House Bill 46

AN ACT TO REESTABLISH THE MANNER OF SELECTING THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION IN A CERTAIN COUNTY AS AN ELECTIVE METHOD FROM THE APPOINTIVE METHOD, EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1, 2020, AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE ELECTION SHALL BE CONDUCTED AT THE SAME TIME AND IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE GENERAL STATE ELECTION; TO PRESCRIBE AN ORDERLY TRANSITION OF TERMS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-65, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THEREWITH; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-5-63, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-9-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE QUALIFICATION OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS SEEKING THE ELECTIVE OFFICE OF COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 23-15-359, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) Notwithstanding the procedure established under the provisions of Section 37-5-65 for the reestablishment of the office of county superintendent of education as elective after having been made appointive under the authority of Section 37-5-63, effective with the term of office beginning on January 1, 2020, the county superintendent of education shall be elected by the qualified electors residing within the county unit school district in any county wherein is located the state's seat of government, wherein Interstate Highways 20 and 55 intersect, and which is also traversed, in whole or in part, by U.S. Highways 49, 51 and 80 and State Highways 18, 22 and 27, having a population in excess of two hundred forty-five thousand (245,000) according to the 2010 federal decennial census and area of in excess of eight hundred seventy (870) square miles.

(2) On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2019, and every four (4) years thereafter, an election shall be held in the county in the same manner and at the same time as the general state election is held and conducted, for the purpose of electing the county's superintendent of education. The person elected to the office of county superintendent of education shall take office on the first Monday of January, following the date of their election and shall serve for a term of four (4) years. However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of the county superintendent of education serving on July 1, 2019, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2020, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2020. Any county superintendent of education previously appointed by the county board of education whose term expires after July 1, 2019, but before the first Monday of January 2020, shall continue to serve until the first Monday in January 2020.

SECTION 2. Section 37-5-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-5-65. Except as otherwise provided in Section 1 of this act, as it pertains to a certain county, where the office of county superintendent of education has been made appointive under the provisions of Section 37-5-63, the same may thereafter be made elective in such county by a petition filed and election held in the same manner provided in said section, all of the provisions of which shall be applicable to such proceedings. Where such change is made from the appointive method back to the elective method the same shall become effective at the date for the commencement of the term of office of other county offices next succeeding such election, and the county superintendent of education of such county shall be elected at the preceding election at the same time and in the same manner as other county officers are elected. Nothing herein shall be construed, however, to authorize the calling of a special election under any of the provisions of this section more often than once in any four (4) years.

SECTION 3. Section 37-5-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

37-5-63. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 37-5-61, the office of county superintendent of education may be made appointive in any county in the manner herein provided. Upon the filing of a petition signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of such county, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of such county, within sixty (60) days after the filing of such petition, to call a special election at which there shall be submitted to the qualified electors of such county the question of whether the office of county superintendent of education of said county shall continue to be elective or shall be filled by appointment by the county board of education of said county. However, where a Class 3 county having an area in excess of eight hundred twenty-five (825) square miles has a county unit school system comprising less than an entire county, the petition shall only be signed by electors residing within the county unit school district and only electors of said district shall vote on the proposition of appointing the county superintendent of education.

The order calling such special election shall designate the date upon which same shall be held and a notice of such election, signed by the clerk of the board of supervisors, shall be published once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper published in such county. The first publication of such notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date fixed for such election and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date. If no newspaper is published in such county then such notice shall be given by publication of same for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation in such county and, in addition, by posting a copy of such notice for at least twenty-one (21) days next preceding such election at three (3) public places in such county, one of which shall be at the door of the county courthouse in each judicial district.

Said election shall be held, as far as is practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in such county and all qualified electors of the county may vote therein. If a majority of such qualified electors who vote in such election shall vote in favor of the appointment of the county superintendent of education by the county board of education then, at the expiration of the term of the county superintendent of education then in office, the county superintendent of education of said county shall not be elected but shall thereafter be appointed by the county board of education for a term of not more than four (4) years; otherwise, said office shall remain elective.

No special election shall be held in any county under the provisions of this section more often than once in every four (4) years, and no change from the elective to the appointive method of the selection of the county superintendent of education shall become effective except at the expiration of the term of the county superintendent of education in office at the time such election is held.

SECTION 4. Section 37-9-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-9-13. (1) Each school district shall have a superintendent of schools, selected in the manner provided by law. No person shall be eligible to the office of superintendent of schools unless such person shall hold a master's degree in school administration and a valid administrator's license issued by the State Department of Education and shall have had not less than * * *~~four (4)~~ a combined minimum of ten (10) years of classroom * * * or and administrative experience, provided that the required administrative experience in not less than two (2) years.

(2) For any superintendent of education which is an elective office, the individual seeking election to office of superintendent of education shall:

(a) Have been a resident citizen of the State of Mississippi for four (4) years;

(b) Have been a resident within the county or district such person seeks to be elected for two (2) years immediately preceding his or her election; and

(c) File the appropriate petition of nomination required under the provisions of Section 23-15-359(1)(f), (2), (4), (8) and (9) not more than ninety (90) days and not less than sixty (60) days before the date of the general state election.

