# Rita Parks

Rita Parks is a Republican member of the Mississippi Senate for district 4.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Mississippi Senate, district 4
- Serving since: 2012-01-03
- Current term: MS 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/d618a68e-ed3a-47a5-be24-852af75d9ab3

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/d618a68e-ed3a-47a5-be24-852af75d9ab3 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Parks missed 13% of 2,121 roll calls, the lowest attendance of 51 in the Mississippi Senate (average 97.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.07 (standard error 0.01), from 11 donors and 1,003 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 13% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MS 2025–26 session)

2,121 roll calls. Attendance 87% (Mississippi Senate 97.1%). Party unity 94.8% (88%). 19 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-07-16 · voted yea · Passage · HB 2 Appropriation; Department of Human Services of. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/HB2/
- 2026-07-16 · voted yea · Passage · HB 1 Appropriation; Department of Human Services to establish and implement youth diversion program. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/HB1/
- 2026-07-15 · voted yea · Passage as Amended · SB 2001 The Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026; enact. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/SB2001/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2474 Rare Disease Task Force; establish within the Mississippi Rare Disease Advisory Council. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2474/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1761 Alcoholic beverages; extend repealers relating to festival wine permits. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1761/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1772 Mississippi Department of Human Services; extend repealers on. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1772/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2917 Budget; provide for various transfers of funds, and create various special funds. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2917/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1330 Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; revise definition of "qualified resort area". · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1330/
- 2026-04-01 · voted nay · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1662 Joint custody matters; create rebuttable presumption in favor of. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1662/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Passage · HB 4120 Suffrage; restore to Charles Kenneth Landrum of Jones County. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB4120/

## Legislation (MS 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 42 bills: 42 reached committee, 15 passed one chamber, 3 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 61. 35.7% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Mississippi Senate 34.7%; rank 18 of 47).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 84: Commend Kossuth High School Lady Aggies Cheer Team for State and National Championships. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SR84/
- SB 3404: Suffrage; restore suffrage to Pamela Null. (in committee, 2026-04-15) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3404/
- SB 3403: Suffrage; restore suffrage to Teddy Null. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-15) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3403/
- SB 3366: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to the Town of Walnut for infrastructure improvements to Industrial Road. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3366/
- SB 3362: General Fund FY2027 appropriation to Alcorn County for the repair, renovation, and improvement of the VFW Post 3962 building. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3362/
- SB 3365: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to Blue Mountain University for equipment for and enhancement of its nursing program. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3365/
- SB 3363: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to City of Corinth for improvements to the pavillion at Trailhead Park. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3363/
- SB 3367: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to the City of Corinth for residency program training facility at Magnolia Hospital. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3367/
- SB 3361: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to Alcorn County for further engineering studies on extending the Kimberly Clark Parkway. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3361/
- SB 3364: General Fund; FY2027 appropriation to the Town of Farmington for purchasing equipment and vehicles for the police department. (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3364/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $14.3K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 47% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/senate/parks.xml
- X: https://x.com/Rita_Parks1994
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senatorritaparks
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-parks-b32854a1/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/d618a68e-ed3a-47a5-be24-852af75d9ab3