Mississippi Advisory Opinions June 20, 1983: 19830620 (June 20, 1983)

Advisory Opinion Text

Tippah County Democratic Executive Committee

Ripley, Mississippi 38663

Dear Committee Members:

Attorney General Allain has received your letter of request and has assigned it to me for research and reply.

Your letter states:

“Two questions have arisen with the Tippah County Democratic Executive Committee relative to qualifying and certifying candidates for the August 2nd Democratic Primary.

“(1) Does a candidate running for Justice Court Judge have to reside within the Justice Court Judge District for which he is attempting to qualify or may he reside in another part of the same county, and for how long must he reside in that district or county?

“(2) Does a candidate for County Superintendent of Education have to have his affidavit and his certificate of eligibility filed with the proper county officials by the June 3rd deadline in order to qualify for the August 2nd primary?”

Please see the enclosed copy of an opinion addressed to Honorable W. B. Meek, dated September 13, 1982. In summary that opinion states that Mississippi Code Annotated, § 9-11-2 (Supp. 1982), implies that an individual who seeks to hold the office of justice court judge must reside in the election district which is to select said judge.

In order to be a qualified elector of an election district one must reside in said district a minimum of thirty (30) days.

Section 171, Mississippi Constitution of 1890 requires that “[e]ach justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection . . .”.

Therefore, in response to your first question, in order to qualify as a candidate for justice court judge in the August 2, 1983 Democratic Primary Election, one must have been a resident of the county in which he seeks to run for a minimum of two (2) years prior to the November 8, 1983 General Election and a resident of the election district in which he seeks to run for a minimum of thirty (30) days prior to August 2, 1983.

Concerning your second question, Section 23-3-3 provides in part:

“Every candidate upon entering the race for party nomination for office shall first file with the circuit clerk, if for a county or county district office, an affidavit made before a competent officer that the candidate has carefully read this chapter and any and all amendments thereto and that he has not, and that he will not, during his candidacy violate any of the obligations or prohibitions thereof;

“It is hereby expressly provided that the affidavit required by the foregoing paragraph shall be filed with the circuit clerk or the secretary of state, as the case may be, prior to the expiration of the time for the candidate for party nomination to qualify with the proper executive committee, and if said affidavit be not filed within such time , then the name of such candidate shall not be placed on the ballot. ” (Emphasis added)

Therefore, in response to your second question, one who fails to file his affidavit of candidacy with the circuit clerk of the appropriate county by the June 3rd deadline is not eligible to have his name placed on the ballot for the August 2, 1983 Democratic Primary Election.

We find no statutory requirement that a candidate for county superintendent of education file a certificate of eligibility with county officials. Section 37-5-73 requires one to hold a certificate from the state department of education certifying that he holds a bachelor's degree. It further requires that one hold a Class A certificate and has not less than four years' actual experience etc. and states “[i]t shall be unlawful for the election commissioners of any county to place the name of any person upon the ballot as a candidate for county superintendent of education who does not qualify under the terms of this subsection.” Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that one must meet the requirements of Section 37-5-73 at the time the county executive committee places his name on the ballot.

Very truly yours,

Bill Allain, Attorney General