Mississippi Advisory Opinions April 03, 1979: 19790403 (April 03, 1979)

Advisory Opinion Text

Dr. Jesse A. Morris

Route 2

Box 30

Lorman, Mississippi 39096

Dear Dr. Morris:

Attorney General Summer has received your letter of request dated March 28, 1979, and has assigned it to me for reply.

In your letter you inquire as follows:

‘I am presently employed by Alcorn State University as Professor and Director of the Division of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and Research Director. I am giving some serious thought to the matter of offering as a candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives during the summer of 1979. In order to make this decision, I need the answer to some questions which will have some influence on my plans. Thus, I am respectfully requesting your opinion on the following questions.

(1) As an employee of a state supported institution, am I required to take a leave of absence without pay to run for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives?

(2) If I am required to take a leave of absence without pay:

a. How soon prior to qualifying for the election should the leave of absence be applied for and approved, and

b. Would I be required to remain on leave of absence without pay between the First Primary and the Second Primary in August, and between the Second Primary in August and the General Election in November if I ran as a Democratic or as a Republican candidate, or would I be required to remain on leave without pay from the time of qualifying until the General Election if I ran as an Independent candidate, and

c. If I am required to take a leave of absence to run for office, can accumulated annual or vacation leave be used for this purpose?'

Under the provisions of Section 7–5–25, Mississippi Code of 1972, the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi is prohibited from giving legal opinions to anyone other than certain named public officers, boards, agencies and commissions and to them only relating to their particular official duties.

However, as a matter of information, I am unaware of any statutory direction regarding the subject of your inquiry. Your employment is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Institutions of Higher Learning and it would seem appropriate to determine whether the Board has a regulation relating to its employees who desire to seek public office.

Very truly yours,

A. F. Summer, Attorney General.

George M. Swindoll Assistant Attorney General.