Senate Bill 2252

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 9-3-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PLACE THE PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE TERMS AND SERVICE OF JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT IN THE SUPREME COURT CHAPTER OF THE MISSISSIPPI CODE AND TO EXTEND OR CONTRACT SOME OF THE TERMS OF SOME OF THE JUDGES FOR ONE TERM ONLY TO MORE EVENLY STAGGER THE TERMS OF JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL REGULAR ELECTIONS OCCUR IN THE NOVEMBER IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING EXPIRATION OF EACH TERM; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-991, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTION OF SUPREME COURT JUDGES SHALL OCCUR IN THE NOVEMBER IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING EXPIRATION OF TERM; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-993, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 9-3-4, Mississippi Code of 1972:

9-3-4. (1) The term of office of judges of the Supreme Court shall be eight (8) years and shall begin on the first Monday of January of the year in which the prior term expires.

(2) (a) For the purpose of appointment and election, each of the nine (9) judgeships of the Supreme Court shall be considered a separate office. The three (3) offices in each of the three (3) Supreme Court districts shall be designated Position Number 1, Position Number 2 and Position Number 3, and in qualifying for election for any office of judge of the Supreme Court, each candidate shall state the position number of the office he wishes to retain and the ballots shall so indicate. In Supreme Court District Number 1: Position Number 1 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1966, provided, however, that for the term beginning in January 2006, that term shall be for nine (9) years, with subsequent terms reverting to the constitutionally mandated eight-year term; Position Number 2 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1965; and Position Number 3 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1969. In District Number 2: Position Number 1 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1972; Position Number 2 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1969; and Position Number 3 shall be for that office for which the term ends in January 1973. In District Number 3: Position Number 1 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1969; Position Number 2 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1969; and Position Number 3 shall be that office for which the term ends in January 1965.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-991, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-991. * * * An election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November immediately preceding the expiration of the term of an incumbent in the Supreme Court district or Court of Appeals district from which each incumbent was elected at which there shall be elected a successor to the incumbent, whose term of office shall thereafter begin on the first Monday of January of the year in which the term of the incumbent he succeeds expires.

SECTION 3. Section 23-15-993, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-993. For the purpose of all elections, each of the nine (9) judgeships of the Supreme Court and the ten (10) judgeships of the Court of Appeals shall be considered a separate office. * * *

SECTION 4. 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 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2006, provided that it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended and further provided that the amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 as proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 523, 2004 Regular Session, are certified by the Secretary of State as having been ratified by the people.