THE
CONSTITUTION
OF THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI
ADOPTED NOVEMBER 1, A.D., 1890
Beginning Section
ARTICLE 1. DISTRIBUTION
OF POWERS 1
ARTICLE 2. BOUNDARIES
OF THE STATE 3
ARTICLE 3. BILL
OF RIGHTS 5
ARTICLE 4. LEGISLATIVE
DEPARTMENT 33
ARTICLE 5. EXECUTIVE 116
ARTICLE 6. JUDICIARY 144
ARTICLE 7. CORPORATIONS 178
ARTICLE 8. EDUCATION 201
ARTICLE 9. MILITIA 214
ARTICLE 10. THE
PENITENTIARY AND PRISONS 223
ARTICLE 11. LEVEES 227
ARTICLE 12. FRANCHISE 240
ARTICLE 13. APPORTIONMENT 254
ARTICLE 14. GENERAL
PROVISIONS 257
ARTICLE 15. AMENDMENTS
TO THE CONSTITUTION 273
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
ADOPTED
NOVEMBER 1, A.D., 1890
PREAMBLE
We, the people of
Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking his
blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this constitution.
ARTICLE 1
DISTRIBUTION
OF POWERS
SECTION 1. Powers
of government.
SECTION 2. Encroachment
of power.
SECTION 1.
The powers of the government of the
state of Mississippi shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each
of them confided to a separate magistracy, to-wit: those which are legislative
to one, those which are judicial to another, and those which are executive to
another.
SOURCES: 1817 art II §1;
1832 art II §1; 1869 art III §1.
SECTION 2.
No person or collection of persons,
being one or belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any power
properly belonging to either of the others. The acceptance of an office in
either of said departments shall, of itself, and at once, vacate any and all
offices held by the person so accepting in either of the other departments.
SOURCES: 1817 art II §2;
1832 art II §2; 1869 art III §1.
ARTICLE 2
BOUNDARIES OF THE STATE
SECTION 3. Repealed.
SECTION 4. Acquisition
of territory; disputed boundaries.
SECTION 3. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 3 stated the limits and
boundaries of the state of Mississippi.
The repeal of Section 3 was proposed by Laws of 1990, Ch.
692, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 520, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 6, 1990, was deleted from the Constitution by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
SECTION 4.
The legislature shall have power to
consent to the acquisition of additional territory by the state, and to make
the same a part thereof; and the legislature may settle disputed boundaries
between this state and its coterminus states whenever such disputes arise.
ARTICLE 3
BILL OF
RIGHTS
SECTION 5. Government originating in the people.
SECTION 6. Regulation of government; right to alter.
SECTION 7. Secession prohibited.
SECTION 8. Citizens of state.
SECTION 9. Subordination of military to civil power.
SECTION 10. Treason.
SECTION 11. Peaceful
assemblage; right to petition government.
SECTION 12. Right
to bear arms.
SECTION 13. Freedom
of speech and press; libel.
SECTION 14. Due
process.
SECTION
15. Slavery and involuntary servitude
prohibited; punishment for crime.
SECTION 16. Ex
post facto laws; impairment of contract.
SECTION 17. Taking
property for public use; due compensation.
SECTION 18. Freedom
of religion.
SECTION 19. Repealed.
SECTION 20. Specific
term of office.
SECTION 21. Writ
of habeas corpus.
SECTION 22. Double
jeopardy.
SECTION 23. Searches
and seizures.
SECTION 24. Open
courts; remedy for injury.
SECTION 25. Access
to courts.
SECTION 26. Rights
of accused; state grand jury proceedings.
SECTION 26-A. Victims’
rights; construction of provisions; legislative authority.
SECTION 27. Proceeding
by indictment or information.
SECTION 28. Cruel
or unusual punishment prohibited.
SECTION 29. Excessive
bail prohibited; revocation or denial of bail.
SECTION 30. Imprisonment
for debt.
SECTION 31. Trial
by jury.
SECTION 32. Construction
of enumerated rights.
SECTION 5.
All political power is vested in, and derived from,
the people; all government of right originates with the people, is founded upon
their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §2;
1832 art I §2.
SECTION 6.
The people of this state have the
inherent, sole, and exclusive right to regulate the internal government and
police thereof, and to alter and abolish their constitution and form of
government whenever they deem it necessary to their safety and happiness;
provided, such change be not repugnant to the constitution of the United
States.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §2;
1832 art I §2.
SECTION 7.
The right to withdraw from the
Federal Union on account of any real or supposed grievance, shall never be
assumed by this state, nor shall any law be passed in derogation of the
paramount allegiance of the citizens of this state to the government of the
United States.
SOURCES: 1869 art I §20.
SECTION 8.
All persons, resident in this state,
citizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of the state of
Mississippi.
SOURCES: 1869 art I §1.
SECTION 9.
The military shall be in strict
subordination to the civil power.
SOURCES: 1869 art I §25.
SECTION 10.
Treason against the state shall
consist only in levying war against the same or in adhering to its enemies,
giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §3;
1832 art VII §3; 1869 art I §26.
SECTION 11.
The right of the people peaceably to
assemble and petition the government on any subject shall never be impaired.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §22;
1832 art I §22; 1869 art I §6.
SECTION 12.
The right of every citizen to keep
and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the
civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but
the legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §23;
1832 art I §23; 1869 art I §15.
SECTION 13
The freedom of speech and of the
press shall be held sacred; and in all prosecutions for libel the truth may be
given in evidence, and the jury shall determine the law and the facts under the
direction of the court; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter
charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for
justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §§ 6,
7, and 8; 1832 art I §§ 6, 7, and 8; 1869 art I §4.
SECTION 14.
No person shall be deprived of life,
liberty, or property except by due process of law.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §10;
1832 art I §10; 1869 art I §2.
SECTION 15.
There shall be neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than in the punishment of crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
SOURCES: 1869 art I §19.
SECTION 16.
Ex post facto laws, or laws impairing
the obligation of contracts, shall not be passed.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §19;
1832 art I §19; 1869 art I §9.
SECTION 17.
Private property shall not be taken
or damaged for public use, except on due compensation being first made to the
owner or owners thereof, in a manner to be prescribed by law; and whenever an
attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be public, the
question whether the contemplated use be public shall be a judicial question,
and, as such, determined without regard to legislative assertion that the use
is public.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §13;
1832 art I §13; 1869 art I §10.
SECTION 18.
No religious test as a qualification
for office shall be required; and no preference shall be given by law to any
religious sect or mode of worship; but the free enjoyment of all religious
sentiments and the different modes of worship shall be held sacred. The rights
hereby secured shall not be construed to justify acts of licentiousness
injurious to morals or dangerous to the peace and safety of the state, or to
exclude the Holy Bible from use in any public school of this state.
SOURCES: 1817 art I
§§3and 4; 1832 art I §§3 and 4; 1869 art I §23.
SECTION 19. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 19 prohibited dueling and
both disenfranchised and disqualified persons involved in a duel from holding
public office.
The repeal of Section 19 was proposed by Laws of 1977, ch.
584, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 528, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 7, 1978, was deleted from the Constitution by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 22, 1978.
SOURCES:
1817 art VI §2; 1832 art VII §2; 1869 art I §27; Laws 1977, ch. 584, effective
December 22, 1978.
SECTION 20.
No person shall be elected or
appointed to office in this state for life or during good behavior, but the
term of all officers shall be for some specified period.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §12;
1832 art I §30; 1869 art I §29.
SECTION 21.
The privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in the case of rebellion or
invasion, the public safety may require it, nor ever without the authority of
the legislature.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §13;
1832 art I §13; 1869 art I §5.
SECTION 22.
No person's life or liberty shall be
twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense; but there must be an actual
acquittal or conviction on the merits to bar another prosecution.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §13;
1832 art I §13; 1869 art I §5.
SECTION 23.
The people shall be secure in their
persons, houses, and possessions, from unreasonable seizure or search; and no
warrant shall be issued without probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, specially designating the place to be searched and the person or
thing to be seized.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §9;
1832 art I §9; 1869 art I §14.
SECTION 24.
All courts shall be open; and every
person for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall
have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice shall be administered
without sale, denial, or delay.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §14;
1832 art I §14; 1869 art I §28.
SECTION 25.
No person shall be debarred from
prosecuting or defending any civil cause for or against him or herself, before
any tribunal in the state, by him or herself, or counsel, or both.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §29;
1832 art I §29; 1869 art I §30.
SECTION 26.
In all criminal prosecutions the
accused shall have a right to be heard by himself or counsel, or both, to
demand the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted by the
witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in
his favor, and, in all prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy and
public trial by an impartial jury of the county where the offense was
committed; and he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself; but
in prosecutions for rape, adultery, fornication, sodomy or crime against nature
the court may, in its discretion, exclude from the courtroom all persons except
such as are necessary in the conduct of the trial. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Constitution, the
Legislature may enact laws establishing a state grand jury with the authority
to return indictments regardless of the county where the crime was committed.
The subject matter jurisdiction of a state grand jury is limited to
criminal violations of the Mississippi Uniform Controlled Substances Law or any
other crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs or controlled substances, or
any crime arising out of or in connection with a violation of the Mississippi
Uniform Controlled Substances Law or a crime involving narcotics, dangerous
drugs or controlled substances if the crime occurs within more than one (1)
circuit court district of the state or transpires or has significance in more
than one (1) circuit court district of the state. The venue for the trial of indictments returned by a state grand
jury shall be as prescribed by general law.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §10;
1832 art I §7; Laws 1994, ch. 668, effective December 9, 1994.
NOTE: The 1994 amendment to Section 26 was
proposed by Laws 1994, ch. 668, House Concurrent Resolution No. 79, of the 1994
regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 8, 1994, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 9, 1994.
(2) Nothing in this
section shall provide grounds for the accused or convicted offender to obtain
any
form of relief nor shall
this section impair the constitutional rights of the accused. Nothing in this section of any enabling
statute shall be construed as creating a cause of action for damages against
the state or any of its agencies, officials, employee or political
subdivisions.
(3) The Legislature shall
have the authority to enact substantive and procedural laws to define,
implement, preserve and protect the rights
guaranteed to victims by this section.
NOTE: The 1998 amendment adding a new section was
proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 513, Laws 1998, ch. 691 of the
1998 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 8, 1998, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on November 30, 1998.
SECTION 27.
