Mississippi Surety Bonds— Sorted by the Agency That Requires Them

The two figures answer different risks. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors sets a flat $100,000 bond for any commercial contractor licensed to perform work over $50,000 because a single failed commercial project can leave a public owner and subcontractors exposed to six-figure losses. A notary error or a title-transfer mistake is capped far lower, so the notary bond stays at $5,000 and the motor vehicle dealer bond at $25,000 under Miss. Code Ann. § 63-17-75. The bond amount tracks the potential harm the license can cause — not the size of the business.

No. The $100,000 Mississippi State Board of Contractors bond applies to commercial contractors performing work above $50,000. Residential builders are licensed separately and do not post the state commercial bond, but they still face city-level bond requirements — Tupelo, Ridgeland, and Hattiesburg each set their own municipal amounts. Non-resident contractors add a third layer: a sales and use tax bond administered by the Mississippi Department of Revenue on contracts exceeding $10,000. See our Mississippi contractor license bond page for the full commercial-vs-residential breakdown.

The Mississippi Insurance Department licenses and regulates every surety company authorized to write bonds in the state. A bond is only valid if the surety behind it is admitted in Mississippi, which is why obligees such as the State Board of Contractors and the Motor Vehicle Commission will reject a bond from an unlicensed carrier. We place every Mississippi bond with sureties admitted by the Insurance Department, and contract bonds specifically with carriers listed on the U.S. Treasury’s Circular 570.

For most license bonds, premium runs 1-3% of the bond amount per year for applicants with solid credit. A $100,000 commercial contractor bond therefore costs roughly $1,000-$3,000 annually; a $25,000 dealer bond runs a few hundred dollars; and the $5,000 notary bond is a flat low-double-digit premium for the full four-year term with no credit check. Applicants with weaker credit can still qualify but should expect rates toward 3-5%. Court and probate bonds are priced on the court-set amount rather than a fixed schedule.

Mississippi routes estate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters through its chancery courts, which are separate from the circuit courts that hear most civil disputes. The chancellor sets the fiduciary bond amount case by case under Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-41 for estates and the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Arrangements provisions for conservators — there is no fixed multiplier. The bond typically reflects the value of the personal property and expected income the fiduciary will control. Our Mississippi probate bond page walks through how chancellors size the bond.

A Mississippi title bond is set at one and one-half times the vehicle’s value under Miss. Code Ann. § 63-21-23, using the average trade-in value. You file the Certificate of Bond with the Department of Revenue’s Motor Vehicle Services when you can’t produce a clean title. A $6,500 vehicle needs a $9,750 bond. It protects a prior owner or lienholder if your ownership claim later proves defective — it is not the same as a designated agent’s own $5,000-$15,000 operating bond.