Mississippi Advisory Opinions April 03, 1991: 19910403 (April 03, 1991)

Advisory Opinion Text

Honorable Wanda H. Vowell

Circuit Clerk

Post Office Box 34

Ackerman, Mississippi 39735

Dear Ms. Vowell:

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

“Each year in the month of January, Section 13-5-8(2) of the Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated directs the Circuit Clerk to certify to the Jury Commission of his county a copy of the voter registration list of that county. This certified voter registration list is to be used by the Jury Commission as their Master List for the purpose of obtaining jurors for the various courts in their county.

Is a Circuit Clerk entitled to receive pay for copying and certifying the official voter registration list to the Jury Commission as their Master List and, if the Clerk is entitled to receive pay, what is the amount allowed by law? Is a certified copy of the voter registration list used as the Jury Commission Master List considered a ‘final copy’? What is considered to be a ‘final copy’?

Enclosed is a copy of Section 13-5-8(2) of the Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated which directs the Clerk to perform this duty. Also enclosed is a copy of Section 25-7-13(6) of the Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated which states that ‘For making final records required by law and furnishing transcripts of records, the circuit clerk shall charge Two Dollars ($2.00) per page.”

We are also in receipt of your letter in which you cite Mississippi Code Annotated § 13-5-38 (1972) as possible authority for the board of supervisors to authorize payments for the certifying the voter registration list to the jury commission as required by Section 13-5-8 .

In response to your inquiry, it is the opinion of this office that the term “final records” used in Section 25-7-13(6) refers to records of court proceedings and is not applicable to the certification of the voter registration list. Therefore, the registrar, in our opinion, would not be entitled to the Two Dollar ($2.00) per page fee. However, upon proper order of the board of supervisors, the registrar's annual compensation could be increased subject to the limitations set forth in Section 23-15-225(1).

Section 13-5-38 provides:

“In counties where the implementation of sections 13-5-2 through 13-5-16, 13-5-21, 13-5-26 through 13-5-38, and 13-5-41, requires additional clerical or other personnel, the board of supervisors, in its discretion, may pay for such services out of the general county fund of the respective county.”

In our opinion, the furnishing of the master voter registration list to the jury commission is one of the duties of the registrar for which he is paid pursuant to Section 23-15-225(1).

Sincerely

Mike Moore Attorney General.

Phil Carter Special Assistant Attorney General.