House Bill 1340

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 4, CHAPTER 309, LAWS OF 1966, AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 496, LAWS OF 1982, AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 576, LAWS OF 2000, TO PROVIDE COMPENSATION FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI GAS DISTRICT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 4, Chapter 309, Laws of 1966, as amended by Chapter 496, Laws of 1982, as amended by Chapter 576, Laws of 2000, is amended as follows:

Section 4. From and after the effective date of this act, the powers of the Northeast Mississippi Gas District shall be vested in and exercised by a board of commissioners consisting of three (3) residents of the district. The Governor shall appoint an interim board, the term of which shall expire upon completion of the construction of the district's natural gas transmission and distribution system and the election of a successor board as hereinafter provided. Members of the board shall be entitled to receive compensation for the discharge of their official duties in the amount of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month, provided that if a member serves for less than one (1) month, the monthly compensation for that month shall be prorated for the number of days in the month that he has served.

Promptly upon the commencement of natural gas service by the district to not less than ten (10) individually billed users, the commissioners shall give notice to each user of an initial election to be held at a time not less than thirty (30) days nor more than sixty (60) days from such date. The notice shall state the time, place, and manner in which the users may vote upon the selection of the board to terms of one (1), two (2) and three (3) years by ballot of all users of the district. Such election shall be held in a manner and according to procedures to be established by rules and regulations adopted by the board prior to the giving of notice of such election, and a printed copy of such rules and regulations shall accompany the notice to be forwarded by regular mail to the users.

Rules and regulations for the conduct of the election shall provide for a method of nomination of commissioners, notice of such nominations to be provided to users not less than ten (10) days prior to the date upon which the election is to be held, along with a method of balloting by mail as well as personal attendance at the time and place of election, a method of balloting by proxy vote, and a method of making additional nominations by users in addition to any nominations proposed by the board of commissioners. The time of the election shall be fixed between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on a day of the week other than Sunday.

In this and all succeeding elections, each user of the district shall have one (1) vote; provided that when a billing is made to more than one (1) person at a single location, each such person shall be limited to casting a pro rata share of the one (1) vote to which the billing location is entitled.

Subsequent to the initial election, there shall be held an election annually on a date and in a manner substantially conforming to the initial election, except that in each annual election following the initial election, commissioners shall be elected to terms of three (3) years.

Vacancies in the office of commissioner during the interim period shall be filled by appointment of the Governor and, following the holding of the initial election, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the remaining commissioners.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.