Gov. Haley Barbour says that after more than two years, south Mississippi’s Jefferson Davis County School District no longer needs to operate under state supervision.

The schools had been under state control since Barbour declared an emergency in May 2007 because of concerns about safety, security, educational quality and financial problems.

Barbour’s office said Friday that he had lifted the emergency declaration at the request of the state Board of Education.

The board recently reported conditions had improved and misspent public-lands money had been repaid.