No person shall, for any indictable
offense, be proceeded against criminally by information, except in cases
arising in the land or naval forces, or the military when in actual service, or
by leave of the court for misdemeanor in office or where a defendant
represented by counsel by sworn statement waives indictment; but the
legislature, in cases not punishable by death or by imprisonment in the
penitentiary, may dispense with the inquest of the grand jury, and may
authorize prosecutions before justice court judges, or such other inferior
court or courts as may be established, and the proceedings in such cases shall
be regulated by law.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §12;
1832 art I §12; 1869 art I §31; Laws 1977, ch. 590, effective December 22, 1978.
NOTE: The 1977 amendment to Section 27 was
proposed by Laws 1997, ch. 590, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 590, of the
1977 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 7, 1978, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on December 22, 1978.
SECTION 28.
Cruel or unusual punishment shall not
be inflicted, nor excessive fines be imposed.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §16;
1832 art I §16; 1869 art I §8.
SECTION 29.
(1) Excessive bail shall not be
required, and all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient
sureties, except for capital offenses (a) when the proof is evident or
presumption great; or (b) when the person has previously been convicted of a
capital offense or any other offense punishable by imprisonment for a maximum
of twenty (20) years or more.
(2) If a person charged with committing any offense that is punishable by
death, life imprisonment or imprisonment for one (1) year or more in the
penitentiary or any other state correctional facility is granted bail and (a)
if that person is indicted for a felony committed while on bail; or (b) if the
court, upon hearing, finds probable cause that the person has committed a
felony while on bail, then the court shall revoke bail and shall order that the
person be detained, without further
bail, pending trial of the charge for which bail was revoked. For the purposes of this subsection (2)
only, the term "felony" means any offense punishable by death, life
imprisonment or imprisonment for more than five (5) years under the laws of the
jurisdiction in which the crime is committed.
In addition, grand larceny shall be considered a felony for the purposes
of this subsection.
(3) In the case of offenses punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of twenty
(20) years or more or by life imprisonment, a county or circuit court judge may
deny bail for such offenses when the proof is evident or the presumption great
upon making a determination that the release of the person or persons arrested
for such offense would constitute a special danger to any other person or to
the community or that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably
assure the appearance of the person as
required.
(4) In any case where bail is denied before conviction, the judge shall place
in the record his reasons for denying bail.
Any person who is charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment for
a maximum of twenty (20) years or more or by life imprisonment and who is
denied bail prior to conviction shall be entitled to an emergency hearing
before a justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. The provisions of this subsection (4) do not apply to bail
revocation orders.
SOURCES: 1817
art I §16; 1832 art I §16; 1869 art I §8; Laws 1987, ch. 674; Laws 1995, ch.
636, effective December 5, 1995.
NOTE: The 1987 amendment to Section 29, Laws 1987,
ch 674. was proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 534, of the 1987
regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 8, 1987, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 4, 1987.
The 1995 amendment to Section 29
was proposed by Laws 1995, ch. 636, House Concurrent Resolution No. 42, of the
1995 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 7, 1995, by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 5, 1995.
SECTION 30.
There shall be no imprisonment for
debt.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §18;
1832 art I §18; 1869 art I §11.
SECTION 31.
The right of trial by jury shall
remain inviolate, but the legislature may, by enactment, provide that in all
civil suits tried in the circuit and chancery court, nine or more jurors may
agree on the verdict and return it as the verdict of the jury.
SOURCES: 1817 art I §28;
1832 art I §28; 1869 art I §12; Laws 1916, ch. 158.
SECTION 32.
The enumeration of rights in this
constitution shall not be construed to deny and impair others retained by, and
inherent in, the people.
SOURCES: 1817 art I; 1832
art I; 1869 art I §32.
ARTICLE 4
Beginning
Section
IN GENERAL 33
QUALIFICATIONS AND PRIVILEGES OF LEGISLATORS 40
RULES OF PROCEDURE 54
INJUNCTIONS 78
LOCAL LEGISLATION 87
PROHIBITIONS 91
MISCELLANEOUS 102
SECTION 33. Composition
of legislature.
SECTION 34. Composition
of House of Representatives.
SECTION 35. Composition
of Senate.
SECTION 36. Sessions.
SECTION 37. Elections
for members.
SECTION 38. Election
of officers by each house.
SECTION 39. President
pro tempore of Senate.
SECTION 33.
The legislative power of this state
shall be vested in a legislature which shall consist of a senate and a house of
representatives.
SOURCES: 1817 art III §4;
1832 art III §4; 1869 art IV §1.
SECTION 34.
The house of representatives shall
consist of members chosen every four years by the qualified electors of the
several counties and representative districts.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §2.
NOTE: Laws of 1962, ch. 18, 1st
Extraordinary Session, which proposed to amend this section of the
Constitution, was not approved by the electorate.
SECTION 35.
The senate shall consist of members
chosen every four years by the qualified electors of the several districts.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §4.
SECTION 36.
The Legislature shall meet at the
seat of government in regular session on the Tuesday after the first Monday of
January of the year A.D., 1970, and annually thereafter, unless sooner convened
by the Governor; provided, however, that such sessions shall be limited to a
period of one hundred twenty-five (125) calendar days for regular 1972 session
and every fourth year thereafter, but ninety (90) calendar days for every other
regular session thereafter. Provided further that the House of Representatives,
by resolution with the Senate concurring therein, and by a two-thirds (2/3)
vote of those present and voting in each house, may extend such limited session
for a period of thirty (30) days with no limit on the number of extensions to
each session.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §6;
Laws 1912, ch. 414; Laws 1968, ch. 634.
NOTE: The 1968 amendment to Section 36 was proposed
by House Consurrent Resolution No. 36, ch. 634, of the 1968 regular session of
the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on June 4, 1968, was
inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 13, 1968.
SECTION 37.
Elections for members of the
legislature shall be held in the several counties and districts as provided by
law.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §8.
SECTION 38.
Each house shall elect its own
officers, and shall judge of the qualifications, return and election of its own
members.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §10.
SECTION 39.
The senate shall choose a president
pro tempore to act in the absence or disability of its presiding officer.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §11.
SECTION 40. Oath of Office.
SECTION 41. Qualifications of House of Representatives members.
SECTION 42. Qualifications of Senators.
SECTION 43. Person liable for public monies ineligible for office.
SECTION 44. Ineligibility for office of person convicted of certain crimes.
SECTION 45. Member eligibility for offices created during term of office.
SECTION 46. Salaries of members.
SECTION 47. Fees or rewards prohibited.
SECTION 48. Immunity of members from arrest for certain crimes.
SECTION 49. Power of impeachment.
SECTION 50. Impeachment grounds.
SECTION 51. Removal from office.
SECTION 52. Persons to preside in impeachment proceedings.
SECTION 53. Removal of judges for reasonable cause.
SECTION 40.
Members of the legislature, before entering
upon the discharge of their duties, shall take the following oath: "I,
----, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the
Constitution of the United States and of the state of Mississippi; that I am
not disqualified from holding office by the Constitution of this state; that I
will faithfully discharge my duties as a legislator; that I will, as soon as
practicable hereafter, carefully read (or have read to me) the Constitution of
this state, and will endeavor to note, and as a legislator to execute, all the
requirements thereof imposed on the legislature; and I will not vote for any
measure or person because of a promise of any other member of this legislature
to vote for any measure or person, or as a means of influencing him or them so
to do. So help me God."
SECTION 41.
No person shall be a member of the
House of Representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one (21)
years, and who shall not be a qualified elector of the state, and who shall not
have been a resident citizen of the state for four (4) years, and within the
district such person seeks to serve for two (2) years, immediately preceding
his election. The seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall be
vacated on his removal from the district from which he was elected.
SOURCES: 1817 art III §7;
1832 art III §7; 1869 art IV §3; Laws 1987, ch. 674, effective December 4,
1987.
NOTE: The 1987 amendment to Section 41 was
proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 674, House Concurrent Resolution No. 41, of the 1987 regular session of the
Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1987, was
inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 42.
No person shall be a senator who
shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not have been a
qualified elector of the state four years, and who shall not be an actual
resident of the district or territory he may be chosen to represent for two
years before his election. The seat of a senator shall be vacated upon his
removal from the district from which he was elected.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§14; 1832 art III §14; 1869 art IV §5.
SECTION 43.
No person liable as principal for
public moneys unaccounted for shall be eligible to a seat in either house of
the legislature, or to any office of profit or trust, until he shall have
accounted for and paid over all sums for which he may have been liable.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§28; 1832 art III §28; 1869 art IV §16.
SECTION 44.
(1)
No person shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the
Legislature, or to any office of profit or trust, who shall have been convicted
of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime; and any person who shall have
been convicted of giving or offering, directly, or indirectly, any bribe to
procure his election or appointment, and any person who shall give or offer any
bribe to procure the election or appointment of any person to office, shall, on
conviction thereof, be disqualified from holding any office of profit or trust
under the laws of this state.
(2) No person who is
convicted after ratification of this amendment in another state of any offense
which is a felony under the laws of this state, and no person who is convicted
after ratification of this amendment of any felony in a federal court, shall
be eligible to hold any office of
profit or trust in this state.
(3) This section shall not disqualify a person from
holding office if he has been pardoned for the
offense or if the offense
of which the person was convicted was manslaughter, any violation of the United
States Internal Revenue Code or any violation of the tax laws of this state
unless such offense also involved misuse or abuse of his office or money coming
into his hands by virtue of his office.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §§4
and 5; 1832 art VII §4; 1869 art IV §§17 and 18, Laws 1992, ch. 591, effective
December 8, 1992.
NOTE: The 1992 amendment to Section 44 was proposed by Laws 1992, ch. 591, House Concurrent Resolution No. 46, of the 1992 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1992, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1992.
SECTION 45.
No senator or representative, during
the term for which he was elected, shall be eligible to any office of profit
which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which have been increased,
during the time such senator or representative was in office, except to such
offices as may be filled by an election of the people.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§26; 1832 art III §26; 1869 art IV §38.
SECTION 46.
The members of the legislature shall
severally receive from the state treasury compensation for their services, to
be prescribed by law, which may be increased or diminished; but no alteration
of such compensation of members shall take effect during the session at which
it is made.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§25; 1832 art III §25; 1869 art IV §20.
SECTION 47.
No member of the legislature shall
take any fee or reward, or be counsel in any measure pending before either
house of the legislature, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon proof
thereof to the satisfaction of the house of which he is a member.
SECTION 48.
Senators and representatives shall,
in all cases, except treason, felony, theft, or breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during the session of the legislature, and for fifteen
days before the commencement and after the termination of each session.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§19; 1832 art III §19; 1869 art IV §19.
SECTION 49.
The house of representatives shall
have the sole power of impeachment; but two-thirds of all the members present
must concur therein. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate, and, when
sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be sworn to do justice according
to law and the evidence.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Impeachment,” §§1 and 2; 1832 art VI
§§1 and 2; 1869 art IV §27.
