Mississippi Advisory Opinions February 09, 2007: No. 2007-00058 (February 9, 2007)

No. 2007-00058.

Dear Ms. Follin-King:

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

I have been requested by members of the Alcorn County Democratic Executive Committee, of which I am the chairperson, to ask your opinion concerning the qualifications of a qualified voter.

Alcorn County has a Corinth Municipal Separate School District, of which the people who live in the Corinth Municipal District do not vote for the County Superintendent of Education or members of the Alcorn County School Board.

The question now arises that a legal Alcorn County voter living within the city limits of Corinth wants to be a candidate for Alcorn County Superintendent of Education in the Democratic Primaries to be held in August.

In researching Section 37-5-71 of the Mississippi Code, I find there are a number of references concerning qualified electors being able to participate in the election of the county superintendents of education. This section of the code also has references stating that the county superintendent of education may be a resident of a municipal separate school district or a "special municipal school district."

The question that we need an answer for:

Under the laws of the State of Mississippi, can a person who is a qualified elector residing within the Municipal Separate School District, be a candidate in the Democratic primaries, for the election in 2007 for the office of Alcorn County Superintendent of Education?

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 37-5-71 (Supp. 2006) provides for the election of county superintendents of education.

Subsection (2) of that statute prohibits the qualified electors who reside in separate municipal school districts in certain described counties from participating in the election of the county superintendent of education. However, it further provides that "(I)n any such county, however, the county superintendent of education may be a resident of a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district."

Subsection (3) likewise prohibits the qualified electors who reside in separate municipal school districts in certain described counties from participating in the election of the county superintendent of education. However, unlike subsection (2) there is no provision that allows the county superintendent of education to be a resident of a municipal separate school district.

It is our understanding and belief that Subsection (3) (f) describes Alcorn County. It states:

In any county having a population in excess of twenty- seven thousand one hundred seventy-nine (27,179) according to the 1970 federal decennial census, wherein U.S. Highways 45 and 72 intersect; ***

Based on the above, we are of the opinion that a qualified elector of Alcorn County who resides within a municipal separate school district is not eligible to be a candidate for Alcorn County Superintendent of Education.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD,

ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: Phil Carter

Special Assistant Attorney General