Mississippi Advisory Opinions September 03, 2010: No. 2010-00510 (September 3, 2010)

Mississippi Attorney General Opinions

2010.

No. 2010-00510.

Dear Mr. Wilson:

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

Issue Presented

You ask if a candidate for the office of constable must run in the district in which he resides.

Response

Yes.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 19-19-2 (Revised 2003) provides:

The board of supervisors of each county shall establish single member election districts in the county for the election of each of the constables at the 1987 general election and for each general election thereafter. Such districts shall be of the same number and shall have the same boundaries as districts established for justice court judges pursuant to Section 9-11-2, Mississippi Code of 1972.

Section 250, Mississippi Constitution of 1890 provides:

All qualified electors and no others shall be eligible to office, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution; .... .

Section 23-15-11 provides in part:

Every inhabitant of this state, except idiots and insane persons, who is a citizen of the United States of America, eighteen (18) years old and upwards, who has resided in this state for thirty (30) days and for thirty (30) days in the county in which he offers to vote, and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated city or town in which he offers to vote, and who shall have been duly registered as an elector pursuant to Section 23-15-33, and who has never been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be a qualified elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of his residence, and shall be entitled to vote at any election. .... . (Emphasis added)

The clear meaning of the above quoted statutory and constitutional provisions is that unless otherwise provided for in the Mississippi Constitution, one must be a resident of the district he seeks to serve.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that the provisions of Section 171 of the Mississippi Constitution mean that candidates for the office of justice court judge do not have to be residents of the district they seek to serve but are only required to be residents of the county for two years next preceding the election. The Court makes no mention of the residency requirements of constables. Montgomery v. Lowndes County Democratic Executive Committee, 969 So.2d 1 (Miss. 2007).

The specific language in Section 171 pertinent to the question is:

A competent number of justice court judges and constables shall be chosen in each county in the manner provided by law, but not less than two (2) such judges in any county, who shall hold their office for the term of four (4) years. Each justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection .... . (Emphasis added)

We are of the opinion that this section applies only to justice court judges and is not applicable to candidates for constable. Our opinion to Germany dated August 14, 1995 is withdrawn.

While constables and justice court judges both run in justice court districts, the qualifications for each of those offices are separate and distinct.

Conclusion

The ruling in Montgomery that a candidate for the office of justice court judge is not required to live in the district he or she seeks to serve is not applicable to a candidate for the office of constable. Therefore, a candidate for the office of constable must be a resident and qualified elector of the justice court district he or she seeks to serve.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter

Special Assistant Attorney General