SECTION 50.
The governor and all other civil
officers of this state, shall be liable to impeachment for treason, bribery, or
any high crime or misdemeanor in office.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Impeachment,” §3; 1832 art VI §3; 1869 art IV §28.
SECTION 51.
Judgment in such cases shall not
extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold any office
of honor, trust, or profit in this state; but the party convicted shall,
nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment
according to law.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Impeachment,” §3; 1832 art VI §3; 1869 art IV §30.
SECTION 52.
When the governor shall be tried, the
chief justice of the Supreme Court shall preside; and when the chief justice is
disabled, disqualified, or refuses to act, the judge of the Supreme Court next
oldest in commission shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without
concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators present.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §29.
SECTION 53.
For reasonable cause, which shall not
be sufficient ground of impeachment, the governor shall, on the joint address
of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature, remove from office the judges
of the Supreme and inferior courts; but the cause or causes of removal shall be
spread on the journal, and the party charged be notified of the same, and have
an opportunity to be heard by himself or counsel, or both, before the vote is
finally taken and decided.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §27; 1869 art IV §31.
SECTION 55. Determination of rules by each house.
SECTION 56. Style of laws.
SECTION 57. Adjournments; meeting place.
SECTION 58. Open door policy; disorderly behavior.
SECTION 59. Introduction and passage of bills.
SECTION 60. Amendment of bill; orders, votes and resolutions.
SECTION 61. Amendment or revival by reference to title prohibited.
SECTION 62. Voting on amendments; adoption of committee reports.
SECTION 63. Maximum sum fixed in appropriation bill.
SECTION 64. Time limit and voting requirements for appropriations.
SECTION 65. Reconsideration of votes.
SECTION 66. Law granting donation or gratuity.
SECTION 67. Time limit for introducing new bill.
SECTION 68. Precedence and time limits for appropriation and revenue bills.
SECTION 69. Contents of appropriation bills.
SECTION 70 Votes required for
passage of revenue or property assessment bills.
SECTION 71. Title of bill; committee recommendations.
SECTION 72. Approval or disapproval of bill by Governor; veto override
process.
SECTION 73. Veto of parts of appropriations bill.
SECTION 74. Referral of bill to committee.
SECTION 75. Enforcement of laws of general nature.
SECTION 76. Viva voce vote.
SECTION 77. Writs of election to fill legislative vacancies.
SECTION 54.
A majority of each house shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a less number may adjourn from day to
day, and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such
penalties as each shall provide.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §12.
SECTION 55.
Each house may determine rules of its
own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present, expel a member; but no
member, unless expelled for theft, bribery, or corruption, shall be expelled
the second time for the same offense. Both houses shall, from time to time,
publish journals of their proceedings, except such parts as may, in their
opinion, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays, on any question, shall be
entered on the journal, at the request of one-tenth of the members present; and
the yeas and nays shall be entered on the journals on the final passage of
every bill.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§§16 and 17; 1832 art III §§15, 16, and 17; 1869 art IV §14.
SECTION 56.
The style of the laws of the state
shall be: "Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of
Mississippi."
SOURCES: 1832 art III §4;
1869 art IV §32.
SECTION 57.
Neither house shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§22; 1832 art III §22; 1869 art IV §13.
SECTION 58.
The doors of each house, when in
session, or in committee of the whole, shall be kept open, except in cases
which may require secrecy; and each house may punish, by fine and imprisonment,
any person not a member who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house by any
disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence, or who shall in any way
disturb its deliberations during the session; but such imprisonment shall not
extend beyond the final adjournment of that session.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§20; 1832 art III §§20 and 21; 1869 art IV §15.
SECTION 59.
Bills may originate in either house,
and be amended or rejected in the other, and every bill shall be read by its
title on three (3) different days in each house, unless two-thirds (2/3) of the
house where the same is pending shall dispense with the rules; and every bill
shall be read in full immediately before the vote on its final passage upon the
demand of any member; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be
signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives during the legislative session.
SOURCES: 1817 art III
§23; 1832 art III §23; 1869 art IV §23; Laws 1990, ch. 668 effective December
19, 1990.
NOTE: The 1990 amendment to Section 59 was
proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 668, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 506, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 6, 1990, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
SECTION 60.
No bill shall be so amended in its
passage through either house as to change its original purpose, and no law
shall be passed except by bill; but orders, votes, and resolutions of both
houses, affecting the prerogatives and duties thereof, or relating to
adjournment, to amendments to the Constitution, to the investigation of public
officers, and the like, shall not require the signature of the governor; and
such resolutions, orders, and votes, may empower legislative committees to
administer oaths, to send for persons and papers, and generally make
legislative investigations effective.
SOURCES: 1832 art V §16;
1869 art IV §25.
SECTION 61.
No law shall be revived or amended by
reference to its title only, but the section or sections, as amended or
revived, shall be inserted at length.
SECTION 62.
No amendment to bills by one house
shall be concurred in by the other except by a vote of the majority thereof,
taken by yeas and nays and the names of those voting for and against recorded
upon the journals; and reports of committees of conference shall in like manner
be adopted in each house.
SECTION 63.
No appropriation bill shall be passed
by the legislature which does not fix definitely the maximum sum thereby
authorized to be drawn from the treasury.
SECTION 64.
No bill passed after the adoption of
this Constitution to make appropriations of money out of the state treasury
shall continue in force more than two months after the expiration of the fiscal
year ending after the meeting of the legislature at its next regular session;
nor shall such bill be passed except by the votes of a majority of all members
elected to each house of the legislature.
SOURCES: Laws 1935, ch.
116.
SECTION 65.
All votes on the final passage of any
measure shall be subject to reconsideration for at least one whole legislative
day, and no motion to reconsider such vote shall be disposed of adversely on
the day on which the original vote was taken, except on the last day of the
session.
SECTION 66.
No law granting a donation or
gratuity in favor of any person or object shall be enacted except by the
concurrence of two-thirds of the members elect of each branch of the
legislature, nor by any vote for a sectarian purpose or use.
SOURCES: Laws 1908, ch.
149.
SECTION 67.
No new bill shall be introduced into
either house of the legislature during the last three days of the session.
SECTION 68.
Appropriation and revenue bills
shall, at regular sessions of the legislature, have precedence in both houses
over all other business, and no such bills shall be passed during the last five
days of the session.
SECTION 69.
General appropriation bills shall
contain only the appropriations to defray the ordinary expenses of the
executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the government; to pay
interest on state bonds, and to support the common schools. All other appropriations shall be made by
separate bills, each embracing but one subject. Legislation shall not be engrafted on the appropriation bills,
but the same may prescribe the conditions on which the money may be drawn, and
for what purposes paid.
SECTION 70.
No revenue bill, or any bill
providing for assessments of property for taxation, shall become a law except
by a vote of at least three-fifths of the members of each house present and
voting.
SECTION 71.
Every bill introduced into the
legislature shall have a title, and the title ought to indicate clearly the
subject-matter or matters of the proposed legislation. Each committee to which a bill may be
referred shall express, in writing, its judgment of the sufficiency of the
title of the bill, and this, too, whether the recommendation be that the bill
do pass or do not pass.
SECTION 72.
Every Bill which shall pass both
Houses shall be presented to the Governor of the state. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if he
does not approve, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in
which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.
If after such reconsideration two-thirds (2 /3 ) of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent,
with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be
reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds ( 2 /3 ) of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the
votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the
persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each
House respectively. If any Bill shall
not be returned by the Governor within
five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him, it shall
become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by
adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall be a law
unless the Governor shall veto it within fifteen (15) days (Sundays excepted)
after it is presented to him, and such Bill shall be returned to the
Legislature, with his objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of
the next session of the Legislature.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §15;
1832 art V §15; 1869 art IV §24; Laws 1970, ch. 562, effective June 19, 1970.
NOTE: The 1970 amendment to Section 72 was
proposed by House Concurrent Resolution No. 14, ch. 562, of the 1970 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on June 3,
1970, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 19, 1970.
SECTION 73.
The governor may veto parts of any
appropriation bill, and approve parts of the same, and the portions approved
shall be law.
SECTION 74.
No bill shall become a law until it
shall have been referred to a committee of each house and returned therefrom
with a recommendation in writing.
SECTION 75.
No law of a general nature, unless
therein otherwise provided, shall be enforced until sixty days after its
passage.
SOURCES: 1832 art VII §6;
1869 art XII §9.
SECTION 76.
In all elections by the legislature
the members shall vote viva voce, and the vote shall be entered on the
journals.
SECTION 77.
The governor shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the
legislature, and the persons thereupon chosen shall hold their seats for the
unexpired term.
SECTION 78. Salary deductions for neglect of official duty.
SECTION 79. Sale of delinquent tax lands; right of redemption.
SECTION 80. Abuse of certain local government unit powers.
SECTION 81. Obstruction of navigable waters; certain construction
projects authorized.
SECTION 82. Official bonds; fixing penalties.
SECTION 83. Fire safety in certain public places.
SECTION 84. Acquisition of land by nonresident aliens and corporations.
SECTION 85. Working of public roads by contract or by county prisoners.
SECTION 86. Care of insane and indigent sick.
SECTION 78.
It shall be the duty of the
legislature to regulate by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from
salaries of public officers for neglect of official duty, and the amount of
said deduction.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §14; 1832 art VII §12; 1869 art
XII §10.
SECTION 79.
The legislature shall provide by law
for the sale of all delinquent tax lands.
The courts shall apply the same liberal principles in favor of such
titles as in sale by execution. The
right of redemption from all sales of real estate, for the nonpayment of taxes
or special assessments, of any and every character whatsoever, shall exist, on
conditions to be prescribed by law, in favor of owners and persons interested
in such real estate, for a period of not less than two years.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII §8.
SECTION 80.
Provision shall be made by general
laws to prevent the abuse by cities, towns, and other municipal corporations of
their powers of assessment, taxation, borrowing money, and contracting debts.
SECTION 81.
The Legislature shall never authorize
the permanent obstruction of any of the navigable waters of the State, but may
provide for the removal of such obstructions as now exist, whenever the public
welfare demands. This section shall not prevent the construction, under proper
authority, of drawbridges for railroads, or other roads, nor the construction
of booms and chutes for logs, nor the construction, operation and maintenance
of facilities incident to the exploration, production or transportation of oil,
gas or other minerals, nor the construction, operation and maintenance of
bridges and causeways in such manner as not to prevent the safe passage of
vessels or logs under regulations to be provided by law.
