Mississippi Advisory Opinions May 12, 1992: 19920512 (May 12, 1992)

Advisory Opinion Text

Honorable Bill Denny

Representative, District 64

Mississippi House of Representatives

Post Office Box 12185

Jackson, Mississippi 39236–2185

Re: CANDIDATE SITTING ON STATE PARTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Dear Representative Denny:

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

“On May 10, 1992, during the State Republican Convention, I was elected to the State Executive Committee from the Fourth Congressional District.

It is my intention to be a candidate for re-election for the House of Representatives, District 64, Hinds County, Mississippi.

Please give me an opinion concerning any potential conflicts that may arise having to do with any statutory prohibition regarding service in both capacities.

I am particularly interested in this question since I serve in a single-county district. Also, what would my status be with relation to the Separation of Power Act?”

Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–297 (Revised 1990) provides in part:

“All candidates upon entering the race for party nomination for office shall first pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23–15–299 for each primary election the following amounts: * * *

(d) Candidates for State Senator, State Representative, .... not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

...”

Section 23–15–299(2) provides:

“Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (d) and (e) of Section 23–15–297, other than assessments made for legislative offices for districts containing more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate by 5:00 p.m. sixty (60) days before the date fixed by law for the primary election to the circuit clerk of such candidate's county of residence. The circuit clerk shall forward the fee and all necessary information to the secretary of the proper county executive committee within two (2) business days.”

Section 23–15–299(6) provides:

“Upon receipt of the proper fee and all necessary information, the proper executive committee shall then determine whether or not each candidate is a qualified elector, and whether any candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or is a fugitive from justice from this state or any other state, and such charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper executive committee finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that such candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and not pardoned nor has served his sentence, or is a fugitive from justice as aforesaid, then the name of such candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot.

Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper executive committee when the time has expired within which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare such candidate the nominee.”

This office has previously issued an opinion to Mayor Robert Walker, dated August 15, 1990 (copy enclosed) wherein we stated that an elected official may serve as a member of a county party executive committee and could be a candidate for a municipal office without being removed from that executive committee. In Walker we also said that a member of a municipal party executive committee may be a candidate for a county or state office and remain on said municipal committee all in accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–263 (Revised 1990). The obvious reasoning for these conclusions is that a county party executive committee has no involvement in municipal primary elections and municipal party executive committees have no involvement in county or state elections. Following that line of reasoning, since District 64 is located solely within Hinds County, the Hinds County Republican Executive Committee as opposed to the State Republican Executive Committee would be ruling on your qualifications and certifying the results of the primary. Therefore, in our opinion, there is no prohibition against you remaining a member of the State Republican Executive Committee and being a candidate for re-election to the Mississippi House of Representatives, District 64.

In response to your question concerning separation of power, we are of the opinion that, while party executive committees are sometimes considered quasi-governmental in nature, they are not executive boards of the State of Mississippi. Therefore, we perceive no separation of power problem if you remain a member of the State Republican Executive Committee and simultaneously seek re-election to the Mississippi Legislature.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General