Mississippi Court & Family Education Guide
Information for anyone navigating a court order, custody case, or probation requirement in Mississippi that involves anger management, parenting, co-parenting, or substance-abuse education.
What does Clearway offer?
People are sometimes ordered or referred to an educational program as part of a family-law, custody, probation, or other Mississippi court-related matter. The type of program required can depend on the circumstances of the case and the exact wording of the court order.
Clearway Institute offers four self-paced online courses: anger management, parenting, co-parenting, and substance-abuse education. Not every course is appropriate for every court order, and completing an online course does not automatically mean a particular Mississippi court, probation department, or agency will accept it — always read your order carefully and confirm the required program with the court, probation officer, attorney, or other referring agency when you're not sure.
Which type of class do you need?
Start with whichever matches your order or situation — each course page has the full curriculum before you enroll.
What if a Mississippi court ordered it?
Mississippi doesn't have a statewide statute requiring a certified anger-management or batterer-intervention class. Counseling comes up through Miss. Code § 97-3-7, which says that for a conviction of simple or aggravated domestic violence a court may require, as a condition of any suspended sentence, that the defendant participate in counseling or treatment to stop domestic abuse, and may order the defendant to pay all or part of the cost.
On the civil side, the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, Miss. Code Title 93, Chapter 21, lets chancery or county courts enter final orders that can include temporary custody and visitation and counseling or treatment designed to end the abuse (§ 93-21-15). Requirements differ by court and order, so confirm exactly what your own order or sentence requires before enrolling in any course.
What's the difference between classes?
Parenting vs. co-parenting. Parenting covers general child-development, discipline, and communication skills, and comes up in a wide range of family cases. Co-parenting is built specifically for separated or divorcing parents — coordinating two households, handling custody transitions, and keeping kids out of the middle — and is the more common requirement in a custody or divorce order.
Anger management vs. a certified intervention program. Many states, Mississippi included, treat general educational anger-management coursework as legally distinct from a state-certified batterer intervention, family-violence intervention, or abuser-treatment program ordered specifically in a domestic-violence case — see “What if a Mississippi court ordered it?” above for how that distinction works here. If your order names a specific certified program by name, an educational anger-management course usually isn't an automatic substitute — check with your court.
Where can I verify requirements?
The most reliable answer always comes from whoever issued your order — the court clerk, your probation or parole officer, your attorney, or the agency that referred you. Below are free, Mississippi-specific places to start if you need legal help, counseling, or crisis support along the way.
Legal reference material
For anyone who wants to read the underlying statutes for themselves, here is the reference material this guide is based on — Mississippi civil and family-law sections first, then criminal law.
Civil & family law
Domestic abuse protection ordersMiss. Code § 93-21-15
Municipal and justice courts can issue temporary orders, generally capped at 30 days. Chancery or county courts can issue final orders that may add temporary custody and visitation, support, compensation for losses, and counseling or treatment for the respondent. Temporary custody, visitation, and support terms in a final order last 180 days.
Who can seek an orderMiss. Code § 93-21-3
Abuse includes attempting or causing bodily injury, placing someone in fear of imminent serious injury through physical menace or threat, certain sex offenses, stalking, and cyberstalking. Protected relationships include current and former spouses, people living or who lived as spouses, parents of a child in common, relatives who live or lived together, and current or former dating partners.
Criminal law
Simple domestic violenceMiss. Code § 97-3-7
Attempting to cause or causing bodily injury, negligently injuring someone with a deadly weapon, or using physical menace to cause fear of imminent serious harm, when committed against a spouse, former spouse, dating partner, parent, child, co-parent, or similar household relation, is a misdemeanor. Repeat offenses within seven years can be charged as a felony.
Aggravated domestic violenceMiss. Code § 97-3-7
Attempting or causing serious bodily injury, causing or attempting bodily injury with a deadly weapon, or strangling or attempting to strangle a person in a covered relationship is a felony punishable by time in Department of Corrections custody, with longer terms for repeat offenses.
Stalking and aggravated stalkingMiss. Code § 97-3-107
Stalking is a purposeful course of conduct or credible threat that a reasonable person would find fearful. The base offense carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Aggravated stalking, such as with a deadly weapon or after a stalking conviction in the past seven years, is a felony carrying up to five years in prison.