Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 19 - COUNTIES AND COUNTY OFFICERS (§§ 19-1-1 — 19-31-51) › Chapter 5 - HEALTH, SAFETY AND PUBLIC WELFARE (§§ 19-5-1 — 19-5-371) › IN GENERAL (§§ 19-5-1 — 19-5-105) › Section 19-5-63 - Establishment of county extension department

It is declared to be the policy of this state to develop and promote agriculture, including the raising of livestock, and all enterprises and activities dependent upon the products of the soil, and in line with this policy, to make available to the citizens of this state useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture and home economics that research has discovered, to encourage the application of the same, and to obtain all the assistance and advantages that the federal government offers to provide.
The board of supervisors of each county in this state may establish a county extension department in agriculture and home economics. The purpose of this department shall be to disseminate useful information among the farmers, farm women, and farm boys and girls, and to develop the agricultural resources and improve the farm homes of this state.
The county extension departments shall be in charge of a county agent and such assistant county agents and home economics agents as the board of supervisors and the extension department of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science may deem adequate to the needs of the county. The board of supervisors upon the recommendation of the director of extension of said university and the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture shall appoint the county agent, assistant county agents and home economics agents, fix their salaries and other necessary expenses, and the amount so fixed shall be paid out of the general fund of the county, but may be supplemented by the extension department of said university and/or the United States Department of Agriculture.
The board of supervisors shall provide office space for the county extension department; shall equip the said office with the necessary office equipment and furniture, and shall also furnish the necessary record books, maps, stationery, postage and other items incidental to the proper operation of the department. The board of supervisors shall also employ such clerical assistance for the department as in the judgment of the board will enable the department to efficiently perform the duties required of it by this section. All such expense shall be paid out of the general fund of the county, but may be supplemented by the extension department of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science and/or the United States Department of Agriculture.
It shall be the duty of the county extension department to carry on farm and home demonstration work, boys and girls club work, organized production and cooperative marketing work, and all other phases of extension work under the joint supervision and control of the board of supervisors, the extension department of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science and the United States Department of Agriculture, under the provisions of the Smith-Lever act and other related acts of congress.
The duties prescribed by the preceding paragraph shall be construed to include and emphasize actual work in the field as distinguished from executive or administrative tasks or office work. In order that the several county extension departments may fully comply with the requirements of this section and perform the duties required of them, the extension department of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science may, upon the approval of the director of extension and the United States Department of Agriculture, employ and pay the salary of an assistant county agent in any county in which the director of extension shall find the services of such assistant necessary and his appointment justified.
The enumeration in the foregoing paragraphs of duties to be performed by agents appointed under this section shall not be taken as exclusive but such agents may perform any duties to accomplish the purposes of this section which they may be directed to perform by the extension department of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science with the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture the expense of which is covered in whole or in part by appropriations received from the federal government or any department thereof for agricultural extension work.
Codes, 1942, § 2964; Laws, 1932, ch. 211; Laws, 1940, ch. 263; Laws, 1942, ch. 207; Laws, 1944, ch. 242, §§ 1-6.