House Bill 1581

(As Passed the House)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-171, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEETINGS FOR WHICH PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS MAY BE COMPENSATED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-171. (1) Every resident citizen of the county in which is located any district created under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, of good reputation, being the owner of land or the conductor of a business situated within the district and being over twenty-five (25) years of age and of sound mind and judgment, shall be eligible to hold the office of commissioner.

(2) Except as provided in Section 19-5-164(3), each person appointed or elected as a commissioner, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of the person's office, shall be required to execute a bond payable to the State of Mississippi in the penal sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) conditioned that the person will faithfully discharge the duties of the office. Each bond shall be approved by the clerk of the board of supervisors and filed with the clerk.

(3) Each commissioner shall take and subscribe to an oath of office prescribed in Section 268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, before the clerk of the board of supervisors that the person will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of commissioner, which oath shall also be filed with the clerk and preserved with the official bond.

(4) The commissioners so appointed or elected and qualified shall be compensated for their services for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, at a rate to be fixed by the board of supervisors, not to exceed the rate established in Section 25-3-69 for officers of state boards, commissions and agencies, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41. However, in no one (1) calendar year shall any commissioner be compensated for more than thirty-six (36) meetings.

SECTION 2. 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 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after October 1, 2002, if it is effectuated on or before that date under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. If it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, after October 1, 2002, 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.