MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Constitution

By: Representative Saucier

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 34 AND SECTION 35, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO HAS SERVED TWO CONSECUTIVE TERMS IN THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OR MISSISSIPPI SENATE SHALL NOT BE ELIGIBLE AS HIS OR HER IMMEDIATE SUCCESSOR IN OFFICE UNTIL ONE TERM HAS INTERVENED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

I.

Amend Section 34, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 34. The House of Representatives shall consist of members chosen every four (4) years by the qualified electors of the several counties and representative districts. A person elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives shall be eligible to succeed himself or herself in office, but no person who has been elected to the House for two (2) consecutive, full terms shall be eligible to hold a seat in the House until one (1) term has intervened. For the purposes of this section, a person that is elected to fill a vacancy in office as a member of the House of Representatives shall be considered to have served a full term only if that person served at least two (2) years of the remaining term of office to which he or she was elected."

II.

Amend Section 35, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 35. The Senate shall consist of members chosen every four (4) years by the qualified electors of the several districts. A person elected to the Mississippi Senate shall be eligible to succeed himself or herself in office, but no person who has been elected to the Senate for two (2) consecutive full terms shall be eligible to hold a seat in the Senate until one (1) term has intervened. For the purposes of this section, a person that is elected to fill a vacancy in office as a member of the Senate shall be considered to have served a full term only if that person served at least two (2) years of the remaining term of office to which he or she was elected."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments 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 1999, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law, with the amendments in this resolution being voted on as one (1) amendment since the proposed amendments pertain to one (1) subject.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that a person who has served two consecutive terms in the Mississippi House of Representatives or the Mississippi Senate shall not be eligible as his or her immediate successor in office until one term has intervened."