Based on research conducted at Mississippi State University, Meridian (Mississippi) Public Schools, and Vicksburgh Public Schools, the intent of this study was to determine the general state of due process procedures in the practices of school officials throughout the southern region. All cases involving teacher dismissal in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals or the federal district courts within the Fifth Circuit region from 1970 through 1981 were examined. The cases were annotated and categorized, and conclusions were reached about common patterns existing in teacher dismissal cases. Several patterns were found. Cases involving school systems that closely followed general state statutes, tenure statutes, and state fair employment dismissal acts were usually upheld in the appeals court decisions. Cases from school systems not closely following those practices were usually found to be unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable, and in violation of due process. A similar pattern was found in decisions in cases involving teacher contract nonrenewal. The courts tended to make decisions on the merits of each individual case in cases involving incompetency, immorality, insubordination, violation of First Amendment rights, or felony convictions. Further study of such decisions should be conducted nationally to see if other patterns may emerge. (MD)