Mississippi Advisory Opinions September 30, 1992: 19920930 (September 30, 1992)

Advisory Opinion Text

Union County Election Commissioners

Post Office Box 298

New Albany, Mississippi 38652

Re: QUALIFICATIONS OF SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE

Dear Commissioners:

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

“We, the Union County Election Commissioners are in need of an opinion from your office in regard to Section 37–7–306, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.

We are in receipt of your letter of July 1, 1991 as well as the three pages of opinions attached thereto.

We have a person who has qualified to run for the office of school board member and who will likely receive his GED on Tuesday, September 29, 1992. He has already passed all phases of the GED, except one. Again, we are advised that he will receive the results of the last portion this coming Tuesday. In any event, our question is this:

‘When must a person have a high school education or GED equivalent in order to be a candidate for the county school board?’

Due to the fact that we should have absentee ballots available thirty days prior to the November 3, 1992 election date, we are in a bind for time in this regard. It is for this reason that we are forwarding this to you by facsimile transmission. It would be of great help to us if we could receive your reply by facsimile transmission by Tuesday of next week.”

Mississippi Code Annotated § 37–7–306 (Supp.1992) provides, in part:

“(1) No local school board member selected for a full term of office commencing on or after July 1, 1991, shall exercise the functions of his office or be eligible to take the oath of office unless he has filed in the office of the circuit clerk a certificate of completion of a course of training and education conducted by the School Executive Management Institute of the State Department of Education or a course of training and education approved by the State Board of Education within six (6) months of the beginning of the term for which such school board member is selected. With the exception of a school board member serving on July 1, 1991, no local school board member selected for a full term of office commencing on or after July 1, 1991, shall exercise the functions of his office or be eligible to take the oath of office unless he has a high school education or a GED equivalent. (emphasis ours)

The general rule as stated in our opinion to Mr. John H. Magee, dated July 31, 1991, a copy of which was attached to your letter of request, is that a candidate must meet all qualifications of the office he seeks at the time he is actually elected to office. In Magee we further stated that absolute proof that the candidate will meet the qualifications of the office he seeks at the time of the election, subject to no contingencies, must be presented to the election officials at the time they meet to rule on candidate qualifications in order for said officials to place his name on the ballot. However, this general rule cannot control where there is a specific statutory exception to that rule.

Section 37–7–306(1) provides that a school board member selected for a full term of office commencing on or after July 1, 1991, may not exercise the functions of his office or be eligible to take the oath of office unless he has a high school education or a GED equivalent. Implicit in this provision is that a person selected for membership on a local school board has until the beginning of his term of office to satisfy the educational requirements. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that one must possess a high school diploma or GED equivalent before he enters the duties of his office but is not required to have same to qualify as a candidate.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General

Phil Carter Assistant Attorney General