SOURCES: Laws 1968, ch.
660, effective June 13, 1968.
NOTE: The 1968 amendment to Section 81 was
proposed by House Concurrent Resolution No. 71, ch. 660 of the 1968 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on June 4,
1968, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 13, 1968.
SECTION 82.
The legislature shall fix the amount
of the penalty of all official bonds, and may, as far as practicable, provide
that the whole or a part of the security required for the faithful discharge of
official duty shall be made by some guarantee company or companies.
SECTION 83.
The legislature shall enact laws to
secure the safety of persons from fires in hotels, theaters, and other public
places of resort.
SECTION 84.
The legislature shall enact laws to
limit, restrict, or prevent the acquiring and holding of land in this state by
nonresident aliens, and may limit or restrict the acquiring or holding of lands
by corporations.
SECTION 85.
The legislature shall provide by
general law for the working of public roads by contract or by county prisoners,
or both. Such law may be put in operation only by a vote of the board of
supervisors in those counties where it may be desirable.
SECTION 86.
It shall be the duty of the
legislature to provide by law for the treatment and care of the insane; and the
legislature may provide for the care of the indigent sick in the hospitals in
the state.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§27.
SECTION 87. Special or local laws.
SECTION 88. Content of general laws.
SECTION 89.
Standing committee for local and private legislation in each house.
SECTION 90. Matters provided for by general laws only.
SECTION 87.
No special or local law shall be
enacted for the benefit of individuals or corporations, in cases which are or
can be provided for by general law, or where the relief sought can be given by
any court of this state; nor shall the operation of any general law be
suspended by the legislature for the benefit of any individual or private
corporation or association, and in all cases where a general law can be made
applicable, and would be advantageous, no special law shall be enacted.
SECTION 88.
The legislature shall pass general
laws, under which local and private interest shall be provided for and
protected, and under which cities and towns may be chartered and their charters
amended, and under which corporations may be created, organized, and their acts
of incorporation altered; and all such laws shall be subject to repeal or
amendment.
SECTION 89.
There shall be appointed in each
house of the legislature a standing committee on local and private legislation;
the house committee to consist of seven representatives, and the senate
committee of five senators. No local or private bill shall be passed by either
house until it shall have been referred to said committee thereof, and shall
have been reported back with a recommendation in writing that it do pass,
stating affirmatively the reasons therefor, and why the end to be accomplished
should not be reached by a general law, or by a proceeding in court; or if the
recommendation of the committeee be that the bill do not pass, then it shall
not pass the house to which it is so reported unless it be voted for by a
majority of all members elected thereto. If a bill is passed in conformity to
the requirements hereof, other than such as are prohibited in the next section,
the courts shall not, because of its local,
special, or private nature, refuse to enforce it.
SECTION 90.
The legislature shall not pass local,
private, or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, but such
matters shall be provided for only by general laws, viz.:
(a)
Granting divorces;
(b)
Changing the names of persons, places, or corporations;
(c)
Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases;
(d)
Regulating the rate of interest on money;
(e)
Concerning the settlement or administration of any estate, or the sale or
mortgage of any property, of any infant, or of a person of unsound mind, or of
any deceased person;
(f)
The removal of the disability of infancy;
(g)
Granting to any person, corporation, or association the right to have any
ferry, bridge, road, or fish-trap;
(h)
Exemption of property from taxation or from levy or sale;
(i)
Providing for the adoption or legitimation of children;
(j)
Changing the law of descent and distribution;
(k)
Exempting any person from jury, road, or other civil duty (and no person shall
be exempted therefrom by force of any local or private law);
(l)
Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads and highways;
(m)
Vacating any road or highway, town plat, street, alley, or public grounds;
(n)
Selecting, drawing, summoning, or empaneling grand or petit juries;
(o)
Creating, increasing, or decreasing the fees, salary, or emoluments of any
public officer;
(p)
Providing for the management or support of any private or common school,
incorporating the same, or granting such school any privileges;
(q)
Relating to stock laws, water-courses, and fences;
(r)
Conferring the power to exercise the right of eminent domain, or granting to
any person, corporation, or association the right to lay down railroad tracks
or street-car tracks in any other manner than that prescribed by general law;
(s)
Regulating the practice in courts of justice;
(t)
Providing for the creation of districts for the election of justices of the
peace and constables; and
(u)
Granting any lands under control of the state to any person or corporation.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §7;
1832 art VII §15; 1869 art IV §22.
SECTION 91. Uniform application of charges and fees.
SECTION 92. Salary of deceased officer.
SECTION 93. Retirement of officer on pay.
SECTION 94. Disability on account of coverture abolished.
SECTION 95. Donation or sale of state lands; railroad easements.
SECTION 96. Extra compensation and unauthorized payments prohibited.
SECTION 97. Revival of action barred by limitations prohibited.
SECTION 98. Repealed.
SECTION 99. Election of officers by legislature.
SECTION 100. Release
of obligation or liability owed to State or political
subdivision.
SECTION 101. Seat of state government.
SECTION 91.
The legislature shall not enact any law
for one or more counties, not applicable to all the counties in the state,
increasing the uniform charge for the registration of deeds, or regulating
costs and charges and fees of officers.
SECTION 92.
The legislature shall not authorize
payment to any person of the salary of a deceased officer beyond the date of
his death.
SECTION 93.
The legislature shall not retire any
officer on pay, or part pay, or make any grant to such retiring officer.
SECTION 94.
The legislature shall never create by
law any distinction between the rights of men and women to acquire, own, enjoy,
and dispose of property of all kinds, or their power to contract in reference
thereto. Married women are hereby fully emancipated from all disability on
account of coverture. But this shall not prevent the legislature from
regulating contracts between husband and wife; nor shall the legislature be
prevented from regulating the sale of homesteads.
SOURCES: 1869 art I §16.
SECTION 95.
Lands belonging to, or under the
control of the state, shall never be donated directly or indirectly, to private
corporations or individuals, or to railroad companies. Nor shall such land be
sold to corporations or associations for a less price than that for which it is
subject to sale to individuals. This, however, shall not prevent the
legislature from granting a right of way, not exceeding one hundred feet in
width, as a mere easement, to railroads across state land, and the legislature
shall never dispose of the land covered by said right of way so long as such
easement exists.
SECTION 96.
The legislature shall never grant
extra compensation, fee, or allowance, to any public officer, agent, servant,
or contractor, after service rendered or contract made, nor authorize payment,
or part payment, of any claim under any contract not authorized by law; but
appropriations may be made for expenditures in repelling invasion, preventing
or suppressing insurrections.
SECTION 97.
The legislature shall have no power
to revive any remedy which may have become barred by lapse of time, or by any
statute of limitation of this state.
SECTION
98. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 98 read as
follows:
“No lottery shall ever be allowed, or be advertised by newspapers, or otherwise, or its tickets be sold in this state; and the legislature shall provide by law for the enforcement of this provision; nor shall any lottery heretofore authorized by permitted to be drawn or its tickets sold.”
The repeal of Section 98 was proposed by Laws 1992, ch. 713, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 512, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1992, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1992.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII §15; Laws 1992, ch. 713, effective December 8, 1992.
SECTION 99.
The Legislature shall not elect any
other than its own officers and State Librarian.
SOURCES: Laws 1990, ch. 693, effective December 19,
1990.
NOTE: The 1990 amendment to Section 99 was
proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 693, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 528, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 6, 1990, and inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
The United States Attorney General interposed no objection
under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to the amendment of this
section by Laws 1990, ch. 693, on September 11, 1990.
SECTION 100.
No obligation or liability of any
person, association, or corporation held or owned by this state, or levee
board, or any county, city, or town thereof, shall ever be remitted, released
or postponed, or in any way diminished by the legislature, nor shall such
liability or obligation be extinguished except by payment thereof into the
proper treasury; nor shall such liability or obligation be exchanged or
transferred except upon payment of its face value; but this shall not be
construed to prevent the legislature from providing by general law for the
compromise of doubtful claims.
SECTION 101.
The seat of government of the state
shall be at the city of Jackson, and shall not be removed or relocated without
the assent of a majority of the electors of the state.
SECTION 102. Elections
for state and county officers.
SECTION
103. Filling public officer vacancies;
compensation and powers of officers.
SECTION
104. Statutes of limitation not to run
against state and political
subdivisions.
SECTION 105. Repealed.
SECTION 106. State
librarian.
SECTION 107. Bidding
and other requirements for certain contracts.
SECTION 108. Termination
of duties pertaining to office.
SECTION 109. Interest
of public officer in contracts.
SECTION 110. Rights
of way for private roads.
SECTION 111. Sale
of land by decree or execution.
SECTION 112. Equal
taxation; property tax assessments.
SECTION 113. Auditor’s
statement of money expended at session.
SECTION 114. Election
returns.
SECTION
115. Fiscal year; report of
transactions; bonded indebtedness limitation.
SECTION 102.
All general elections for state and
county officers shall commence and be holden every four years, on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November, until altered by the law; and the electors,
in all cases except in cases of treason, felony, and breach of peace, shall be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and in going to and
returning therefrom.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §7.
SECTION 103.
In all cases, not otherwise provided
for in this constitution, the legislature may determine the mode of filling all
vacancies, in all offices, and in cases of emergency provisional appointments
may be made by the governor, to continue until the vacancy is regularly filled;
and the legislature shall provide suitable compensation for all officers, and
shall define their respective powers.
SOURCES: 1832 art V §13; 1869 art XII §7.
SECTION 104.
Statutes of limitation in civil
causes shall not run against the state, or any subdivision or municipal
corporation thereof.
SECTION 105. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 105 provided for the decennial enumeration of
inhabitants and qualified electors in the state.
An
amendment eliminating the foregoing section was submitted to the people by the
Legislature at the session of 1894, Laws 1894, ch. 43; an election was held in
November, 1894, and seems to have resulted in favor of the elimination of the
section, but no action was taken by the Legislature after the election.
The
repeal of Section 105 was proposed by Laws 1977, ch. 586, Senate Concurrent
Resolution No. 555, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 7,
1978, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 22,
1978.
SECTION 106.
There shall be a state librarian, to
be chosen by the legislature, on joint vote of the two (2) houses, to serve
four (4) years, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law.
SOURCES: Laws 1977, ch.
591, effective December 22, 1978.
NOTE: The 1977 amendment to Section 106 was
proposed by Laws 1977, ch. 591, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 587 of the
1977 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 7, 1978, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on December 22, 1978.
SECTION 107.
