MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Fees and Salaries of Public Officers; Appropriations

By: Representative Guice

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-3-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE SALARIES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES FROM THE OMNIBUS PAY SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 25-9-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH DEFINES THE TERMS "STATE SERVICE" AND "NONSTATE SERVICE" AS USED UNDER THE STATEWIDE PERSONNEL SYSTEM; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 71-3-85 AND 71-3-91 THROUGH 71-3-95, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 25-3-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-3-33. The annual salaries of the following appointive state and district officials and employees are hereby fixed as follows:

Deputy Attorney General, not to exceed............ 57,200.00

Assistant Attorneys General shall each receive

annual salaries in an amount to be

fixed by the Attorney General but

not to exceed................................ 52,800.00

Military Department - National Guard:

Adjutant General............................. 50,400.00

Department of Banking and Consumer Finance:

Commissioner................................. 59,200.00

Commissioner of Savings Associations.............. 45,600.00

Chairman of the State Tax Commission

(Commissioner of Revenue)...................... 70,000.00

Associate Commissioners, each................ 38,400.00

Director of Emergency Management Agency........... 43,600.00

Highway Safety Patrol:

Commissioner of Public Safety................ 58,000.00

Chief of Highway Patrol...................... 49,600.00

Department of Human Services:

Director, not to exceed...................... 75,421.00

Workers' Compensation Commission:

Executive Director........................... 56,600.00

Archives and History:

Director, not to exceed...................... 58,000.00

State Forester.................................... 60,200.00

State Oil and Gas Board:

Secretary-Supervisor......................... 61,600.00

Educational Television Authority:

Executive Director........................... 58,000.00

Director, Mississippi Library Commission,

not to exceed................................ 58,000.00

Executive Secretary, Public

Service Commission........................... 43,600.00

Parole Board:

Chairman..................................... 46,000.00

Administrative Assistant for Parole Matters.. 39,600.00

Members, each................................ 43,000.00

Governor's Office-Federal State Programs:

Coordinator Federal State Programs........... 55,440.00

Governor's State Bond Advisory Division:

Director..................................... 46,200.00

Employment Security Commission:

Executive Director, not to exceed............ 61,600.00

Executive Director, Department of Mental Health,

to be determined by the State Board of

Mental Health, not to exceed................. 72,300.00

Director, Division of Medicaid,

not to exceed................................ 66,000.00

Director, State Department of Transportation,

not to exceed................................ 80,125.44

State Entomologist................................ 52,800.00

Clerk of the Supreme Court........................ 47,200.00

State Aid Engineer, Division of

State Aid Road Construction.................. 59,346.00

Executive Director, Judicial Performance

Commission................................... 51,156.00

Executive Director, Department of Finance

and Administration........................... 75,760.00

Superintendent, Mississippi School for

the Blind, to be determined by the State Board of

Education, not to exceed..................... 60,000.00

Superintendent, Mississippi School for

the Deaf, to be determined by the State Board of

Education, not to exceed..................... 60,000.00

Executive Director, State Fair Commission......... 49,599.00

Executive Director, Department of Wildlife,

Fisheries and Parks.......................... 71,005.00

Executive Director, Department of

Environmental Quality........................ 71,005.00

Executive Director, Pat Harrison

Waterway District............................ 53,714.00

Executive Director, Pearl River Basin

Development District......................... 51,703.00

Executive Director, Pearl River Valley

Water Supply District........................ 60,836.00

Executive Director, Tombigbee River Valley

Water Management District.................... 52,208.00

Director, Soil and Water Conservation

Commission................................... 40,470.00

Commissioner, Mississippi Department of

Corrections.................................. 68,572.00

Executive Director, State Central Data

Processing Authority......................... 77,294.00

Executive Director, Mississippi Industries

for the Blind................................ 53,109.00

Director, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics......... 49,121.00

Executive Secretary, State Veterans

Affairs Board................................ 44,723.00

Executive Officer, Veterans' Home

Purchase Board............................... 51,427.00

Chief Administrative Officer,

Motor Vehicle Commission..................... 52,179.00

Stadium Manager, Mississippi Veterans

Memorial Stadium............................. 49,152.00

Executive Director, Mississippi Arts Commission... 44,287.00

SECTION 2. Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

25-9-107. The following terms, when used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Board" shall mean the State Personnel Board created under the provisions of this chapter.

(b) "State service" shall mean all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined herein, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter.

