Mississippi Advisory Opinions April 22, 1992: 19920422 (April 22, 1992)

Advisory Opinion Text

James R. Johnson, III, Esquire

Attorney for Tate County Board of Education

309 W. Main Street

Senatobia, Mississippi 38668

Re: COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

Dear Mr. Johnson:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

“I am writing this letter as attorney for the Tate County Board of Education. Based on a previous statewide lawsuit in 1988, five new districts were drawn and approved from which our five trustees are elected. According to statute, they serve staggered terms. Election for one district is scheduled for this November, however, in reviewing the 1990 census figures, it is apparent that we will have to draw five new districts to be approved by the Justice Department. My question is:

Will we have to elect five new trustees in the general election or only one, the other four being allowed to finish out their staggered terms?”

In response to your inquiry it is the opinion of this office that, absent a valid court order from a court of competent jurisdiction to the contrary, the members of the Tate County School Board elected from the current single member board of education districts are entitled to serve the remainder of their terms, even if new district lines are adopted in accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated § 37–5–1 (Revised 1990) and precleared by the U.S. Department of Justice. Please see the enclosed copy of an opinion addressed to Ms. Pearl Mills, dated December 13, 1989.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General.