All stationery, printing, paper, and
fuel, used by the legislature, and other departments of the government, shall
be furnished, and the printing and binding of the laws, journals, department
reports, and other printing and binding, and the repairing and furnishing the
halls and rooms used for the meeting of the legislature and its committees,
shall be performed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible
bidder, below such maximum and under such regulations as may be prescribed by
law. No member of the legislature or officer of any department shall be in any
way interested in such contract, and all such contracts shall be subject to the
approval of the governor and state treasurer.
NOTE: Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 514,
enacted as ch. 655, Laws 1984, adopted by the Senate on April 26, 1984, and the
House of Representatives on April 25, 1984, proposed to repeal Section 107. The proposed repeal was submitted to the
electorate on November 6, 1984, but was rejected.
SECTION 108.
Whenever the legislature shall take
away the duties pertaining to any office, then the salary of the officer shall
cease.
SECTION 109.
No public officer or member of the
legislature shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with
the state, or any district, county, city, or town thereof, authorized by any
law passed or order made by any board of which he may be or may have been a
member, during the term for which he shall have been chosen, or within one year
after the expiration of such term.
NOTE: Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 548, ch.
655, Laws 1984, adopted by the Senate on April 26, 1984, and by the House of
Representatives on April 25, 1984, proposed to amend Section 109. The proposed amendment was submitted to the
electorate on November 6, 1984, but was rejected.
House
Concurrent Resolution No. 63, ch. 526, Laws 1986, proposed to amend Section
109. The electorate, however, rejected
the proposed amendment on June 3, 1986.
SECTION 110.
The legislature may provide, by
general law, for condemning rights of way for private roads, where necessary
for ingress and egress by the party applying, on due compensation being first
made to the owner of the property; but such rights of way shall not be provided
for in incorporated cities and towns.
SECTION 111.
All lands comprising a single tract
sold in pursuance of decree of court, or execution, shall be first offered in
subdivisions not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one-quarter section,
and then offered as an entirety, and the price bid for the latter shall control
only when it shall exceed the aggregate of the bids for the same in
subdivisions as aforesaid; but the chancery court, in cases before it, may
decree otherwise if deemed advisable to do so.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§18.
SECTION 112.
Taxation shall be uniform and equal
throughout the state. All property not exempt from ad valorem taxation shall be
taxed at its assessed value. Property shall be assessed for taxes under general
laws, and by uniform rules, and in proportion to its true value according to
the classes defined herein. The Legislature may, by general laws, exempt
particular species of property from taxation, in whole or in part.
The Legislature shall
provide, by general laws, the method by which the true value of taxable
property shall be ascertained; provided, however, in arriving at the true value
of Class I and Class II property, the appraisal shall be made according to
current use, regardless of location. The Legislature may provide for a special
mode of valuation and assessment for railroads, and railroad and other
corporate property, or for particular
species of property belonging to persons, corporations or associations not
situated wholly in one (1) county. All such property shall be assessed in
proportion to its value according to its class, and no county, or other taxing
authority, shall be denied the right to levy county and/or special taxes upon
such assessment as in other cases of property situated and assessed in the
county, except that the Legislature, by general law, may deny or limit a county
or other taxing authority the right to levy county and/or special taxes on
nuclear-powered electrical generating plants. In addition to or in lieu of any
such county and/or special taxes on nuclear-powered electrical generating
plants, the Legislature, by general law enacted by a majority vote of the
members of each house present and voting, may provide for a special mode of
valuation, assessment and levy upon nuclear-powered electrical generating
plants and provide for the distribution of the revenue derived therefrom. The Legislature may
provide a special mode of assessment, fixing the taxable year, date of the tax
lien, and method and date of assessing and collecting taxes on all motor
vehicles.
The assessed value of
property shall be a percentage of its true value, which shall be known as its
assessment ratio. The assessment ratio on each class of property as defined
herein shall be uniform throughout the state upon the same class of property,
provided that the assessment ratio of any one (1) class of property shall not
be more than three (3) times the assessment ratio on any other class of
property. For purposes of assessment for ad valorem taxes, taxable property
shall be divided into five (5) classes and shall be assessed at a percentage of
its true value as follows:
Class I. Single-family,
owner-occupied, residential real property, at ten percent (10%) of true value.
Class II. All other real
property, except for real property included in Class I or IV, at fifteen
percent (15%) of true value.
Class III. Personal
property, except for motor vehicles and for personal property included in Class
IV, at fifteen percent (15%) of true value.
Class IV. Public utility
property, which is property owned or used by public service corporations
required by general laws to be appraised and assessed by the state or the
county, excluding railroad and airline property and motor vehicles, at thirty
percent (30%) of true value.
Class V. Motor vehicles,
at thirty percent (30%) of true value.
The Legislature may, by
general law, establish acreage
limitations on Class I property.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§20; Laws 1956, ch. 438; Laws 1958, ch. 610; Laws 1960, ch. 513; Laws 1986, ch.
522, effective June 19, 1986.
NOTE: The 1960 amendment to Section 112 proposed
by Laws 1960, ch. 513,was ratified by the electorate on November 8, 1960, and
was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 23, 1960.
The
1986 amendment to Section 112 was proposed by House Consurrent Resolution No.
41, ch. 522, Laws 1986, and was submitted to the electorate on June 3, 1986 and
ratified.
On
June 16, 1986, the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi enjoined the State of Mississippi from approving, implementing or
administering the constitutional amendment until such time that the conduct of
the election had been approved by the Attorney General of the United States.
By
proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 19, 1986, the amendment to
Section 112 was inserted in the Constitution.
On
July 7, 1986, the Attorney General of the United States approved the conduct of
the election for ratification of House Concurrent Resolution No. 41, ch. 522,
Laws 1986, amending Section 112 of the Constitution.
On
July 10, 1986, the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi (Eddie Burrell, et al. v William A. Allain,
Governor of Mississippi, et al, Civil Action No. J86-0373 (L)) lifted and
dissolved the injunction issued on June 16, 1986 without prejudice to any right
to relief the plaintiffs might establish upon further proceedings.
SECTION 113.
The auditor shall, within sixty days
after the adjournment of the legislature, prepare and publish a full statement
of all money expended at such session, specifying the items and amount of each
item, and to whom, and for what paid; and he shall also publish the amounts of
all appropriations.
NOTE: MS Code §7-7-2, as added by Laws 1984, ch.
488, §90, and amended by Laws 1985, ch. 455, §1, Laws 1986, ch. 499, §1,
provided, at subsection (2) therein, that the words “state auditor of public
accounts,” “state auditor,” and “auditor” appearing in the laws of the state in
connection with the performance of auditor’s functions transferred to the state
fiscal management board, shall mean the state fiscal management board, and,
more particularly, such words or terms shall mean the state fiscal management
board whenever they appear.
Thereafter,
Laws 1989, ch. 532, §2, amended §7-7-2 to provide that the words “State Auditor
of Public Accounts,” “State Auditor,” and “Auditor” appearing in the laws of
this state in connection with the performance of auditor’s functions shall mean
State Fiscal Officer, and more particularly, such words or terms shall mean the
State Fiscal Officer whenever they appear.
Subsequently, Laws 1989, ch. 544, §17,
effective July 1, 1989, and codified as §27-104-6, provides that wherever the
term “State Fiscal Officer” appears in any law it sahll mean “Executive
Director of the epartment of Finance and Administraiton.”
SECTION 114.
Returns of all elections by the
people shall be made to the secretary of state in such manner as shall be
provided by law.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §18;
1832 art VII §16; 1869 art XII §19.
SECTION 115.
The fiscal year of the State of
Mississippi shall commence on the first day of July and end on the thirtieth
day of June of each year; and the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Treasurer
of the State shall compile, and have published, a full and complete report,
showing the transactions of their respective offices on or before the
thirty-first day of December of each year for the preceding fiscal year.
Neither the State nor any
of its direct agencies, excluding the political subdivisions and other local
districts, shall incur a bonded indebtedness in excess of one and one half (1
1/2) times the sum of all the revenue collected by it for all purposes during
any one of the preceeding four fiscal years, whichever year might be higher.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §8;
Laws 1935, ch. 115; Laws 1960, ch. 522, effective November 23, 1960.
NOTE: The 1960 amendment to Section 115 was
proposed by Laws 1960, ch. 522 and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 8, 1960, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
November 23, 1960.
This section, prior to its amendment in 1935, provided for a
fiscal year commencing on the first day of October, and ending on the thirtieth
day of September.
ARTICLE 5
EXECUTIVE
SECTION 116. Governor;
term of office.
SECTION 117. Eligibility
to serve as Governor.
SECTION 118. Salary
of Governor.
SECTION 119. Commander-In-Chief
of military.
SECTION 120. Report
from officers of executive department.
SECTION 121. Convening
of legislature in extraordinary session.
SECTION 122. State
of the government; recommending measures.
SECTION 123. Faithful
execution of laws.
SECTION 124. Reprieves
and pardons.
SECTION 125. Suspension
of defaulting treasurers and tax collectors.
SECTION 126. Seal
of state.
SECTION 127. Commissions.
SECTION 128. Lieutenant
Governor; qualifications and term.
SECTION 129. Lieutenant
Governor as President of Senate.
SECTION 130. Salary
of Lieutenant Governor.
SECTION 131. Vacancy
in office of Governor.
SECTION 132. Contested
election for Lieutenant Governor.
SECTION 133. Secretary
of State.
SECTION 134. State
Treasurer; Auditor of Public Accounts.
SECTION 135. County
officers.
SECTION 136. Continuation
in office.
SECTION 137. Repealed.
SECTION 138. Selection
of county officers.
SECTION 139. Removal
and appointment of county and municipal officers.
SECTION 140. Election
of Governor.
SECTION
141. Choosing Governor in absence of
electoral and popular vote
majorities.
SECTION 142. Ineligibility
of Legislators to receive certain appointments.
SECTION 143. Election
of other state officers.
SECTION 116.
The chief executive power of this
state shall be vested in a Governor, who 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.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §1;
1832 art V §1; 1869 art V §1, Laws 1986, ch. 575, effective November 20, 1986.
NOTE: The 1986 amendment to Section 116 was
proposed by Laws 1986, ch. 515, House Concurrent Resolution No. 5, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 4, 1986, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 20, 1986.
SECTION 117.
The governor shall be at least thirty
years of age, and shall have been a citizen of the United States twenty years,
and shall have resided in this state five years next preceeding the day of his
election.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §3;
1832 art V §3; 1869 art V §3.
SECTION 118.
The governor shall receive for his
services such compensation as may be fixed by law, which shall neither be
increased nor diminished during his term of office.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §4;
1832 art V §4; 1869 art V §4.
SECTION 119.
The governor shall be
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the state, and of the militia,
except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §5;
1832 art V §5; 1869 art V §5.
