Mississippi Advisory Opinions January 31, 2003: AGO 2003-0033 (January 31, 2003)

Advisory Opinion Text

Joseph R. Meadows, Esquire

Attorney for Harrison County

Board of Supervisors

Post Office Drawer 550

Gulfport, Mississippi 39502

Re: Compensation of Poll Workers

Dear Mr. Meadows:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

As attorney for the Harrison County Board of Supervisors, I have been directed to obtain an opinion concerning payment of County “poll workers” for attending mandatory certification classes.

The Harrison County Election Commission has written the Board of Supervisors to determine whether or not the County has authority to pay “poll workers” for attending the mandatory certification classes. They cite Miss. Code Annotated Section 23-15-239 (3) which provides the following:

“The board of supervisors, in their discretion, may compensate managers who attend such training sessions. The compensation shall be at a rate of not less than the federal hourly minimum wage nor more than Ten Dollars ($10.00) per hour. Managers shall not be compensated for more than two (2) hours of attendance at the training sessions regardless of the actual amount of time that they attended the training sessions.”

It is the Board's opinion that while it has the authority to compensate “managers” who attend such training sessions, they are unaware of any authority to pay “poll workers” for attending such classes.

Therefore, the Board propounds the following question for an opinion from your office. QUESTION

Does the Board of Supervisors have authority to compensate poll workers for attending certification classes pursuant to Miss. Code Annotated Section 23-15-239 (3) wherein the Board has authority, in it discretion, to compensate “managers” who attend such training sessions?“

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-231 (Revised 2001) provides that “prior to every election, the commissioners of election shall appoint three (3) persons for each voting precinct to be managers of the election, one (1) of whom shall be designated by the commissioners of election as election bailiff.” Section 23-15-235 authorizes the appointment of additional managers. The managers appointed pursuant to these two code sections are the poll workers that actually conduct the election. Section 23-15-265 requires county party executive committees to meet and appoint “managers and clerks” in the same manner as county election commissions appoint managers pursuant to Sections 23-15-231 and 23-15-235 to conduct primary elections.

Please see the enclosed copy of an opinion addressed to Leslie Scott, dated February 18, 2000. In that opinion we said that county boards of supervisors have the discretionary authority to compensate qualified electors of the county who are duly appointed to serve as poll workers in a primary election and attend one or more training sessions. We further said that the rate of such compensation must be within the limits set forth in Section 23-15-239 .

In response to your question the terms “poll worker” and “manager” are interchangeable as used in our election statutes. Therefore, we are of the opinion that a county board of supervisors has the discretionary authority to compensate poll workers for attending certification classes pursuant to Section 23-15-239 (3).

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General

Phil Carter Special Assistant Attorney General