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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 CONTACT:   Harry Baxter, 662-680-2410
March 28, 2001                                   Randy Burchfield, 662-680-2216



                            BANCORPSOUTH, INC. ADOPTS
                                AMENDMENT TO ITS
                             SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS PLAN


         TUPELO, Miss. - March 28, 2001 - BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS)
announced today that its Board of Directors has adopted amendments to its
existing shareholder rights plan. The rights plan is designed to deter coercive
takeover tactics, including the accumulation of shares in the open market or
through private transactions, and to prevent an acquiror from gaining control of
BancorpSouth without offering a fair price to all of BancorpSouth's
shareholders. The amendments to the rights plan were adopted in the normal
course of updating and extending the rights plan, which was scheduled to expire
on April 24, 2001, and not in response to any proposal to acquire BancorpSouth.

         As set forth in the amendment, the Board of Directors extended the term
of the rights plan until March 28, 2011. The amendment also increased the price
that must be paid to exercise a right under the rights plan to $60.00 per
right. The remainder of the amendment largely updated or clarified certain
provisions of the rights plan.

         BancorpSouth is a financial services company with total assets of
approximately $9.0 billion, and operates 240 banking, mortgage, investment and
insurance locations in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and
Texas.