As Amended
SEC. 31-5-33. Amount of retainage which may be withheld; exemptions.
(1) In any contract for the construction, repair, alteration or demolition of any building, structure or facility
awarded by the State of Mississippi, or any agency, unit or department of the State of Mississippi, or by any
political subdivision thereof, which contract provides for progress payments in installments based upon an
estimated percentage of completion with a percentage of the contract proceeds to be retained by the state agency,
unit or department, or by the political subdivision or contractor pending completion of the contract, such retainage
shall be ten percent (10%), and the amount retained by the prime contractor from each payment due the
subcontractor shall not exceed the percentage withheld by the state, or any agency, unit or department of the
state, or by any political subdivision thereof, from the prime contractor.
On any contract as described herein, of which the total amount is Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars
($750,000.00) or greater, ten percent (10%) shall be retained until the work is at least fifty percent (50%)
complete, on schedule and satisfactory in the architect's and/or engineer's opinion, at which time fifty percent
(50%) of the retainage held to date shall be returned to the prime contractor for distribution to the appropriate
subcontractors and suppliers. Provided, however, that future retainage shall be withheld at the rate of five percent
(5%).
(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to contracts let by the Mississippi Transportation Commission for
the construction, improvement or maintenance of roads and bridges.
(3) Contracts for the construction of prison facilities let or approved by the State Prison Emergency Construction
and Management Board when exercising its emergency powers to remove two thousand (2,000) inmates from
county jails are exempt from this section; however, this exemption does not apply to contracts for the construction
of private correctional facilities and additional facilities at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution and the
Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. This subsection shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 1997.
SOURCES: Laws, 1979, ch. 454, Sec. 1; 1984, ch. 406, Sec. 1, eff from and after July 1, 1984, and shall apply only to contracts executed on or after July 1, 1984. Laws, 1994, ch. 626, Sec. 2; 1994 Ex Sess, ch. 26, Sec. 21; 1996, ch. 495, Sec. 2, eff from and after July 1, 1996