SECTION 120.
The governor may require information
in writing from the officers in the executive departments of the state on any
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §6;
1832 art V §6; 1869 art V §6.
SECTION 121.
The governor shall have power to convene
the legislature in extraordinary session whenever, in his judgment, the public
interest requires it. Should the governor deem it necessary to convene the
legislature he shall do so by public proclamation, in which he shall state the
subjects and matters to be considered by the legislature, when so convened; and
the legislature, when so convened as aforesaid, shall have no power to consider
or act upon subjects or matters other than those designated in the proclamation
of the governor by which the session is called, except impeachments and
examination into the accounts of state officers. The legislature, when so
convened, may also act on and consider such other matters as the governor may
in writing submit to them while in session. The governor may convene the
legislature at the seat of government, or at a different place if that
shall become dangerous from an enemy or
from disease; and in case of a disagreement between the two houses with respect
to time of adjournment, adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not
beyond the day of the next stated meeting of the legislature.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §7;
1832 art V §7; 1869 art V §7.
SECTION 122.
The governor shall, from time to
time, give the legislature information of the state of the government, and
recommend for consideration such measures as may be deemed necessary and
expedient.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §8;
1832 art V §8; 1869 art V §8.
SECTION 123.
The governor shall see that the laws
are faithfully executed.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §9;
1832 art V §9; 1869 art V §9.
SECTION 124.
In all criminal and penal cases,
excepting those of treason and impeachment, the governor shall have power to
grant reprieves and pardons, to remit fines, and in cases of forfeiture, to
stay the collection until the end of the next session of the legislature, and
by and with the consent of the senate to remit forfeitures. In cases of treason
he shall have power to grant reprieves, and by and with consent of the senate,
but may respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the
legislature; but no pardon shall be granted before conviction; and in cases of
felony, after conviction no pardon shall be granted until the applicant
therefor shall have published for thirty days, in some newspaper in the county
where the crime was committed, and in case there be no newspaper published in
said county, then in an adjoining county, his petition for pardon, setting
forth therein the reasons why such
pardon should be granted.
SOURCES: 1832 art V §10;
1869 art V §10.
SECTION 125.
The governor shall have the power,
and it is hereby made his duty, to suspend alleged defaulting state and county
treasurers, and defaulting tax-collectors, pending the investigation of their
respective accounts, and to make temporary appointments of proper persons to
fill the offices while such investigations are being made; and the legislature
shall provide for the enforcement of this provision by appropriate legislation.
SECTION 126.
There shall be a seal of the state
kept by the governor, and used by him officially, and be called the great seal
of the state of Mississippi.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §12;
1832 art V §12; 1869 art V §11.
SECTION 127.
All commissions shall be in the name
and by the authority of the state of Mississippi, be sealed with the great seal
of the state, and be signed by the governor, and attested by the secretary of
state.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §11;
1832 art V §11; 1869 art V §12.
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
successive terms shall be eligible to hold that office until one term has
intervened.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §18;
1869 art V §14; Laws 1992, ch. 719, effective December 8, 1992.
NOTE: The 1992 amendment of Section 128 was proposed by Laws 1992, ch. 719, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 525, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1992, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1992.
SECTION 129.
The lieutenant-governor shall, by
virtue of his office, be president of the senate. In committee of the whole he
may debate all questions, and where there is an equal division in the senate,
or on a joint vote of both houses, he shall give the casting vote.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §19;
1869 art V §16.
SECTION 130.
The lieutenant-governor shall receive
for his services the same compensation as the speaker of the house of
representatives.
SOURCES: 1869 art V §16.
SECTION 131.
When the office of Governor shall
become vacant, by death or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor shall possess the
powers and discharge the duties of the office.
When the Governor shall be absent from the state, or unable, from
protracted illness, to perform the duties of the office, the Lieutenant Governor
shall discharge the duties of said office until the Governor be able to resume
his duties; but if, from disability or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor shall
be incapable of performing said duties, or if he be absent from the state, the
President of the Senate Pro Tempore shall act in his stead; but if there be no
such president, or if he be disqualified by like disability, or be absent from
the state, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall assume the
office of Governor and perform the duties; and in case of the inability of the
foregoing officers to discharge the
duties of Governor, the Secretary of State shall convene the Senate to elect a
President Pro Tempore. The officer
discharging the duties of Governor shall receive as compensation while
performing such duties, the compensation to which he is regularly entitled by
law for service in the position to which he was elected and, in addition
thereto, an amount equal to the difference between such regular compensation
and the compensation of the Governor.
Should a doubt arise as to whether a vacancy has occurred in the office
of Governor or as to whether any one of the disabilities mentioned in this
section exists or shall have ended, then the Secretary of State shall submit
the question in doubt to the judges of the Supreme Court, who, or a majority of
whom, shall investigate and determine the question and shall furnish to the
Secretary of State an opinion, in writing, determining the question submitted
to them, which opinion, when rendered as aforesaid, shall be final and
conclusive.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV
§§20, 21, and 22; 1832 art V §§17 and 18; 1869 art V §17; Laws 1992, ch. 721,
effective December 8, 1992.
NOTE: The 1992 amendment of Section 131was
proposed by Laws 1992, ch. 721, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 527, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1992, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1992.
SECTION 132.
In case the election for
lieutenant-governor shall be contested, the contest shall be tried and
determined in the same manner as a contest for the office of governor.
SOURCES: 1869 art V §18.
SECTION 133.
There shall be a secretary of state,
who shall be elected as herein provided. He shall be at least twenty-five years
of age, a citizen of the state five years next preceding the day of his
election, and he shall continue in office during the term of four years, 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.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §14;
1832 art V §14; 1869 art V §19.
SECTION 134.
A State Treasurer and an Auditor of
Public Accounts shall be elected as herein provided, who 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.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §25;
1832 art V §20; 1869 art V §20; Laws 1966, ch. 692; Laws 1986, ch. 634,
effective November 20, 1986.
NOTE: The 1966 amendment to Section 134, which
eliminated the prohibition against the treasurer and the auditor of public
accounts immediately succeeding each other in office, and the prohibition
against the auditor of public accounts immediately succeeding himself in that
office, was proposed by House Concurrent Resolution No. 38, ch. 692, adopted at
the 1966 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 8, 1966, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on November 23, 1966.
The 1986 amendment to Section 134 was proposed by Laws 1986,
ch. 634, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 513, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 4, 1986, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on November 20, 1986.
SECTION 135.
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 shall hold their office
for four 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.
SOURCES: 1869 art V §21;
Laws 1924, ch. 142; Laws 1962, ch. 683, effective June 22, 1962.
NOTE: The 1962 amendment to Section 135 was
proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 109, ch. 683, of the 1962 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on June 5,
1962, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 22, 1962.
SECTION 136.
All officers named in this article
shall hold their offices during the term for which they were selected, unless
removed, and until their successors shall be duly qualified to enter on the
discharge of their respective duties.
SOURCES: 1869 art V §22.
SECTION 137. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 137 required that the state
treasurer publish in a newspaper located at the seat of government, within ten
days of the first of January and July of each year, a statement of the
condition of the treasury including the balance on hand and information
concerning the nature of the funds. The former section also required
verification by inpection and certification of the count by the governor.
The
repeal of Section 137 was proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 695, Senate Concurrent
Resolution No. 562, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 6,
1990, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19,
1990.
SECTION 138.
The sheriff, coroner, assessor,
surveyor, clerks of courts, and members of the board of supervisors of the
several counties, and all other officers exercising local jurisdiction therein,
shall be selected in the manner provided by law for each county.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §24;
1832 art V §19.
SECTION 139.
The legislature may empower the
governor to remove and appoint officers, in any county or counties or municipal
corporations, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.
SECTION 140.
The Governor of the state shall be
chosen in in the following manner: On the first Tuesday after the first Monday
of November of A.D. 1895, 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 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.
SOURCES: 1817 art IV §2;
1832 art V §2; 1869 art V §2; Laws 1982, ch. 621 effective January 28, 1983.
NOTE: The 1982 amendment to Section 140 was
proposed by Laws 1982, ch. 621, Senate Consurrent Resolution No. 517, of the
1982 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 2, 1982, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on January 28, 1983.
SECTION 141.
If no person shall receive such
majorities, then the house of representatives shall proceed to choose a
governor from the two persons who shall have received the highest number of
popular votes. The election shall be by viva voce vote, which shall be recorded
in the journal, in such manner as to show for whom each member voted.
SECTION 142.
In case of an election of governor or
any state officer by the house of representatives, no member of that house
shall be eligible to receive any appointment from the governor or other state
officer so elected, during the term for which he shall be elected.
SECTION 143.
All other state officers shall be
elected at the same time, and in the same manner as provided for election of
governor.
ARTICLE 6
JUDICIARY
SECTION 144. Judicial power of state.
SECTION 145. Composition of Supreme Court.
SECTION 145-A. Addition
of judges to Supreme Court.
SECTION 145-B. Further
addition of judges to Supreme Court.
SECTION 146. Jurisdiction of Supreme Court.
SECTION 147. Reversal of judgment for want of
jurisdiction; remand.
SECTION 148. Holding of Supreme Court at seat of
government.
SECTION 149. Term
of office of Supreme Court judges.
SECTION 149-A. Divisions
of Supreme Court.
SECTION 150. Eligibility requirements for Supreme Court
Judges.
SECTION 151. Repealed.
SECTION 152. Circuit and chancery court districts.
SECTION 153. Election and terms of circuit and chancery
court judges.
SECTION 154. Qualifications for circuit or chancery
court judges.
SECTION 155. Judicial oath of office.
SECTION 156. Jurisdiction of circuit court.
SECTION 157. Exclusive jurisdiction of chancery court;
transfer.
SECTION 158. Holding of circuit court.
SECTION 159. Jurisdiction of chancery court.
SECTION 160. Additional jurisdiction of chancery court.
SECTION 161. Concurrent jurisdiction of chancery and
circuit court.
SECTION 162. Transfer to circuit court.
SECTION 163. Certification of transferred causes.
SECTION 164. Holding of chancery court.
SECTION 165. Disqualification of judges.
SECTION 166. Compensation of judges.
SECTION 167. Civil
officers as conservators of peace.
SECTION 168. Clerks of court.
SECTION 169. Style
of process.
SECTION 170. County districts; board of supervisors.
SECTION 171. Justice court judges; jurisdiction.
SECTION 172. Establishment and abolishment of inferior
courts.
SECTION 172-A. Court
order for tax levy or tax increase prohibited.
SECTION 173. Attorney-general.
SECTION 174. District attorneys.
