Senate Concurrent Resolution 501

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 117, 133, 250, 154, 150, 41, 42 AND 171 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO REQUIRE THAT THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR MISSISSIPPI ELECTED OFFICIALS, WHICH INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, THE GOVERNOR, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, SECRETARY OF THE STATE, STATE AUDITOR, STATE TREASURER, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONERS, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, COURT OF APPEALS JUDGES, CHANCERY AND CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES AND JUSTICE COURT JUDGES, INCLUDE BEING A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, TWO-THIRDS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, WHICH TWO-THIRDS CONSISTS OF NOT LESS THAN A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend Section 117, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 117. The governor shall be at least thirty years of age, and shall * * * ~~have been a~~ be a natural born citizen of the United States * * * ~~twenty years~~, and shall have resided in this state five years next preceding the day of his election."

Amend Section 133, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 133. There shall be a secretary of state, who shall be elected as herein provided. He shall be at least twenty-five years of age, a natural born citizen of the United States, a citizen of the state five years next preceding the day of his election, and he shall continue in office during the term of four years, and shall be keeper of the capitol; he shall keep a correct register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor; and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the legislature, and he shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by law. He shall receive such compensation as shall be prescribed."

Amend Section 250, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 250. All qualified electors who are natural born citizens of the United States, and no others, shall be eligible to office, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution; provided, however, that as to an office where no other qualification than that of being a qualified elector is provided by this Constitution, the legislature may, by law, fix additional qualifications for such office."

Amend Section 154, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 154. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of the circuit court or of the chancery court who shall not have been a practicing lawyer for five years and who shall not have attained the age of twenty-six years, and who shall not have been a natural born citizen of the United States and five years a citizen of this state."

Amend Section 150, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 150. No personal shall be eligible to the office of judge of the Supreme Court who shall not have attained the age of thirty years at the time of his appointment, and who shall not have been a practicing attorney, who is not a natural born citizen of the United States and a citizen of the state for five years immediately preceding such appointment."

Amend Section 41, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 41. No person shall be a member of the House of Representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one (21) years, who shall not be a natural born citizen of the United states, and who shall not be a qualified elector of the state, and who shall not have been a resident citizen of the state for four (4) years, and within the district such person seeks to serve for two (2) years, immediately preceding his election. The seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall be vacated on his removal from the district from which he was elected."

Amend Section 42, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 42. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be a natural born citizen of the United States, who shall not have been a qualified elector of the state four years, and who shall not be an actual resident of the district or territory he may be chosen to represent for two years before his election. The seat of a senator shall be vacated upon his removal from the district from which he was elected."

Amend Section 171, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 171. A competent number of justice court judges and constables shall be chosen in each county in the manner provided by law, but not less than two (2) such judges in any county, who shall hold their office for the term of four (4) years. Each justice court judge shall be a natural born citizen of the United States, and have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection and shall be high school graduate or have a general equivalency diploma unless he shall have served as a justice of the peace or been elected to the office of justice of the peace prior to January 1, 1976. All persons elected to the office of justice of the peace in November, 1975, shall take office in January, 1976, as justice court judges.

The maximum civil jurisdiction of the justice court shall extend to causes in which the principal amount in controversy is Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or such higher amount as may be prescribed by law. The justice court shall have jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court over all crimes whereof the punishment prescribed does not extend beyond a fine and imprisonment in the county jail; but the Legislature may confer on the justice court exclusive jurisdiction in such petty misdemeanors as the Legislature shall see proper.

In all causes tried in justice court, the right of appeal shall be secured under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law, and no justice court judge shall preside at the trial of any cause where he may be interested, or the parties or either of them shall be connected with him by affinity or consanguinity, except by the consent of the justice court judge and of the parties.

All reference in the Mississippi Code to justice of the peace shall mean justice court judge."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the amendments in this resolution shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2026, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of the amendments for the ballot shall read as follows: "These proposed constitutional amendments require that all of the elected official qualifications that are outlined in the Mississippi Constitution include a requirement that the elected officials are natural born citizens of the United States."