Mississippi Advisory Opinions February 01, 2002: AGO 000014877 (February 1, 2002)

AGO 000014877.

Dear Mr. Phillips:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your request for an official opinion from this office and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 23-15-211(2) requires county boards of supervisors to pay county election commissioners the per diem provided for in Section 23-15-153 for attending training events up to a maximum of six (6) days per year provided they actually attend the event and obtain a training certificate.

Section 23-15-211(3) provides that an elections seminar conducted by the Secretary of State shall be included in the six (6) days and requires election commissioners to attend that seminar.

Please issue your official opinion as to whether a training event must be sponsored by the Secretary of State in order for election commissioners to be entitled to compensation as provided for in Section 23-15-211(2). Secondly, if the answer to the first question is in the negative, could the Election Commissioners Association of Mississippi (ECAM) sponsor training events that would qualify under Section 23-15-211(2)? Thirdly, if county election commissioners would be entitled to the specified compensation for attending a training event sponsored by ECAM, could ECAM charge a small registration fee to offset expenses incurred in conducting the training?

In response to your inquiry, Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 23-15-211 (Revised 2001) provides in part:

(2) The board of supervisors of each county shall pay members of the county election commissioners for attending training events a per diem in the amount provided in Section 23-15-153; however, such per diem shall not be paid to an election commissioner for more than six (6) days of training per year and shall only be paid to election commissioners who actually attend and complete a training event and obtain a training certificate.

(3) Included in this six (6) days shall be an elections seminar, conducted and sponsored by the Secretary of State. Election commissioners and chairpersons of each political party executive committee or their designee shall be required to attend.

(4) Each participant shall receive a certificate from the Secretary of State indicating that the named participant has received the elections training seminar instruction and that each participant is fully qualified to conduct an election. (Emphasis added).

In response to your first question, while one of the authorized training events for which commissioners may receive a per diem must be a seminar sponsored by the Secretary of State, we are of the opinion that other training events may be sponsored by other entities.

In response to your second question, we are of the opinion that the Election Commissioners Association of Mississippi (ECAM) could lawfully sponsor one or more training events for its members. We are of the further opinion that election commissioners attending a training event sponsored by ECAM would be entitled to receive a per diem as prescribed by Section 23-15-153 provided a training certificate from ECAM is received and provided the six day limit is not exceeded.

In response to your third question, we know of nothing that would prohibit ECAM from charging a reasonable fee to attend a training event it sponsors. As to whether a participant may be reimbursed for paying such fee, we have said that "if prior approval is given by the board of supervisors, election commissioners can be reimbursed for necessary travel and subsistence expenses in connection with their required attendance at the annual elections training seminar. This would include reimbursement of the seminar fee." See MS AG Op., Gex (March 2, 1989). Also, in addressing a similar question concerning reimbursement of expenses of school board members we said that members may be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the further performance of their duties, including attendance at any mandatory school board training session or at regional and national education meetings, when such mileage and other expenses are authorized by the board prior to the date on which they occur. See MS AG Op., Bordis (November 1, 1996). While training events other than the seminar sponsored by the Secretary of State are not mandatory, we are of the opinion that a board of supervisors may, in its discretion and prior to the date of the training, authorize reimbursement of expenses, including a reasonable seminar fee for commissioners attending training events sponsored by ECAM.

Sincerely,

MIKE MOORE, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter

Special Assistant Attorney General