Jackson–With fair season approaching, here’s what News Mississippi has learned about safety regulations for your county and state fairs.
You’ve seen it before. On the way to work its an empty parking lot, on your way home its a full county fair scene with cotton candy, games, and of course, rides. The questions has crossed your mind before: “how did they put that together so fast? Is it safe?”
You may be surprised by what Billy Orr at the Mississippi State Fair Commission says. “There is no state law requiring inspections or regulations at any of the fairs.”
Before you swear off the midway for life, Orr adds that the Mississippi State Fair in Jackson is inspected daily by a team specially hired to check, maintain, and correct issues with the fair rides. Orr says “we don’t have a law that says to do it, but we do it.” If a ride fails an inspection, the ride is closed until it is fixed or doesn’t reopen.
So what about your county fair? The Attorney General’s office provided a document to News Mississippi today outlining the law about the local fairs. Mississippi Code 21-19-33 states, “the governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to adopt reasonable ordinances for the regulations of circuses, shows….amusement parks and devices and other similar things.”
Your county has regulations for your county fair but there is no state law or state governing body over those regulations. The next time you’re headed to your county fair, ask the local fair commission about their safety inspections. Here’s that document on municipality safety regulations at events for you to see.
