House Concurrent Resolution 12

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 34, 35, 116, 133, 134, 140, 135, 168, 171, 173, 174 AND 252, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTIONS FOR STATEWIDE, LEGISLATIVE AND COUNTY ELECTIVE OFFICES SHALL OCCUR IN THE SAME YEARS AS THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 128 AND 143, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890; 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:

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 except that representatives elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

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 except that senators elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

III.

Amend Section 116, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 116. (1) The chief executive power of this state shall be vested in a Governor, who, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, shall hold his office for four (4) years. Any person elected to the Office of Governor shall be eligible to succeed himself in office. However, no person shall be elected to the Office of Governor more than twice, and no person who has held the Office of Governor or has acted as Governor for more than two (2) years of a term to which another person was elected shall be elected to the Office of Governor more than once.

(2) The Governor elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

IV.

Amend Section 133, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 133. (1) There shall be a Secretary of State, who shall be elected as herein provided. He shall be at least twenty-five (25) years of age, a citizen of the state five (5) years next preceding the day of his election, and he shall continue in office during the term of four (4) years, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, and shall be keeper of the Capitol; he shall keep a correct register of all official acts and proceedings of the Governor; and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the Legislature, and he shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by law. He shall receive such compensation as shall be prescribed.

(2) The Secretary of State elected in 2003 shall serve a term of five (5) years."

Amend Section 134, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 134. (1) A State Treasurer and an Auditor of Public Accounts shall be elected as herein provided, who, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, shall hold their office for the term of four (4) years, and shall possess the same qualifications as required for the Secretary of State. They shall receive such compensation as may be provided by law.

(2) The State Treasurer and Auditor of Public Accounts elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

VI.

Amend Section 140, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 140. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Governor of the state shall be chosen in the following manner: On the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November of A.D. 2008, and on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in every fourth year thereafter, until the day shall be changed by law, an election shall be held in the several counties and districts created for the election of members of the House of Representatives in this state, for Governor, and the person receiving in any county or such legislative district the highest number of votes cast therein, for said office, shall be holden to have received as many votes as such county or district is entitled to members in the House of Representatives, which last named votes are hereby designated "electoral votes." In all cases where a representative is apportioned to two (2) or more counties or districts, the electoral vote based on such representative, shall be equally divided among such counties or districts. The returns of said election shall be certified by the election commissioners, or the majority of them, of the several counties and transmitted, sealed, to the seat of government, directed to the Secretary of State, and shall be by him safely kept and delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the first day of the next ensuing session of the Legislature. The Governor elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years.

The Speaker shall, on the same day he shall have received said returns, open and publish them in the presence of the House of Representatives, and said House shall ascertain and count the vote of each county and legislative district and decide any contest that may be made concerning the same, and said decision shall be made by a majority of the whole number of members of the House of Representatives concurring therein by a viva voce vote, which shall be recorded in its journal; provided, in case the two (2) highest candidates have an equal number of votes in any county or legislative district, the electoral vote of such county or legislative district shall be considered as equally divided between them. The person found to have received a majority of all the electoral votes, and also a majority of the popular vote, shall be declared elected."

VII.

Amend Section 135, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 135. (1) Effective January 1, 1964, there shall be a sheriff, coroner, assessor, tax collector and surveyor for each county to be selected as elsewhere provided herein, who, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, shall hold their office for four (4) years and who shall be eligible to immediately succeed themselves in office, provided, however, if the offices of sheriff and tax collector are combined the holder thereof shall not be eligible to immediately succeed himself in office. The Legislature may combine any one or more of said offices in any county or counties and shall fix their compensation. The duties heretofore imposed on the county treasurer shall be discharged by some person or persons selected as required by law.

(2) Those sheriffs, coroners, assessors, tax collectors and surveyors elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

VIII.

Amend Section 168, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 168. (1) The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the Supreme Court in the manner and for a term as shall be provided by the Legislature, and the clerk of the circuit court and the clerk of the chancery court shall be selected in each county in the manner provided by law, and shall hold office for the term of four (4) years, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, and the Legislature shall provide by law what duties shall be performed during vacation by the clerks of the circuit and chancery courts, subject to the approval of the court.

(2) The clerks of the circuit and chancery courts elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

IX.

Amend Section 171, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 171. A competent number of justice court judges and constables shall be chosen in each county in the manner provided by law, but not less than two (2) such judges in any county, who, except for justice court judges and constables elected in 2003, shall hold their office for the term of four (4) years. The justice court judges and constables elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years. Each justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection and shall be a high school graduate or have a general equivalency diploma unless he shall have served as a justice of the peace or been elected to the office of justice of the peace prior to January 1, 1976. All persons elected to the office of justice of the peace in November 1975 shall take office in January 1976 as justice court judges.

The maximum civil jurisdiction of the justice court shall extend to causes in which the principal amount in controversy is Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or such higher amount as may be prescribed by law. The justice court shall have jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court over all crimes whereof the punishment prescribed does not extend beyond a fine and imprisonment in the county jail; but the Legislature may confer on the justice court exclusive jurisdiction in such petty misdemeanors as the Legislature shall see proper.

In all causes tried in justice court, the right of appeal shall be secured under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law, and no justice court judge shall preside at the trial of any cause where he may be interested, or the parties or either of them shall be connected with him by affinity or consanguinity, except by the consent of the justice court judge and of the parties.

All reference in the Mississippi Code to justice of the peace shall mean justice court judge."

Amend Section 173, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 173. (1) There shall be an Attorney General elected at the same time and in the same manner as the Governor is elected, whose term of office shall be four (4) years, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, and whose compensation shall be fixed by law. The qualifications for the Attorney General shall be the same as herein prescribed for judges of the circuit and chancery courts.

(2) The Attorney General elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

XI.

Amend Section 174, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 174. (1) A district attorney for each circuit court district shall be selected in the manner provided by law, whose term of office shall be four (4) years, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, whose duties shall be prescribed by law, and whose compensation shall be a fixed salary.

(2) The district attorney elected in 2003 shall hold office for a term of five (5) years."

XII.

Amend Section 252, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 252. The term of office of all elective officers under this Constitution shall be four (4) years, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. A general election for all elective officers shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, A.D. 2008, and every four (4) years thereafter; provided, the Legislature may change the day and date of general elections to any day and date in October, November or December."

XIII.

Section 128, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, is brought forward as follows:

"Section 128. There shall be a Lieutenant Governor who shall be elected at the same time, in the same manner, and for the same term, and who shall possess the same qualifications as required of the Governor. Any person elected to the Office of Lieutenant Governor shall be eligible to succeed himself in office, but no person who has been elected to the Office of Lieutenant Governor for two (2) successive terms shall be eligible to hold that office until one (1) term has intervened."

XIV.

Section 143, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, is brought forward as follows:

"Section 143. All other state officers shall be elected at the same time, and in the same manner as provided for election of Governor."

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 2004, 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 will provide that elections of statewide, legislative and county public officials shall occur in the same years as the presidential election."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this resolution, immediately upon adoption by the Legislature, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Colombia, in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.