/Invite Conf
- **2023-03-15T05:00:00+00:00** Conferees Named Moran,Thompson,England
- **2023-03-17T05:00:00+00:00** Conferees Named Ladner,Felsher,Crawford
- **2023-03-23T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Filed
- **2023-03-23T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Filed
- **2023-03-25T05:00:00+00:00** Recommitted For Further Conf
- **2023-03-25T05:00:00+00:00** Recommitted For Further Conf
- **2023-03-26T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Filed
- **2023-03-26T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Filed
- **2023-03-27T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Adopted
- **2023-03-27T05:00:00+00:00** Immediate Release
- **2023-03-28T05:00:00+00:00** Conference Report Adopted
- **2023-03-28T05:00:00+00:00** Immediate Release
- **2023-04-03T05:00:00+00:00** Enrolled Bill Signed
- **2023-04-03T05:00:00+00:00** Enrolled Bill Signed
- **2023-04-17T05:00:00+00:00** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fb14ce93-14a9-4911-9ccf-8c0a54794cf6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Mississippi legislature records).