SECTION 175. Liability and punishment of public
officers.
SECTION 176. Qualifications for member of board of
supervisors.
SECTION 177. Vacancy in office of judge or chancellor.
SECTION 177-A. Commission
on judicial performance.
SECTION 144.
The judicial power of the state shall
be vested in a Supreme Court and such other courts as are provided for in this
constitution.
SOURCES: 1817 art V §1;
1832 art IV §1; 1869 art VI §1.
SECTION 145.
The Supreme Court shall consist of
three judges, any two of whom, when convened, shall form a quorum. The
legislature shall divide the state into three Supreme Court districts, and
there shall be elected one judge for and from each district by the qualified
electors thereof at a time and in the manner provided by law; but the removal
of a judge to the state capitol during his term of office shall not render him
ineligible as his own successor for the districts from which he has removed.
The present incumbents shall be considered as holding their terms of office
from the state at large. The adoption of this amendment shall not abridge the
terms of any of the present incumbents, but they shall continue to hold their
respective offices until the expiration of the terms for which they were
respectively appointed.
SOURCES: Laws 1915, ch.
156.
SECTION 145-A.
The Supreme Court shall consist of
six judges, that is to say, of three judges in addition to the three provided
for by Section 145 of this Constitution, any four of whom when convened shall
form a quorum. The additional judges herein provided for shall be selected one
for and from each of the Supreme Court districts in the manner provided by
Section 145 of this Constitution, or any amendments thereto. Their terms of
office shall be as provided by Section 149 of this Constitution, or any amendment
thereto.
SOURCES: Laws 1916, ch.
154.
SECTION 145-B.
The Supreme Court shall consist of
nine judges, that is to say, of three judges in addition to the six provided
for by Section 145-A of this Constitution, any five of whom when convened shall
constitute a quorum. The additional judges herein provided for shall be
selected one for and from each of the supreme court districts in the manner
provided by Section 145-A of this Constitution or any amendment thereto. Their
terms of office shall be as provided by Section 149 of this Constitution or any
amendment thereto.
SOURCES: Laws 1950, ch.
592; Laws 1952, ch. 468.
SECTION 146.
The Supreme Court shall have such
jurisdiction as properly belongs to a court of appeals and shall exercise no
jurisdiction on matters other than those specifically provided by this
Constitution or by general law. The Legislature may by general law provide for
the Supreme Court to have original and appellate jurisdiction as to any appeal
directly from an administrative agency charged by law with the responsibility
for approval or disapproval of rates sought to be charged the public by any
public utility. The Supreme Court shall consider cases and proceedings for
modification of public utility rates in an expeditious manner regardless of
their position on the court docket.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §4;
1869 art VI §4; Laws 1983, ch. 682, effective January 3, 1984.
NOTE: The 1983 amendment to Section 146 was
proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 514, ch. 682, of the 1983 regular
session of the Legislature and, upon ratification by the electorate on November
8, 1983, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on January 3,
1984.
SECTION 147.
No judgment or decree in any chancery
or circuit court rendered in a civil cause shall be reversed or annulled on the
ground of want of jurisdiction to render said judgment or decree, from any
error or mistake as to whether the cause in which it was rendered was of equity
or common-law jurisdiction; but if the Supreme Court shall find error in the
proceedings other than as to jurisdiction, and it shall be necessary to remand
the case, the Supreme Court may remand it to that court which, in its opinion,
can best determine the controversy.
SECTION 148.
The Supreme Court shall be held twice
in each year at the seat of government at such time as the legislature may
provide.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §7;
1869 art VI §7.
SECTION 149.
The term of office of the judges of
the Supreme Court shall be eight (8) years. The legislature shall provide as
near as can be conveniently done that the offices of not more than a majority
of the judges of said court shall become vacant at any one time; and if
necessary for the accomplishment of that purpose, it shall have power to
provide that the terms of office of some of the judges first to be elected
shall expire in less than eight years. The adoption of this amendment shall not
abridge the terms of any of the present incumbents of the office of judge of
the Supreme Court; but they shall continue to hold their respective offices
until the expiration of the terms for which they were respectively appointed.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §3;
Laws 1916, ch. 157.
SECTION 149-A.
The Supreme Court shall have power,
under such rules and regulations as it may adopt, to sit in two divisions of
three judges each, any two of whom when convened shall form a quorum; each
division shall have full power to hear and adjudge all cases that may be
assigned to it by the court. In event the judges composing any division shall differ
as to the judgment to be rendered in any cause, or in event any judge of either
division, within a time and in a manner to be fixed by the rules to be adopted
by the court, shall certify that in his opinion any decision of any division of
the court is in conflict with any prior decision of the court or of any
division thereof, the cause shall then be considered and adjudged by the full
court or a quorum thereof.
SOURCES: Laws 1916, ch.
152.
SECTION 150.
No personal shall be eligible to the
office of judge of the Supreme Court who shall not have attained the age of
thirty years at the time of his appointment, and who shall not have been a
practicing attorney and a citizen of the state for five years immediately
preceding such appointment.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §6;
1869 art VI §6.
SECTION 151. Repealed.
NOTE: This
section was eliminated by an amendment adopted November 3, 1914, Laws 1916, ch
150. The number is retained to prevent a change in the numbers of the sections.
The original section provided for filling vacancies on the Supreme Court under
the appointive system.
SECTION 152.
The Legislature shall divide the
state into an appropriate number of circuit court districts and chancery court
districts.
The Legislature shall, by
statute, establish certain criteria by which the number of judges in each
district shall be determined, such criteria to be based on population, the
number of cases filed and other appropriate data.
Following the 1980
Federal Decennial Census and following each federal decennial census
thereafter, the Legislature shall redistrict the circuit and chancery court
districts. Should the Legislature fail
to redistrict the circuit or chancery court districts by December 31 of the
fifth year following the 1980 Federal Decennial Census or by December 31 of the
fifth year following any federal decennial census thereafter, the Supreme Court shall, by order, redistrict such
circuit or chancery court districts.
Any order by the Supreme Court which redistricts the circuit or chancery
court districts shall become effective at a date to be set therein and shall,
without alteration of the composition of the districts established in such
order, be enacted by the next succeeding session of the Legislature.
The circuit and chancery
court districts established by the Legislature prior to the approval of this
amendment shall remain in force and effect until such time as they are
redistricted under the provisions of
this amendment.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §13;
1869 art VI §13; Laws 1981, ch. 708; Laws 1992, ch. 720, effective December 8,
1992.
NOTE: The 1981 amendment to Section 152 was
proposed by House Concurent Resolution No. 23, ch. 708 of the 1981 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November
2, 1982, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on January 28,
1983.
The 1992 amendment of Section 152 was proposed by Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 526, ch. 720, and upon ratification of the electorate
on November 3, 1992, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 8, 1992.
SECTION 153.
The judges of the circuit and
chancery courts shall be elected by the people in a manner and at a time to be
provided by the legislature and the judges shall hold their office for a term
of four years.
SOURCES: 1869 art VI §11;
Laws 1912, ch. 415.
SECTION 154.
No person shall be eligible to the
office of judge of the circuit court or of the chancery court who shall not
have been a practicing lawyer for five years and who shall not have attained
the age of twenty-six years, and who shall not have been five years a citizen
of this state.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §12;
1869 art VI §12.
SECTION 155.
The judges of the several courts of
this state shall, before they proceed to execute the duties of their respective
offices, take the following oath or affirmation, to-wit: "I, ----,
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to
persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will
faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon
me as ---- according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the
state of Mississippi. So help me God."
SECTION 156.
The circuit court shall have original
jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal in this state not vested by this
Constitution in some other court, and such appellate jurisdiction as shall be
prescribed by law.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §14;
1869 art VI §14.
SECTION 157.
All causes that may be brought in the
circuit court whereof the chancery court has exclusive jurisdiction shall be
transferred to the chancery court.
SECTION 158.
A circuit court shall be held in each
county at least twice in each year, and the judges of said courts may
interchange circuits with each other in such manner as may be provided by law.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §15;
1869 art VI §15.
SECTION 159.
The chancery court shall have full
jurisdiction in the following matters and cases, viz.:
(a)
All matters in equity;
(b) Divorce and alimony;
(c) Matters testamentary and of administration;
(d) Minor's business;
(e) Cases of idiocy, lunacy, and persons of unsound mind;
(f) All cases of which the said court had jurisdiction under the laws in force
when this Constitution is put in operation.
SOURCES: 1832 third
amendment; 1869 art VI §16.
SECTION 160.
And in addition to the jurisdiction
heretofore exercised by the chancery court in suits to try title and to cancel
deeds and other clouds upon title to real estate, it shall have jurisdiction in
such cases to decree possession, and to displace possession; to decree rents
and compensation for improvements and taxes; and in all cases where said court
heretofore exercised jurisdiction, auxiliary to courts of common law, it may
exercise such jurisdiction to grant the relief sought, although the legal
remedy may not have been exhausted or the legal title established by a suit at
law.
SECTION 161.
And the chancery court shall have
jurisdiction, concurrent with the circuit court, of suits on bonds of
fiduciaries and public officers for failure to account for money or property
received, or wasted or lost by neglect or failure to collect, and of suits
involving inquiry into matters of mutual accounts; but if the plaintiff brings
his suit in the circuit court, that court may, on application of the defendant,
transfer the cause to the chancery court, if it appear that the accounts to be
investigated are mutual and complicated.
SECTION 162.
All causes that may be brought in the
chancery court whereof the circuit court has exclusive jurisdiction shall be
transferred to the circuit court.
SECTION 163.
The legislature shall provide by law
for the due certification of all causes that may be transferred to or from any
chancery court or circuit court, for such reformation of the pleadings therein
as may be necessary, and the adjudication of the costs of such transfer.
SECTION 164.
A chancery court shall be held in
each county at least twice in each year.
SOURCES: 1869 art VI §17
and third amendment.
SECTION 165.
No judge of any court shall preside
on the trial of any cause, where the parties or either of them, shall be
connected with him by affinity or consanguinity, or where he may be interested
in the same, except by the consent of the judge and of the parties. Whenever
any judge of the Supreme Court or the judge or chancellor of any district in
this state shall, for any reason, be unable or disqualified to preside at any
term of court, or in any case where the attorneys engaged therein shall not
agree upon a member of the bar to preside in his place, the governor may
commission another, or others, of law knowledge, to preside at such term or
during such disability or disqualification in the place of the judge or judges
so disqualified.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §9;
Laws 1916, ch. 155.
SECTION 166.
The judges of the Supreme Court, of
the circuit courts, and the chancellors shall receive for their services a
compensation to be fixed by law, which shall not be increased or diminished
during their continuance in office.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §10;
1869 art VI §§10 and 15.