SECTION 5. Section 23-15-359, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

23-15-359. (1) The ballot shall contain the names of all party nominees certified by the appropriate executive committee, and independent and special election candidates who have timely filed petitions containing the required signatures. A petition requesting that an independent or special election candidate's name be placed on the ballot for any office shall be filed as provided for in subsection (3) or (4) of this section, as appropriate, and shall be signed by not less than the following number of qualified electors:

(a) For an office elected by the state at large, not less than one thousand (1,000) qualified electors.

(b) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a Supreme Court district, not less than three hundred (300) qualified electors.

(c) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a congressional district, not less than two hundred (200) qualified electors.

(d) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a circuit or chancery court district, not less than one hundred (100) qualified electors.

(e) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a senatorial or representative district, not less than fifty (50) qualified electors.

(f) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a county, not less than fifty (50) qualified electors.

(g) For an office elected by the qualified electors of a supervisors district or justice court district, not less than fifteen (15) qualified electors.

(2) (a) Unless the petition required above shall be filed as provided for in subsection (3) or (4) of this section, as appropriate, the name of the person requested to be a candidate, unless nominated by a political party, shall not be placed upon the ballot. The ballot shall contain the names of each candidate for each office, and such names shall be listed under the name of the political party such candidate represents as provided by law and as certified to the circuit clerk by the state executive committee of such political party. In the event such candidate qualifies as an independent as provided in this section, he shall be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate.

(b) The name of an independent or special election candidate who dies before the printing of the ballots, shall not be placed on the ballots.

(3) Petitions for offices described in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of subsection (1) of this section shall be filed with the State Board of Election Commissioners by no later than 5:00 p.m. on the same date by which candidates for nominations in the political party primary elections are required to pay the fee provided for in Section 23-15-297, Mississippi Code of 1972; however, no petition may be filed before January 1 of the year in which the election for the office is held.

(4) Petitions for offices described in paragraphs (f) and (g) of subsection (1) of this section shall be filed with the proper circuit clerk by no later than 5:00 p.m. on the same date by which candidates for nominations in the political party elections are required to pay the fee provided for in Section 23-15-297; however, no petition may be filed before January 1 of the year in which the election for the office is held. The circuit clerk shall notify the county commissioners of election of all persons who have filed petitions with such clerk. Such notification shall occur within two (2) business days and shall contain all necessary information.

(5) The commissioners may also have printed upon the ballot any local issue election matter that is authorized to be held on the same date as the regular or general election pursuant to Section 23-15-375; however, the ballot form of such local issue must be filed with the commissioners of election by the appropriate governing authority not less than sixty (60) days previous to the date of the election.

(6) The provisions of this section shall not apply to municipal elections or to the election of the offices of justice of the Supreme Court, judge of the Court of Appeals, circuit judge, chancellor, county court judge and family court judge.

(7) Nothing in this section shall prohibit special elections to fill vacancies in either house of the Legislature from being held as provided in Section 23-15-851. In all elections conducted under the provisions of Section 23-15-851, there shall be printed on the ballot the name of any candidate who, not having been nominated by a political party, shall have been requested to be a candidate for any office by a petition filed with the State Board of Election Commissioners and signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors.

(8) The appropriate election commission shall determine whether each candidate is a qualified elector of the state, state district, county or county district they seek to serve, and whether each candidate meets all other qualifications to hold the office he is seeking or presents absolute proof that he will, subject to no contingencies, meet all qualifications on or before the date of the general or special election at which he could be elected to office. The election commission shall determine whether the candidate has taken the steps necessary to qualify for more than one (1) office at the election. The election commission also shall determine whether any candidate has been convicted of any felony in a court of this state, or has been convicted on or after December 8, 1992, of any offense in another state which is a felony under the laws of this state, or has been convicted of any felony in a federal court on or after December 8, 1992. Excepted from the above are convictions of manslaughter and violations of the United States Internal Revenue Code or any violations of the tax laws of this state, unless the offense also involved misuse or abuse of his office or money coming into his hands by virtue of his office. If the appropriate election commission finds that a candidate either (a) is not a qualified elector, (b) does not meet all qualifications to hold the office he seeks and fails to provide absolute proof, subject to no contingencies, that he will meet the qualifications on or before the date of the general or special election at which he could be elected, or (c) has been convicted of a felony as described in this subsection, and not pardoned, then the name of such candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot. If the appropriate election commission determines that the candidate has taken the steps necessary to qualify for more than one (1) office at the election, the action required by Section 23-15-905, shall be taken.

(9) If after the deadline to qualify as a candidate for an office or after the time for holding any party primary for an office, there shall be only one (1) person who has duly qualified to be a candidate for the office in the general election, the name of such person shall be placed on the ballot; provided, however, that if there shall be not more than one (1) person duly qualified to be a candidate for each office on the general election ballot, the election for all offices on the ballot shall be dispensed with and the appropriate election commission shall declare each candidate elected without opposition if the candidate meets all the qualifications to hold the office as determined pursuant to a review by the commission in accordance with the provisions of subsection (8) of this section and if the candidate has filed all required campaign finance disclosure reports as required by Section 23-15-807.

(10) The petition required by this section may not be filed by using the Internet.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.