Mississippi Advisory Opinions May 18, 1987: AGO 000007872 (May 18, 1987)

AGO 000007872.

Dear Mr. Tullos:

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

"I am the Attorney for the Town of Louin, Mississippi. The Town is a very small town and has only limited financial resources. The Town is unable to hire a full time or part time police-man. However, there has been a rash of robberies in the Town which has cost the local merchants a considerable sum of money. The Town Board has had proposed to them a proposal whereby the Town would either buy or make some sort of financial contribution whereby burglary alarms could be installed in the various businesses in town and have them connected with the sheriff 's office in BaY Springs. However, I have a very serious question in my mind whether or not a municipality can expend public funds for a purpose such as this."

Miss. Code Ann. 21-17-5 (Supp. 1986) provides:

The governing authoritieS of every municipality of this state shall have the care, management and control of the municipal affairs and its property and finances, and shall have the power to adopt any orders, resolutions or ordinances with respect to such municipal affairs, property and finances for which no provision has been made by general law and which are not inconsistent with the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, the Mississippi Code of 1972, or any other statute or law of the State of Mississippi, and shall likewise have the power to alter, modify and repeal such orders, resolutions or ordinances.

This section shall not authorize the governing authorities of a municipality to (a) levy taxes of any kind or increase the levy of any authorized tax, (b) issue bonds of any kind, (c) change the requirements practices or procedures for municipal elections or establish any new elective office, (d) change the procedure for annexation of additional territory into the municipal boundaries, (e) change the structure or form of the municipal government (f) permit the sale, manufacture, distribution, possession or transportation of alcoholic beverages, or (g) grant any donation; unless such actions are specifically authorized by another statute or law of the State of Mississippi. (Emphasis added.)

We can find no statutory authority for a municipality to expend public funds for the purchase of burglar alarms to be installed in various private businesses in the municipality.

For your information and review, we are enclosing a copy of a former opinion of this office issued to Honorable Kenneth Fairley, dated December 10, 1984, which discusses the authority of a municipality to respond to emergency calls transmitted through a notification system which is owned by a private security business and installed with the permission of the municipal authorities within the municipality's communication system.

Very truly yours,

EDWIN LLOYD PITTMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:

Pete J. Cajoleas Assistant Attorney General

PJC/lcm