Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 08, 1997: AGO 000012156 (August 8, 1997)

AGO 000012156.

Dear Mr. Tennyson:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request for an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states, in pertinent part:

In the City of Charleston, Mississippi, we had a federal court-ordered election. Our 1st primary was set for June 21, 1997. At that time, the electorate cast their votes and the next day the Municipal Democratic Electoral Committee met to approve or disapprove affidavit ballots. Eventually, the election was certified with the voting resulting in a tie. Pursuant to statute, a second primary or run-off election was held where one candidate became the victor with a majority of votes. The general election was then held and the election commissioners declared a winner in that particular ward. Subsequently, the losing candidate in that ward brought a lawsuit naming the winning candidate as the only defendant. However, all relief appears to be directed toward the Municipal Democratic Electoral Committee's counting or not counting certain ballots. The question then becomes after a proper motion and second, could a municipality legally provide a defense in this particular lawsuit by paying for the defense attorney or attorneys?

We have previously opined that there is no specific authority for the municipal governing authorities to pay the legal expenses of defending an election contest incurred by a winning candidate. However, we did state that if attorneys were employed to represent the city's interest in upholding the validity of a general municipal election then the governing authorities would have the discretionary authority to approve the payment of proper legal fees to attorneys representing the city's interests. MS AG Op., Ellis (April 20, 1994), attached. However, the city should not pay the legal costs of the candidate nor the political party involved in the election contest.

If this office can be of any further assistance, please let us know.

Very truly yours,

MIKE MOORE,

ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: Sandra M. Shelson

Special Assistant Attorney General

222 Third Street

Cambridge, MA 02142