Rule 85.Title

Chapter XI: General Provisions · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 14, 2026

In one sentenceRule 85 names the rule set the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure and fixes M.R.C.P. as the citation abbreviation, illustrated by the rule's own example, M.R.C.P. 85.

Full Text of Rule 85

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These rules shall be known as the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure and may be cited as M.R.C.P.; e. g., M.R.C.P. 85.

Plain-English Summary

Rule 85 closes out the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure with the shortest kind of provision a code can have: a name. These rules are to be known as the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, and cited as M.R.C.P., with the rule's own text giving "M.R.C.P. 85" as the example.

A short-title rule like this one isn't just formality. It fixes, in the rules' own words, the abbreviation that briefs, orders, and legal citations across the state use to refer to this entire body of procedure, so that "M.R.C.P." unambiguously means these rules and no other set of Mississippi court rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official name of Mississippi's civil procedure rules?

Rule 85 states that they are to be known as the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

How should I abbreviate a citation to these rules?

Rule 85 itself supplies the abbreviation: M.R.C.P., with the rule's own example showing the format as "M.R.C.P. 85."

Why does a rule need to state its own name and citation format?

A short-title provision like Rule 85 fixes the official name and abbreviation in the rules' own text, so anyone citing "M.R.C.P." in a brief, order, or opinion is unambiguously referring to this set of rules rather than some other Mississippi court rule.

Does the citation format change depending on which rule I'm citing?

No. Every rule follows the same pattern Rule 85 illustrates — "M.R.C.P." followed by the rule number, such as M.R.C.P. 12 or M.R.C.P. 56.

Where does Rule 85 fit within the overall structure of the rules?

It's the final rule in Chapter XI, General Provisions, following Rule 81's scope-of-applicability provisions, Rule 82's jurisdiction-and-venue rule, Rule 83's local-rules process, and Rule 84's approval of the Appendix of Forms.

Source & verification. Rule text and Advisory Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. Last verified July 14, 2026. · Official source

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