House Concurrent Resolution 7

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 213-A, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO RECONSTITUTE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING BY PROVIDING THAT AFTER JANUARY 1, 2004, MEMBERS SHALL BE APPOINTED FOR EIGHT-YEAR TERMS FROM CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS AS THE DISTRICTS EXIST AFTER EACH FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

Amend Section 213-A, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 213-A. The state institutions of higher learning * * * in Mississippi * * * (University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, Mississippi University for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and any others * * * which may be * * * organized or established by the State of Mississippi) shall be under the management and control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. * * * The Governor shall appoint the members of the board with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint only individuals who are qualified electors residing in the district from which each is appointed, * * * at least twenty-five (25) years of age, and of the highest order of intelligence, character, learning, and fitness for the performance of their duties, to the end that the board shall perform its high and honorable duties * * * to the greatest advantage of the people of the state and the educational institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations. Beginning in 2004, there shall be appointed three (3) members of such board from each congressional district of the state as those districts are constituted following the most recent federal decennial census, beginning with the 2000 federal decennial census, and one (1) member shall be appointed from the state at large. The term of office of the trustees * * * provided for in this section shall begin on the first Monday of May; and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make such appointments during the regular session of the Legislature of Mississippi immediately preceding the beginning of their terms of office. Members of the board whose terms begin on the first Monday of May 2004 shall be appointed according to the following: one (1) member from each congressional district shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years; one (1) member from each congressional district shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years; one (1) member from each congressional district shall be appointed for a term of six (6) years; and the member appointed from the state at large shall be appointed for a term of eight (8) years. Upon the expiration of the terms of office of these members, their successors shall hold office for a period of eight (8) years. The members of the board of trustees as constituted at the time the amendment proposed to this section by House Concurrent Resolution No. , 2002 Regular Session, is ratified by the electorate and inserted in the Constitution * * * shall continue to hold office until the members of the board, as reconstituted pursuant to the amendment proposed to this section by House Concurrent Resolution No. , 2002 Regular Session, are appointed and take office. In case of a vacancy on the board by death or resignation of a member, or for any * * * cause other than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his successor, who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the Legislature. During such * * * session of the Legislature, the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his predecessor was appointed, to hold office until the end of the period for which such original trustee was appointed * * *.

The Legislature shall provide by law for the appointment of a trustee for the La Bauve Fund at the University of Mississippi and for the perpetuation of such fund.

Such board shall have the power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the teaching staff, and all administrative employees of the institutions for a term not exceeding four (4) years; but the board shall have the power and authority to terminate any such contract at any time for malfeasance, inefficiency or contumacious conduct, but never for political reasons.

Nothing in this section shall in any way limit or take away the power the Legislature had and possessed, if any, at the time of the adoption of this amendment, to consolidate, abolish or change the status of any of the above named institutions."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment 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 2002, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that beginning in 2004, members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall be appointed from congressional districts as the districts are drawn following the most recent federal decennial census. The amendment also changes the board members' terms of office from twelve years to eight years."