(c) "Nonstate service" shall mean the following officers and employees excluded from the state service by this chapter. The following are excluded from the state service:

(i) Members of the State Legislature, their staffs and other employees of the legislative branch;

(ii) The Governor and staff members of the immediate Office of the Governor;

(iii) Justices and judges of the judicial branch or members of appeals boards on a per diem basis;

(iv) The Lieutenant Governor, staff members of the immediate Office of the Lieutenant Governor and officers and employees directly appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(v) Officers and officials elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;

(vi) Members of boards and commissioners appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or the State Legislature;

(vii) All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, and community and junior colleges;

(viii) Officers and enlisted members of the National Guard of the state;

(ix) Prisoners, inmates, student or patient help working in or about institutions;

(x) Contract personnel; provided, that any agency which employs state service employees may enter into contracts for personal and professional services only with the prior written approval of the State Personnel Director. The State Personnel Director shall disapprove such contracts where the services to be provided could reasonably be performed by an employee in an authorized employment position. Prior to paying any warrant for such contractual services, the Auditor of Public Accounts, or the successor to those duties, shall determine whether the contract involved was for personal or professional services, and, if so, shall determine whether it was properly submitted to the State Personnel Director and approved; provided, however, that physicians, dentists, architects, engineers, veterinarians, attorneys and utility rate experts who are employed for the purposes of professional services, and other specialized technical services related to facilities maintenance, shall be excluded from the provisions of this paragraph;

(xi) Part-time employees; provided, however, part-time employees shall only be hired into authorized employment positions classified by the board, shall meet minimum qualifications as set by the board, and shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan as certified by the board;

(xii) Persons appointed on an emergency basis for the duration of the emergency; the effective date of the emergency appointments shall not be earlier than the date approved by the State Personnel Director, and shall be limited to thirty (30) working days. Emergency appointments may be extended to sixty (60) working days by the State Personnel Board;

(xiii) Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurse practitioners and attorneys, while serving in their professional capacities in authorized employment positions who are required by statute to be licensed, registered or otherwise certified as such, provided that the State Personnel Director shall verify that the statutory qualifications are met prior to issuance of a payroll warrant by the Auditor;

(xiv) Personnel who are employed and paid from funds received from a federal grant program which has been approved by the Legislature or the Department of Finance and Administration whose length of employment has been determined to be time-limited in nature. This subparagraph shall apply to personnel employed under the provisions of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended, and other special federal grant programs which are not a part of regular federally funded programs wherein appropriations and employment positions are appropriated by the Legislature. Such employees shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan and shall meet all qualifications required by federal statutes or by the Mississippi Classification Plan;

(xv) The administrative head who is in charge of any state department, agency, institution, board or commission, wherein the statute specifically authorizes the Governor, board, commission or other authority to appoint said administrative head; provided, however, that the salary of such administrative head shall be determined by the State Personnel Board in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan unless otherwise fixed by statute;

(xvi) The State Personnel Board shall exclude top level positions if the incumbents determine and publicly advocate substantive program policy and report directly to the agency head, or the incumbents are required to maintain a direct confidential working relationship with a key excluded official. Provided further, a written job classification shall be approved by the board for each such position, and positions so excluded shall be paid in conformity with the Variable Compensation Plan;

(xvii) Employees whose employment is solely in connection with an agency's contract to produce, store or transport goods, and whose compensation is derived therefrom;

(xviii) Personnel employed by the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board, paid from funds from the "Correctional Facilities Emergency Construction Fund," or employed under contracts let or approved by the board for the construction, acquisition, lease, lease-purchase or operation of prison facilities. This subparagraph shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 1996;

(xix) The associate director, deputy directors and bureau directors within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

(d) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof.

SECTION 3. Section 71-3-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

71-3-85. (1) There is hereby created a commission to be known as the Workmen's Compensation Commission, consisting of three (3) members, who shall devote their entire time to the duties of the office. The Governor shall appoint the members of the commission, by and with the consent of the Mississippi State Senate, one (1) for a term of two (2) years, one (1) for a term of four (4) years, and one (1) for a term of six (6) years. Upon the expiration of each term as above set forth, the Governor shall appoint a successor for a term of six (6) years, and thereafter the term of office of each commissioner shall be for six (6) years. One (1) member shall be a person who by reason of his previous vocation or affiliation can be classed as a representative of employers, and one (1) member shall be a person who by reason of his previous vocation or affiliation can be classed as a representative of employees. One (1) member shall be an attorney at law of recognized ability with at least five (5) years' active practice in Mississippi prior to his appointment. The Governor shall designate the chairman of the commission, whose term of chairman shall run concurrently with his appointment as a commissioner.

