Mississippi Advisory Opinions May 29, 2015: AGO 2015-00147 (May 29, 2015)

Advisory Opinion Text

AUTH: Phil Carter

RQNM: Wiley Barbour, Jr.

SUBJ: Supervisors - Authority

SBCD: 220

TEXT: Wiley J. Barbour, Jr., Esquire

Attorney for Yazoo County Board of Supervisors

Post Office Box 1106

Yazoo City, Mississippi 39194-1106

Re: Changes in boundaries of Supervisors Districts

Dear Mr. Barbour:

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

You state that the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors, in response to the 2010 Census, ordered changes in the boundaries of the county’s supervisors districts and notified the Yazoo County Commissioners of Election pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-283. You further state that a non-incumbent candidate for the position of county supervisor argues that the Board did not follow the proper procedures in ordering those changes and, as a result, the changes cannot be implemented for the upcoming 2015 supervisors elections.

It is our understanding that the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors adopted the order changing the boundaries of the supervisors districts on March 2, 2015. The qualifying deadline for the 2015 primary and general elections was February 27, 2015. MS AG Op., Turner (October 17, 2014).

Issue Presented

Your questions as stated in your letter are:

Now that the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors has ordered a change in the boundaries of Yazoo County’s supervisors districts and notified the Yazoo County Commissioners of Election of the same, can those commissioners and/or the Yazoo County Circuit Clerk choose not to implement the ordered change in boundaries and instead conduct the upcoming 2015 supervisors elections under the supervisors districts boundaries which were in effect prior to the Board’s order? Or, does Miss. Code Ann. Section 23-15-283 require that the Yazoo County Commissioners of Election and/or Yazoo County Circuit Clerk immediately implement the ordered change in the boundaries and conduct the upcoming 2015 supervisors elections under those “new” boundaries?

Response

While the County Commissioners of Election and Circuit Clerk are legally bound to follow the lawful directives of the Board of Supervisors regarding the district lines set forth in the notification, we are compelled to point out that boards of supervisors are statutorily bound to make any changes to the boundaries of supervisors districts as early as is convenient and further, that no change in any supervisors district or voting precinct can take effect less than thirty (30) days before the qualifying deadline for the office of county supervisor.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-283 provides:

The board of supervisors shall have power to alter the boundaries of the supervisors districts, voting precincts and the voting place therein. If the board of supervisors orders a change in the boundaries, they shall notify the commissioners of election, who shall at once cause the registration books of voting precincts affected by the order to be changed to conform to the change so as to contain only the names of the qualified electors in the voting precincts as made by the change of boundaries. Upon the order of change in the boundaries of any voting precinct or the voting place therein, the board of supervisors shall notify the Office of the Secretary of State and provide the Office of the Secretary of State a legal description and a map of any boundary change. No change shall be implemented or enforced until the requirements of this section have been met.

However, Section 23-15-285 specifically provides, in part:

The board of supervisors shall cause an entry to be made on the minutes of the board at some meeting, as early as convenient, defining the boundaries of the several supervisors districts and voting precincts in the county, and designating the voting place in each voting precinct; and as soon as practicable after any change is made in any supervisors district, voting precinct or any voting place, the board of supervisors shall cause such change to be entered on the minutes of the board in such manner as to be easily understood. The changed boundaries shall conform to visible natural or artificial boundaries such as streets, highways, railroads, rivers, lakes, bayous or other obvious lines of demarcation, with the exception of county lines and municipal corporate limits.

No change in any supervisors district or voting precinct shall take effect less than thirty (30) days before the qualifying deadline for the office of county supervisor. .... . (Emphasis added)

We are of the opinion that the above statutory requirement that changes in the boundaries of supervisors districts be done “as early as convenient” means that, upon the receipt of the 2010 Census data, Boards of Supervisors were mandated to act promptly to make any changes in those boundaries when such data indicates that such changes are necessary in order to insure that the districts are not malapportioned.

Based on the plain statutory language, the delay by the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors in ordering changes in the boundaries of the supervisors district until after the qualifying deadline renders those changes ineffective for the 2015 elections.

The obvious legislative purpose of requiring that boundary changes for supervisors districts be made “as early as convenient” and the requirement that such changes may not be effective less than thirty (30) days before the qualifying deadline is to require boards of supervisors to adopt new redistricting plans for supervisors districts well in advance of the qualifying deadline so that prospective candidates for the office of county supervisor will know which supervisor’s district office they are eligible to seek. Delay in making changes in boundaries of supervisors districts until the qualifying deadline has passed could lead to changes that are politically motivated in order to enhance the re-election chances of incumbent supervisors.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Phil Carter, Special Assistant Attorney General.