MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections; Judiciary B
By: Representative Hines
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT ANY APPOINTED OR ELECTED PUBLIC OFFICER FROM TAKING AN ACTIVE PART IN ANY PARTISAN POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OR PARTICIPATING IN ANY POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF ANY KIND; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 23-15-871, 43-1-13, 21-31-27 AND 33-15-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any appointed or elected public officer to take an active part in any partisan political campaign or to participate in any political activities of any kind. For violation of this provision, the offending party shall be removed from office and in addition thereto, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to a fine of not more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).
SECTION 2. Section 25-9-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-9-103. The State Personnel Board herein established shall administer a state personnel system in accordance with the following principles:
(a) To recruit, select and advance employees on the basis of their relative ability, knowledge and skills, including open consideration of qualified applicants for initial appointment;
(b) To provide equitable and adequate compensation;
(c) To train employees, as needed, to assure high quality performance;
(d) To retain employees on the basis of the adequacy of their performance, to correct inadequate performance, and to separate employees whose inadequate performance cannot be corrected;
(e) To assure fair treatment of applicants and employees in all aspects of personnel administration without regard to political affiliation, race, national origin, sex, religious creed, age or disability;
(f) To assure that employees are free from coercion for partisan or political purposes and to prohibit employees from using their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office and to prohibit appointed and elected public officers from taking an active part in any partisan political campaign or participating in any political activities of any kind;
(g) To provide authority for the establishment and abolishment of employment positions within the departments, agencies and institutions covered under the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-871, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
23-15-871. (1) No corporation or any officer or employee thereof, or any member of a firm, or trustee or any member of any association, or any other employer, may direct or coerce, directly or indirectly, any employee to vote or not to vote for any particular person or group of persons in any election, or to discharge or to threaten to discharge any such employee, or to increase or decrease the salary or wages of an employee, or otherwise promote or demote the employee, because of his or her vote or failure to vote for any particular candidate or group of candidates.
(2) No employer, or employee having the authority to employ or discharge other employees, may make any statement public or private, or give out or circulate any report or statement, calculated to intimidate or coerce or otherwise influence any vote of an employee, and when any such statement has been circulated, it shall be the duty of the employer to publicly repudiate it or the employer shall be deemed by way of ratification to have made it himself or herself.
(3) No employee may be requested, directed or permitted to canvass for or against any candidate or render any other services for or against any candidate or group of candidates, during any of the hours within which the salary of the employee as an employee is being paid or agreed to be paid. No employee may be allowed any vacation or leave of absence at the expense of the employer to render any service or services for or against any candidate or group of candidates, or to take any active part in any election campaign whatsoever, except the necessary time to cast his or her vote.
(4) The prohibitions of this section shall apply to all state, state district, county and county district officers, and to any board or commission and the members thereof by whatever name designated and whether elective or appointive, and to each one of those employed by them or any of them.
(5) No state, state district, county or county district officer, or any employee who directly or indirectly has the control, or who asserts that he or she has such power, over the expenditure of any public funds in this state shall state, suggest or intimate, publicly or privately, or in any manner or form, that any such expenditure shall depend upon or be influenced by the vote of any person, group of persons, or community or group of communities, whether for or against any candidate or group of candidates at any election.
(6) This section and every part of it shall apply also to all federal officers, agents, employees, boards and commissions as to any interference contrary to the provisions of this chapter, in the elections of this state.
(7) Any violation of this section shall be a violation of Section 97-13-37 and shall be referred to a district attorney for prosecution.
SECTION 4. Section 43-1-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-1-13. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, it shall be unlawful for a commissioner or any other employee of the state or county welfare departments to take an active part in any partisan political campaign. For violation of this provision the offending party shall be removed from office and in addition thereto, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to a fine of not more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).
(2) This section shall not preclude an individual from seeking elective office where the office sought is nonpartisan and is not within the judicial branch of government.
SECTION 5. Section 21-31-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-31-27. No person holding any office, place, position or employment subject to civil service, is under any obligation to contribute to any political fund or to render any political service to any person or party whatsoever, and no person shall be removed, reduced in grade or salary, or otherwise prejudiced for refusing so to do. No public officer, whether elected or appointed, shall discharge, promote, demote or in any manner change the official rank, employment or compensation of any person under civil service, or promise or threaten so to do, for giving or withholding, or neglecting to make any contribution of money, or service, or any other valuable thing, for any political purpose.
If any person holding any office, place, position or employment subject to civil service, actively participates in political activity in any primary or election in a municipality where he is employed, it shall be deemed cause for removal.
SECTION 6. Section 33-15-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
33-15-33. No individual employed by or for an organization for emergency management established under the authority of this article shall, while acting under authority of his position or representing himself in his official capacity, participate in any form of political activity, and no such organization shall be employed directly or indirectly for political purposes.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.