The chairman shall be the administrative head of the commission and shall have the final authority in all matters relating to assignment of cases for hearing and trial and the administrative work of the commission and its employees, except in the promulgation of rules and regulations wherein the commission shall act as a body, and in the trial and determination of cases as otherwise provided.

Upon the expiration of the term of a commissioner, he shall continue to serve until his successor has been appointed. Because cumulative experience is conspicuously essential to the proper administration of a Workmen's Compensation Law, it is declared to be in the public interest to continue Workmen's Compensation Commissioners in office as long as efficiency is demonstrated. A commissioner may be removed for cause prior to the expiration of his term, but shall be furnished a written copy of the charges against him and shall be accorded a public hearing.

Each member of the commission and each administrative law judge shall receive an annual salary fixed by the Legislature.

(2) A vacancy in the commission, if there remain two (2) members of it, shall not impair the authority of such two (2) members to act. In case of illness or continued absence for other reasons, the same authority of such two (2) members shall apply.

(3) The commission shall have the powers and duties necessary for effecting the purposes of this chapter, including the powers of a court of record for compelling the attendance of witnesses, examining them under oath, and compelling the production of books, papers, documents and objects relevant to the determination of a claim for compensation, and the power to adopt rules and regulations and make or approve the forms relating to notices of injuries, payment of claims and other purposes. The authority of the commission and its duly authorized representatives to investigate and determine claims for compensation shall include the right to enter the premises where an injury occurred, to ascertain its causes and circumstances.

(4) The office of the commission shall be situated in the City of Jackson, but hearings may be held at such places as it may deem most convenient for the proper and speedy performance of its duties. The commission is authorized, if it deems it necessary for the convenient and efficient dispatch of business, to lease office space and facilities in other than publicly owned buildings.

(5) The commission shall adopt detailed rules and regulations for implementing the purposes of this chapter at hearings attended by the main parties interested. Such rules, upon adoption, shall be published and be at all reasonable times made available to the public and, if not inconsistent with law, shall be binding upon those participating in the responsibilities and benefits of the Workmen's Compensation Law.

(6) The commission shall adopt or approve the forms required for administering the chapter, such notices of injury, application for benefits, receipts for compensation and all other forms needed to assure the orderly and prompt operation of the law, and may require the exclusive use of any or all such approved forms.

SECTION 4. Section 71-3-91, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

71-3-91. Commissioners and employees of the commission shall receive their necessary traveling expenses and costs of subsistence while traveling on official business and away from their designated station. Expense accounts shall be sworn to by the person presenting them and, upon approval by the chairman of the commission, shall be allowed and paid as provided in Section 71-3-97.

SECTION 5. Section 71-3-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

71-3-93. The commission shall appoint such officers and employees as are necessary adequately to administer the Workers' Compensation Law, including not more than eight (8) administrative judges to be appointed by the commission with the consent of the Governor and an executive director who shall serve at the will of the commission and shall have such administrative duties as are assigned by the commission, a secretary, a statistician, a rehabilitation unit, and any other employees deemed essential to the administration of the law including court reporters whose salaries shall be the same as set for court reporters for circuit and chancery courts by Section 9-13-19. The annual salary of the executive director shall be equal to that of an administrative judge. An administrative judge shall be a member of the Mississippi State Bar and shall have a minimum of three (3) years' experience in the practice of law.

All salaries not specifically fixed by law shall be set by the commission. The establishing of a merit system or career service for employees of the commission is declared to be in the public interest because of the length of time required for understanding the details and problems involved in administering this legislation. The commission shall establish and enforce fair and reasonable rules for the appointment, promotion and demotion of personnel. All employees of the commission with the exception of medical consultants shall devote their entire time to the duties of their office.

For the purpose of conducting hearings and making decisions upon claims, the administrative judge or administrative judges appointed by the commission shall have the authority of a commissioner.

SECTION 6. Section 71-3-95, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

71-3-95. (1) The commission shall make such expenditures as may be necessary for the adequate administration of this chapter, including salaries and traveling expense, the cost of personal services, office rent at the seat of government and elsewhere, the purchase of books, periodicals, office equipment and supplies, printing and binding reports, the cost of membership in official organizations, and other purposes. All expenditures of the commission in the administration of this chapter shall be allowed and paid out of the Administration Expense Fund as provided in Section 71-3-97, upon the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman of the commission.

(2) The commission is authorized, in its discretion, to transfer a sum or sums not to exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) from the Administration Expense Fund to the Second Injury Fund. The commission is further authorized, in its discretion, to replace any funds so transferred in the event that funds become available.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.