MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Judiciary A; Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Reynolds

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE OFFICES OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND JUSTICE COURT JUDGE ARE NONPARTISAN OFFICES; TO PROVIDE THAT CANDIDATES FOR THESE OFFICES SHALL PAY THEIR QUALIFYING FEES TO THE PROPER OFFICIALS; TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTIONS FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND JUSTICE COURT JUDGE WILL BE HELD DURING THE FIRST PRIMARY ELECTION; TO PROVIDE THAT THE NAME OF ALL CANDIDATES FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND JUSTICE COURT JUDGE SHALL BE LISTED ALPHABETICALLY; TO PROVIDE WHICH CANDIDATES WILL PROCEED TO A RUNOFF ELECTION; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL ELECTORS, REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION, SHALL BE ALLOWED TO VOTE FOR CANDIDATES FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND JUSTICE COURT JUDGE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-193, 23-15-297 AND 23-15-299, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. The offices of district attorney and justice court judge are nonpartisan offices and a candidate for election to these offices is prohibited from campaigning or qualifying for such offices based on party affiliation.

SECTION 2. (1) All candidates for the offices of district attorney and justice court judge shall file their intent to be a candidate with the proper officials not later than March 1 of the year in which the election for the offices is held and shall pay the proper officials the following amounts:

(a) Candidates for district attorney, not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

(b) Candidates for justice court judge, not to exceed Ten Dollars ($10.00).

(2) Candidates for district attorney shall file their intent to be a candidate with, and pay the proper assessment made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to, the State Board of Election Commissioners.

(3) Candidates for justice court judge shall file their intent to be a candidate with, and pay the proper assessment made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to, the circuit clerk of the county. The circuit clerk shall notify the county commissioners of election of all persons who have filed their intent to be a candidate filed with, and paid the proper assessment to, the clerk. The notification shall occur within two (2) business days and shall contain all necessary information.

SECTION 3. The names of the candidates for the offices of district attorney and justice court judge shall appear on the ballot at the primary elections, but the names shall be grouped together on a separate portion of the ballot, clearly identified as nonpartisan elections.

SECTION 4. Except as may be provided by the provisions of this act, the general laws for the election of state officers shall apply to and govern the election of district attorneys and justice court judges.

SECTION 5. The names of all candidates for the offices of district attorney and justice court judge shall be listed in alphabetical order on any ballot and no reference to political party affiliation shall appear on any ballot with respect to these offices or candidates for these offices.

SECTION 6. The name of an unopposed candidate for the office of district attorney or justice court judge shall be placed on the primary election ballot.

SECTION 7. The first election shall be held during the 1st party primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of August preceding any regular or general election; and the second election shall be held three (3) weeks thereafter during the second party primary. Any candidate who receives the highest popular vote cast for the office of district attorney or justice court judge during the first election shall thereby be declared elected to the office; provided it is a majority of all the votes cast for that office. If a candidate does not receive a majority of the popular votes in the first election, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest popular vote for the office shall have their names submitted as the candidates to a second election, and the candidate who leads in the second election shall be nominated to the office.

Any tie votes which require resolution to determine who shall enter a runoff election shall be determined by the commissioners of election in the manner prescribed by Sections 23-15-601 and 23-15-605.

SECTION 8. In any election for the office of district attorney or justice court judge, all qualified electors, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof, shall be qualified to vote for candidates for the office of district attorney or justice court judge.

SECTION 9. Section 23-15-193, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-193. At the election in 1995, and every four (4) years thereafter, there shall be elected a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer, Attorney General, three (3) public service commissioners, three (3) Mississippi Transportation Commissioners, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Senators and members of the House of Representatives in the Legislature, * * * clerks of the circuit and chancery courts of the several counties, as well as sheriffs, coroners, assessors, surveyors and members of the boards of supervisors * * * and constables, and all other officers to be elected by the people at the general state election. All such officers shall hold their offices for a term of four (4) years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The state officers shall be elected in the manner prescribed in Section 140 of the Constitution.

SECTION 10. Section 23-15-297, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-297. All candidates upon entering the race for party nominations for office shall first pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23-15-299 for each primary election the following amounts:

(a) Candidates for Governor not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(b) Candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, State Highway Commissioner and State Public Service Commissioner, not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).

(c) Candidates for State Senator, State Representative, sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, county attorney, county superintendent of education and board of supervisors, not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

(d) Candidates for county surveyor, county coroner  * * * and constable, not to exceed Ten Dollars ($10.00).

(e) Candidates for United States Senator, not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(f) Candidates for United States Representative, not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).

SECTION 11. Section 23-15-299, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-299. (1) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) * * * of Section 23-15-297, and assessments made pursuant to paragraph (d) of Section 23-15-297 for legislative offices for districts composed of more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the secretary of the state executive committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier.

(2) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of Section 23-15-297, other than assessments made for legislative offices for districts containing more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the circuit clerk of such candidate's county of residence by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier. The circuit clerk shall forward the fee and all necessary information to the secretary of the proper county executive committee within two (2) business days.

(3) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (e) and (f) of Section 23-15-297 must be paid by each candidate to the Secretary of the State Executive Committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 1996, for the presidential preference primary in 1996 and must be paid sixty (60) days before the presidential preference primary in the years after 1996. Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (f) and (g) of Section 23-15-297, in years when a presidential preference primary is not being held, shall be paid by each candidate to the Secretary of the State Executive Committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held.

(4) The fees paid pursuant to subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall be accompanied by a written statement containing the name and address of the candidate, the party with which he or she is affiliated, and the office for which he or she is a candidate.

(5) The secretary or circuit clerk to whom such payments are made shall promptly receipt for same stating the office for which such candidate making payment is running and the political party with which he or she is affiliated, and he or she shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the exact time and date of the receipt of each payment received by him or her and, where applicable, the date of the postmark on the envelope containing the fee and from whom, and for what office the party paying same is a candidate.

(6) The secretaries of the proper executive committee shall hold said funds to be finally disposed of by order of their respective executive committees. Such funds may be used or disbursed by the executive committee receiving same to pay all necessary traveling or other necessary expenses of the members of the executive committee incurred in discharging their duties as committeemen, and of their secretary and may pay the secretary such salary as may be reasonable.

(7) Upon receipt of the proper fee and all necessary information, the proper executive committee shall then determine whether or not each candidate is a qualified elector, and whether any candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or is a fugitive from justice for this state or any other state, and such charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper executive committee finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that such candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and not pardoned nor has served his or her sentence, or is a fugitive from justice as aforesaid, then the name of such candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot.

Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper executive committee when the time has expired within which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare such candidate the nominee.

SECTION 12. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.