House Bill 1212

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 7-1-35, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT WHERE THE GOVERNOR HAS NOT REPORTED TO THE SENATE AN APPOINTMENT MADE TO AN OFFICE BY THE TIME PRESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, THE GOVERNOR'S AUTHORITY TO FILL THAT OFFICE SHALL BE EXTINGUISHED AND ANNULLED FROM AND AFTER THAT DATE, AND THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE THE APPOINTMENT TO THAT OFFICE INSTEAD OF THE GOVERNOR; TO PROVIDE THAT IF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DOES NOT MAKE THE APPOINTMENT TO AN OFFICE AS REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION, THE OFFICE SHALL BE VACANT UNTIL THE NEXT SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE, AT WHICH TIME THE GOVERNOR'S AUTHORITY TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO THAT OFFICE SHALL BE REVIVED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 7-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-35. (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the Governor shall fill by appointment, with the advice and consent of the Senate, all offices subject to such appointment when the term of the incumbent will expire within nine (9) months after the meeting of the Legislature, and also vacancies in such offices occurring from any cause during the session of the Senate or during the vacation of that body. All such appointments to offices made in vacation shall be reported to the Senate within ten (10) days after the * * *~~commencement~~ beginning of the session of that body for its advice and consent to the appointment, and the vacancy shall not be filled if caused by the Senate's refusal to confirm any appointment or nomination, or if it does not occur during the last five (5) days of the session, by the appointment of the Governor in the vacation of the Senate, without its concurrence. Any appointment in vacation to which the Senate * * *~~shall~~ refuses to consent shall be thereby annulled from that date, but the acts of the appointee prior thereto shall not be affected thereby.

(2) In any instance where the Governor has not reported to the Senate an appointment made to an office, by the thirtieth day of the session after which a vacancy has arisen, or by the tenth day of the session in the cases of appointments made in vacation, the Governor's authority to fill that office or report to the Senate an appointment to that office shall be extinguished and annulled from and after that date, except as otherwise provided in this subsection. The Secretary of the Senate shall report to the Lieutenant Governor any failure of the Governor to report to the Senate within the time prescribed in this subsection an appointment made to an office, and the Lieutenant Governor shall from that date forth have the authority to make the appointment to that office instead of the Governor. Such appointments of the Lieutenant Governor under the provisions of this subsection shall be made and reported to the Senate within thirty (30) days of the date when the Secretary of the Senate reports to the Lieutenant Governor. If the appointment to an office is not made by the Lieutenant Governor as required by this subsection, the office shall be vacant until the next regular or extraordinary session of the Legislature, at which time the Governor's authority to make an appointment to that office shall be revived and subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Appointments to will and pleasure offices made by the Governor shall be reported to the Senate as soon as the appointment is made, unless occurring within the last five (5) days of the session.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.