Mississippi Advisory Opinions February 12, 1999: AGO 000013066 (February 12, 1999)

AGO 000013066.

Dear Ms. Fair:

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

I am writing to request a ruling regarding the election of a trustee for the Okolona Municipal Separate School District. We interpret the following from Code Sections 37-7-211, 37-7-215, etc., regarding this year's trustee election:

(1) There is no requirement for advertising of a vacancy in a municipal separate school district.

(2) The final date for accepting the petition and affidavit for a trustee candidate in a municipal separate school district was Monday, January 25, 1999.

(3) When there is only (1) person to qualify as a candidate for the trustee's position, the school board should declare that candidate elected without opposition' and spread this upon its minutes at the next board meeting.

(4) After the board has declared the candidate elected without opposition' and the candidate is appropriately bonded, the candidate becomes the acting and newly elected trustee at the board's meeting. (What, if any, are the time limitations on beginning service, i.e., how soon can the newly elected trustee begin or how late can the trustee begin the term of office?)

We understand that your school district is a municipal separate school district with added territory, and the elected members of the board come from the territory outside the municipal limits.

In response, Section 37-7207, Miss. Code Ann. provides that a vacancy occurring during a term of office shall be filled by appointment and the appointee shall serve until the next general election, at which time the person elected would fill the remainder of the unexpired term, and shall take office immediately. Therefore, if only one candidate qualified by the January 25, 1999, deadline, then there would not be an election in March. The single qualified candidate would be declared elected without opposition and would take office immediately.

Please note that although you correctly state that there is provision to advertise a vacancy, Section 37-7-213 does provide that notice must be given at least twenty-one days prior to the election. In the situation you described, this is unnecessary since no election will be held.

If this office can be of any further assistance, please let us know.

Very truly yours,

MIKE MOORE

ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: Sandra Murphy Shelson

Special Assistant Attorney General