Senate Bill 2568

(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 69-27-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM MEMBERSHIP OF THE STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION TO NEW CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS ON A PHASED-IN BASIS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 69-27-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-27-9. (1) The State Soil and Water Conservation Commission shall be constituted as follows:

(a) Eleven (11) voting members:

(i) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce;

(ii) The State Forester;

(iii) The President of the Mississippi Association of Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners;

(iv) The first vice president of the association;

(v) The second vice president of the association;

(vi) The immediate or most recent ex-president of the association willing and able to serve; and

(vii) Five (5) members to be elected from the membership of the soil and water conservation district commissioners at the annual meeting of the association, one (1) from each United States congressional district by a caucus of the association members from each congressional district as constituted at the time of the caucus, to be elected as follows: First District, one (1) member elected for a one-year term, beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1969, his successor to be similarly elected at the 1968 annual meeting of the association for a three-year term ending January 1, 1972, and each successor elected in the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Second District, one (1) member elected for a two-year term beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1970, his successor to be similarly elected at the 1969 annual meeting of the association for a three-year term ending January 1, 1973, and each successor elected in the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Third District, election to be similar to the Second District; Fourth District, one (1) member elected for a three-year term beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1971, each successor to be similarly elected at the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Fifth District, election to be similar to Fourth District.

(viii) The elected members of the board as constituted on January 15, 2003, shall continue to serve until the expiration of their respective terms. As the terms of the five (5) members expire, the members shall be elected as follows: one (1) member from each congressional district by caucus of the association members from each congressional district as constituted at the time of the caucus and the remainder to be elected from the state at large by the membership of the association. The position and term of the member elected from the Third District whose term expires January 1, 2004, shall be the term and position of the at large member.

(b) The purpose of the above procedure is to provide that when put into effect, elected members will serve three-year staggered terms. The State Soil and Water Conservation Commission is empowered to adopt and carry out procedures for filling unexpired terms of its elected members. The incumbent will continue to serve until his successor is duly qualified and enters into the duties of his office.

(c) Two (2) members shall serve ex officio and without voting power, but with all privileges of discussion and debate as follows:

(i) The Director of the State Extension Service; and

(ii) The Director of the State Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station.

(d) Such nonvoting ex officio member who, due to the pressure of his other required official duties, believes that he will be unable to regularly attend meetings of the commission shall designate a substitute to attend in his stead with the same rights and privileges that he would have had.

(2) The commission shall designate its chairman and vice chairman and may, from time to time, change such designation. A majority of the voting members of the commission shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority in any matter within their duties shall be required for its determination. The voting members of the commission shall receive a per diem at the uniform rate established in Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for their services on the commission for not more than thirty-six (36) days in any one calendar year. In addition, and in the discretion of the commission, all members may be entitled to expenses, including traveling expenses, necessarily incurred in the discharge of their duties on the commission, not to exceed the rate established in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, for state officers and employees. The commission may provide for the execution of surety bonds for all employees and officers who shall be entrusted with funds or property, shall provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all proceedings and of all resolutions, regulations and orders issued or adopted, and shall provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and disbursements by the State Auditor.

(3) The commission shall keep a record of its official actions, shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform such acts, hold such public hearings, and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions under this article.

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