House Bill 1231

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-263, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO VIOLATES THE PUBLIC'S TRUST SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM SERVING ON ANY COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-1053 AND 23-15-1054, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT A PERSON WHO HAS VIOLATED THE PUBLIC'S TRUST FROM SERVING ON A STATE OR COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OR TEMPORARY COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR SERVING ON AN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AFTER VIOLATION OF THE PUBLIC'S TRUST; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-263, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-263. (1) Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, the county executive committee at primary elections shall perform all duties that relate to the qualification of candidates for primary elections, print ballots for primary elections, appoint the primary election officers, resolve contests in regard to primary elections, and perform all other duties required by law to be performed by the county executive committee; however, each house of the Legislature shall rule on the qualifications of the membership of its respective body in contests involving the qualifications of such members. The executive committee shall be subject to all the penalties to which county election commissioners are subject, except that Section 23-15-217 shall not apply to members of the county executive committee who seek elective office.

(2) (a) A member of a county executive committee shall be automatically disqualified to serve on the county executive committee, and shall be considered to have resigned therefrom, upon his qualification as a candidate for any elective office. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a member of a county executive committee who qualifies as a candidate for a municipal elective office.

(b) A member of a county executive committee shall be automatically disqualified to serve on the county executive committee if the person has been found by the Mississippi Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to have violated the "Public's Trust," or who has been removed from an elected or appointed public office for any reason, which includes, but is not limited to, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, or who has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement. For purposes of this paragraph, "violation of the Public's Trust" means a finding by the Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has violated Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-121.

(3) The primary election officers appointed by the executive committee of the party shall have the powers and perform the duties, where not otherwise provided, required of such officers in a general election, and any and every act or omission which by law is an offense when committed in or about or in respect to such general elections, shall be an offense if committed in or about or in respect to a primary election; and the same shall be indictable and punishable in the same way as if the election was a general election for the election of state and county officers, except as specially modified or otherwise provided in this chapter.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-1053, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-1053. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and subject to federal law and national party rules, the state executive committee of each political party shall determine the method and procedures by which county executive committees and the state executive committee are selected. The state executive committee of the political party shall establish, at least ninety (90) days prior to the implementation thereof, procedures to be followed in the selection of county executive committees and the state executive committees. A copy of any rule or regulation adopted by the state executive committee shall be sent to the Secretary of State within seven (7) days after its adoption to become a public record.

(b) No person shall serve on any county executive committee or state executive committee if the person has been found by the Mississippi Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to have violated the "Public's Trust," or who has been removed from an elected or appointed public office for any reason, which includes, but is not limited to, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, or who has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement. For purposes of this paragraph, "violation of the Public's Trust" means a finding by the Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has violated Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-121.

SECTION 3. (a) No person shall serve on any county executive committee, state executive committee or congressional district committee if the person has been found by the Mississippi Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to have violated the "Public's Trust," or who has been removed from an elected or appointed public office for any reason, which includes, but is not limited to, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, or who has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement.

(b) Any person who violates this section, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined no more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both, and the court shall order such person removed from the applicable executive committee. Any person who is penalized by this section shall also be fined under the provisions of Section 99-19-73, or any other state law or rule of court.

(c) For purposes of this section, "violation of the Public's Trust" means a finding by the Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has violated Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-121.

SECTION 4. Section 23-15-1054, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-1054. (1) If there be any political party, or parties, in any county which shall not have a party executive committee for such county, such political party, or parties, shall within thirty (30) days of the date for which a candidate for a county office is required to qualify in such county, select qualified electors of that county and of that party's political faith to serve on a temporary county executive committee until members of a county executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The temporary county executive committee shall be selected in the following manner: The chairman of the state executive committee of the party desiring to select a temporary county executive committee, upon petition of five (5) or more members of that political faith, shall call a mass meeting of the qualified electors of their political faith who reside in such county to meet at some convenient place within such county, at a time to be designated in the call, and at such mass convention the members of that political faith shall select a temporary county executive committee which shall serve until members of a county executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The public shall be given notice of such mass meeting as provided in subsection (4) of this section. The chairman of the state executive committee shall authorize the call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition. If the chairman of the state executive committee is either incapacitated, unavailable or nonresponsive and does not authorize the mass call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition, any elected officer of the state executive committee may authorize the call within five (5) calendar days. If no elected officer of the state executive committee acts to approve such petition after an additional five (5) calendar days from the date, the chair of the state executive committee not taking action as provided by this section, the petitioners shall be authorized to produce the call themselves.

(2) If no county executive committee is selected or otherwise formed before an election, the state executive committee may serve as the temporary county executive committee and exercise all of the duties of the county executive committee for the county election. After a state executive committee has fulfilled its duties as the temporary county executive committee, as soon as practicable thereafter, the state executive committee shall select a county executive committee no later than before the next county election.

(3) A person who has been convicted of a felony in a court of this state or any other state or a court of the United States, shall be barred from serving as a member of a county executive committee.

(4) The state executive committee shall publish a copy of its call for a meeting in some newspaper published in the county affected for three (3) weeks preceding the date set for the mass convention, or if there be no newspaper published in the county, then in some newspaper having general circulation in the county and by posting notices in three (3) public places in the county, one (1) of which shall be the county courthouse or the location where the county board of supervisors meets to conduct business not less than three (3) weeks before the date for the mass convention.

(5) (a) No person shall serve on any county executive committee, if the person has been found by the Mississippi Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to have violated the "Public's Trust," or who has been removed from an elected or appointed public office for any reason, which includes, but is not limited to, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, or who has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement.

(b) Any person who violates this section, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, shall be fined no more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5000.00), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both, and the court shall order such person removed from the executive committee. Any person who is fined for violation of this section shall also be fined under the provisions of Section 99-19-73, or any other state law or rule of court.

(c) For purposes of this section, "violation of the Public Trust" means a finding by the Ethics Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has violated Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-121.

SECTION 5. 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 6. 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.