Mississippi Advisory Opinions July 31, 1995: AGO 95-0451 (July 31, 1995)

Advisory Opinion Text

Mr. Larry D. Cooper

Route 2, Box 59A

Carthage, Mississippi 39051

Re: Separation of Powers

Dear Mr. Cooper:

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

I have qualified as a candidate for Supervisor of District II for Leake County. I am a police officer for the city of Carthage. According to city clerk, Ann Hogue, we do not currently receive any federal funding for the police department. However, we could at some time in the future receive federal funding as a result of President Clinton's recent move for allocation of funds to hire more police officers, which is referred to as the COPS grant. Ms. Hogue stated that if that funding is received it would not be distributed throughout the entire police department budget, but would be used to hire an additional officer to work with the people in the community as required by the grant.

The board of supervisors and the local police department do not have any joint funded projects, nor is the board of supervisors responsible in any way for the activities of the local police department. Therefore, I do not believe there would be any conflict of interest with my current employment if I am elected to office.

This office has previously held that an individual serving as both a police officer and a county supervisor would be in violation of Article 1, Sections 1 and 2 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 which mandates a separation of powers among government officers. See Dye v. State , 507 So. 2d 332 (Miss. 1987) and In Re Anderson , 447 So.2d 1275 (Miss. 1984) . Also, see the prior opinions of this office to Glen Zumbro, dated September 26, 1991, and to William Dulaney, dated May 16, 1991, for a detailed discussion of the subject.

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

Very truly yours,

Mike Moore, Attorney General.

Mike Lanford Assistant Attorney General.