Mississippi Advisory Opinions October 19, 1988: 19881019 (October 19, 1988)

Advisory Opinion Text

Jerry R. Wallace, Esquire

Montgomery, Smith-Vaniz & McGraw

Post Office Box 284

Canton, MS 39046

Dear Mr. Wallace:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter requesting an opinion from this office and has assigned it to me for research and reply. A copy of your letter is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

In your letter you ask the following question:

In the special election in Madison County, Mississippi, to be conducted on November 8, 1988, to determine whether to abolish the office of County Superintendent of Education, will all qualified electors of the county participate in said election, or will the participation in the election be limited to “all qualified electors residing outside the territory of any municipal separate or special municipal separate school district located within” the county?

Section 37-9-12, Miss.Code Ann. (Supp.1988), calls for an election in counties having an elected county superintendent of education as of July 1, 1986, to decide whether this elected position should be abolished. The election is to be held at the November 1988 general election.

The first sentence of § 37-9-12, supra, indicates that the qualified electors of the entire county should vote on the question; however, in the body of the statute, the following language appears:

“The proposition shall be submitted to a vote of all qualified electors residing outside the territory of any municipal separate or special municipal separate school district located within such county. Such election shall be held in the same manner as other elections are held in the county.”

As you point out, under the rules of statutory construction, the specific provision describing the electors to whom the question would be submitted prevails over the general language contained in the first sentence of the statute. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the question of whether the office of elected county superintendent of education should be abolished is to be submitted to those qualified electors residing outside the territory of any municipal separate or special municipal separate school district located within the county.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General.