Mississippi Advisory Opinions November 09, 1995: AGO 000011117 (November 9, 1995)
Collection: Mississippi Attorney General Opinions
Docket: AGO 000011117
Date: Nov. 9, 1995
Advisory Opinion Text
AGO 000011117.
DOCK 1995-0748
AUTH Phil Carter
DATE 19951109
RQNM Myrna Bourgeois
SUBJ Elections - Miscellaneous
SBCD 68
TEXT Honorable Myrna L. Bourgeois
Superintendent of Education
Hancock County School District
451-A Highway 90
Waveland, Mississippi 39567
Dear Ms. Bourgeois:
Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:
"I am requesting an official Attorney General's ruling on Mississippi Code 37-5-67, Section (b).
37-5-67 Appointment of the county superintendent of education authorized in certain counties. The superintendent of education shall be appointed by the county board of education.
(b) In any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or Mississippi Sound having therein a test facility operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (This represents Hancock County)
In my opinion the State of Mississippi and Hancock County are in violation of the above code. I know this case went to the Supreme Court and the court ruled the it did 'apply'. Concerned citizens of Hancock County want to stop the election, so this district can be in compliance. I would appreciate an opinion before November 7, 1995. I know that you want the best for the children in Hancock County."
In a telephone conversation, you informed us that the case you referred to is Allen v State Board of Elections, 393 US 544, 22 L.Ed 2d 1, 89 S Ct 817 (1969). In that case the U.S. Supreme Court held, inter alia, that the 1966 amendment to what is now Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 37-5-67, (Revised 1990) providing that in eleven specified counties the county superintendent of education would be appointed by the county board of education could not be in effect unless and until it receives approval pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Our records indicate that Chapter 406, Laws of 1966, Chapters 384, and 398, Laws of 1968 and Chapter 372, Laws of 1970 which provided for the appointment of the superintendent of education in those counties were never approved pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Therefore, in response to your inquiry, it is the opinion of this office that the superintendent of education of Hancock County remains an elective office.
Sincerely,
MIKE MOORE ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:
Phil Carter Special Assistant Attorney General
PC:sm