the aging systems and the urgent need to update them.“ And so as far as the alcoholic beverage control warehouse goes,” he says,“ my goals were very simple and very straightforward from day one.”
Graham’ s objective of modernization was made all the more important by the timing of becoming commissioner. He took the role in 2020.
“ I came in there in the middle of the pandemic, at the height of all of the increased demand for alcohol,” he recalls.“ So we really got to see how outdated our systems were because of that increased demand overnight. And so my goals, as far as that goes, were very easy. From day one, 2020, we started working on modernizing our operation. And it took us several years to bring everybody along. And finally, the legislature took their final step in 2024, meeting our funding request so that we can construct a warehouse.”
Elsewhere in the department, Graham has overseen the modernization of other important systems. For instance, Mississippi issues about a million car titles every year. Each required multiple layers of paperwork, quite the arduous, outdated task.
“ We have, over the last couple of years, worked on putting into place an electronic system for that,” Graham says.“ We haven ' t finished it yet. We ' re kind of midstream. We have created a system where you can do part of the process electronically, which has reduced the amount of paper.”
As for taking the helm at NABCA, Graham points out that the association has been around for nearly 90 years.
“ What I would really like to see at NABCA is to make sure that we position ourselves to be that resource that they ' ve been for Mississippi and other control states for the last 88, 89 years,” he says.“ My goal is to make sure that we continue on with our strong leadership team that we have in place.”
Graham was not yet ready to announce his NABCA Chairman theme, but offers an insightful hint.
“ As I mentioned, NABCA is going to be celebrating its 90th year in existence this coming year,” he says.“ So this year we ' re going to go more toward an organizational theme.”
LEARNING FROM NABCA
As for his many years as a NABCA member, the commissioner appreciates the sharing of industry knowledge.
“ You really have the opportunity to interact directly with other jurisdictions that are going through the same types of
“ What I would really like to see at NABCA to make sure that we position ourselves to be that resource that they ' ve been for Mississippi and other control states for the last 88, 89 years.”
– Chris Graham, Commissioner of the Mississippi
Department of Revenue
challenges and seeing the same types of issues that you ' re seeing,” he says.“ And so you have an opportunity to exchange ideas, exchange knowledge, really get to see best practices across the different jurisdictions. You get to see the things that have worked, and the things that have not worked.”
“ I just can ' t brag on that group as an organization enough,” he adds,“ with all the support and education, everything from public safety. Things like we ' ve recently purchased a DUI simulator based on some conversations we ' ve had with some of the other jurisdictions.”
Based on these discussions, Mississippi was able to implement that DUI program, which had already proven successful elsewhere, rather than invent something from scratch.
“ We had a really good model that we could follow as far as a DUI simulator goes,” Graham says.“ That ' s just a minor example.”
As for larger projects,“ We ' re constructing a $ 100−million warehouse, and our friends up in Virginia have done that in recent years,” Graham says.“ Our friends in Alabama are currently doing it. So we ' ve really had an opportunity to exchange ideas and see what has worked for others and collaborate.”
NABCA has been a“ tremendous organization as far as exchanging ideas and learning,” he adds.“ And the NABCA staff, they provide all types of help for us as far as public safety. That is a really big mission of our organization: to keep [ public safety ] on the forefront of everybody ' s mind, because tragedy is usually the time people talk about those things, and we try to talk about those things before the tragedy occurs.”
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Long removed now from the pandemic-era buying spree, the beverage alcohol industry is in a prolonged period of sales declines. Reasons for this economic correction have been much discussed on these pages.
Considering this challenging period for the industry, Graham remains clear-eyed and perceptive.
“ I ' ve been around for a while,” he says.“ You see things that are cyclical, and you see different industries go through different challenges, and the industries don ' t always go through challenges at the same time. So it can be cyclical, and it can be industry-specific. I consider this to be a pullback. It seems like more than just a just a standard pullback. It probably raises more red flags than just with standard slowdowns. And you ' ve got these things that have been swirling around
18 StateWays • Summer 2026 www. stateways. com