SECTION 167.
All civil officers shall be
conservators of the peace, and shall be by law vested with ample power as such.
SOURCES: 1817 art V §12;
1832 art IV §22; 1869 art VI §22.
SECTION 168.
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, 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.
SOURCES: 1869 art VI §19;
Laws 1976, ch. 616, effective December 8, 1976.
NOTE: The 1976 amendment to Section 168 was
proposed by Laws 1976, ch. 616, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 548, and upon ratification of the electorate on
November 2, 1976, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 8, 1976.
SECTION 169.
The style of all process shall be
"The State of Mississippi," and all prosecutions shall be carried on
in the name and by authority of the "State of Mississippi," and all
indictments shall conclude "against the peace and dignity of the
state."
SOURCES: 1817 art V §13;
1832 art IV §17; 1869 art VI §18.
SECTION 170.
Each county shall be divided into five
districts, a resident freeholder of each district shall be selected, in the
manner prescribed by law, and the five so chosen shall constitute the board of
supervisors of the county, a majority of whom may transact business. The board
of supervisors shall have full jurisdiction over roads, ferries, and bridges,
to be exercised in accordance with such regulations as the legislature may
prescribe, and perform such other duties as may be required by law; provided,
however, that the legislature may have the power to designate certain highways
as "state highways," and place such highways under the control and
supervision of the state highway commission, for construction and maintenance.
The clerk of the chancery court shall be the clerk of the board of supervisors.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV § 20
and second amendment; 1869 art VI §20; Laws 1924, ch. 143.
NOTE: House Concurrent Resolution No. 75, Part I,
enacted as ch. 592, Laws 1990, adopted by the House of Representatives and the
Senate on March 28, 1990, proposed to amend Section 170. The proposed amendment was submitted to the
electorate on November 6, 1990, but was rejected.
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 shall hold their
office for the term of four (4) years.
Each justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county
next preceding his selection and shall be 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 references in the
Mississippi Code to justice of the peace shall mean justice court judge.
SOURCES: 1817 art V §8;
1832 art IV §23; 1869 art VI §23; Laws 1975, ch. 518, effective December 8,
1975.
NOTE: The 1975 amendment to Section 171 was
proposed by Laws 1975, ch. 518, House Concurrent Resolution No. 11, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 4, 1975, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1975.
SECTION 172.
The legislature shall, from time to
time, establish such other inferior courts as may be necessary, and abolish the
same whenever deemed expedient.
SOURCES: 1832 art IV §24;
1869 art VI §24.
SECTION 172-A.
Neither the Supreme Court nor any
inferior court of this state shall have the power to instruct or order the
state or any political subdivision thereof, or an official of the state or a
political subdivision, to levy or increase taxes.
SOURCES: Laws 1995, ch. 635, effective December 5, 1995.
NOTE: The addition of Section 172-A was proposed
by Laws 1995, ch. 635, House Concurrent Resolution No. 40, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 7, 1995, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 5, 1995.
SECTION 173.
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 years 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.
SOURCES: 1817 art V §14;
1832 art IV §25; 1869 art VI §25.
SECTION 174.
A district attorney for each circuit
court district shall be selected in the manner provided by law, whose term of
office shall be four years, whose duties shall be prescribed by law, and whose
compensation shall be a fixed salary.
SOURCES: 1817 art V §14;
1832 art IV §25; 1869 art VI §25.
SECTION 175.
All public officers, for wilful
neglect of duty or misdemeanor in office, shall be liable to presentment or
indictment by a grand jury; and, upon conviction, shall be removed from office,
and otherwise punished as may be prescribed by law.
SECTION 176.
No person shall be a member of the
board of supervisors who is not a resident freeholder in the district for which
he is chosen. The value of real estate necessary to be owned to qualify persons
in the several counties to be members of said board shall be fixed by law.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§29.
NOTE: House Concurrent Resolution No. 75, Part II,
enacted as ch. 592, Laws 1990, adopted by the House of Representatives and the
Senate on March 28, 1990, proposed to amend Section 176. The proposed amendment was submitted to the
electorate on November 6, 1990, but was rejected.
SECTION 177.
The governor shall have power to fill
any vacancy which may happen during the recess of the senate in the office of
judge or chancellor, by making a temporary appointment of an incumbent, which
shall expire at the end of the next session of the senate, unless a successor
shall be sooner appointed and confirmed by the senate. When a temporary
appointment of a judge or chancellor has been made during the recess of the
senate, the governor shall have no power to remove the person or appointee, nor
power to withhold his name from the senate for their action.
SECTION 177-A.
There shall be a commission on
judicial performance of the State of Mississippi, to be composed of seven (7)
members; three (3) of whom shall be judges of courts of record in the state
which are trial courts of original jurisdiction, other than justice courts; one
(1) member shall be a justice court judge; two (2) lay persons who reside in
the state and who have never held judicial office or been members of the bar of
Mississippi; and one (1) practicing attorney who has practiced law in the state
for at least ten (10) years. All judicial members are to be appointed by the
judiciary of the State of Mississippi as provided by law. Restrictions on the
members of the commission may be imposed by statute. Members of the commission
on judicial performance not subject to impeachment shall be subject to removal
from the commission by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the supreme court sitting en
banc.
On recommendation of the
commission on judicial performance, the supreme court may remove from office,
suspend, fine or publicly censure or reprimand any justice or judge of this
state for: (a) actual conviction of a felony in a court other than a court of
the State of Mississippi; (b) willful misconduct in office; (c) willful and
persistent failure to perform his duties; (d) habitual intemperance in the use
of alcohol or other drugs; or (e) conduct prejudicial to the administration of
justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute; and may retire
involuntarily any justice or judge for physical or mental disability seriously
interfering with the performance of his duties, which disability is or is
likely to become of a permanent character.
A recommendation of the
commission on judicial performance for
the censure, removal or retirement of a justice of the supreme court shall be
determined by a tribunal of seven (7) judges selected by lot from a list
consisting of all the circuit and chancery judges at a public drawing by the
secretary of state. The vote of the tribunal to censure, remove or retire a
justice of the supreme court shall be by secret ballot and only upon two-thirds
(2/3) vote of the tribunal.
All proceedings before
the commission shall be confidential, except upon unanimous vote of the
commission. After a recommendation of removal or public reprimand of any
justice or judge is filed with the clerk of the supreme court, the charges and
recommendations of the commission shall be made public. The commission may,
with two-thirds (2/3) of the members concurring, recommend to the supreme court
the temporary suspension of any justice
or judge against whom formal charges are pending. All proceedings before
the supreme court under this section and any final decisions made by the
supreme court shall be made public as in other cases at law.
SOURCES: Laws 1979, ch. 520,
effective November 30, 1979.
NOTE: The insertion of Section 177-A was proposed
by Laws 1979, ch. 520, House Concurrent Resolution No. 33, of the 1979 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November
6, 1979, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 30,
1979.
ARTICLE 7
SECTION 178. Formation; charter of incorporation.
SECTION 179. Compliance with provisions.
SECTION 180. Organization.
SECTION 181. Taxation.
SECTION 182. Tax
exemptions.
SECTION 183. Subscription to capital stock by counties
or municipalities.
SECTION 184. Railroads.
SECTION 185. Rolling-stock as personal property subject
to execution and sale.
SECTION 186. Telephone, telegraph and railroad charges.
SECTION 187. Repealed.
SECTION 188. Free
or discounted tickets to public officers.
SECTION 189. Repealed.
SECTION 190. Eminent domain; police powers.
SECTION 191. Protection of corporate employees.
SECTION 192. Public utilities may be exempted from
municipal tax; duration.
SECTION 193. Remedy for injury to railroad employee.
SECTION 194. Repealed.
SECTION 195. Common carriers designated.
SECTION 196. Repealed.
SECTION 197. Repealed.
SECTION
198. Trusts, combinations,
contracts and agreements inimical to public welfare.
SECTION 198-A. Right
to work; labor unions.
SECTION 199. “Corporation” defined.
SECTION 200. Enforcement of provisions.
SECTION 178.
Corporations shall be formed under
general laws only. The Legislature shall have power to alter, amend or repeal
any charter of incorporation now existing and revocable, and any that may
hereafter be created, whenever, in its opinion, it may be for the public
interest to do so. Provided, however, that no injustice shall be done to the
stockholders.
SOURCES: Laws 1987, ch. 690, effective December 4,
1987.
NOTE: The insertion of Section 178 was proposed by
Laws 1987, ch. 690, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 549, and upon ratification
by the electorate on November 3, 1987, was inserted by proclamation of the
Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 179.
The legislature shall never remit the
forfeiture of the franchise of any corporation now existing, nor alter nor
amend the charter thereof, nor pass any general or special law for the benefit
of such corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation shall
thereafter hold its charter and franchises subject to the provisions of this
constitution; and the reception by any corporation of any provision of any such
laws, or the taking of any benefit or advantage from the same, shall be
conclusively held an agreement by such corporation to hold thereafter its
charter and franchises under the provisions hereof.
SECTION 180.
All existing charters or grants of
corporate franchise under which organizations have not in good faith taken
place at the adoption of this Constitution shall be subject to the provisions
of this article; and all such charters under which organizations shall not take
place in good faith and business be commenced within one year from the adoption
of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity; and every charter or
grant of corporate franchise hereafter made shall have no validity, unless an
organization shall take place thereunder and business be commenced within two
years from the date of such charter or grant.
SECTION 181.
The property of all private
corporations for pecuniary gain shall be taxed in the same way and to the same
extent as the property of individuals, but the legislature may provide for the
taxation of banks and banking capital, by taxing the shares according to the
value thereof (augmented by the accumulations, surplus, and unpaid dividends),
exclusive of real estate, which shall be taxed as other real estate. Exemptions
from taxation to which corporations are legally entitled at the adoption of
this Constitution, shall remain in full force and effect for the time of such
exemption as expressed in their respective charters, or by general laws, unless
sooner repealed by the legislature. And, domestic insurance companies shall not
be required to pay a greater tax in the aggregate than is required to be paid
by foreign insurance companies doing business in this state, except to the extent of the excess of their ad valorem tax
over the privilege tax imposed upon such foreign companies; and the legislature
may impose privilege taxes on building and loan associations in lieu of all
other taxes except on their real estate.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§13.
SECTION 182.
The power to tax corporations and
their property shall never be surrendered or abridged by any contract or grant
to which the state or any political subdivision thereof may be a party, except
that the Legislature may grant exemption from taxation in the encouragement of
manufactures and other new enterprises of public utility extending for a period
of not exceeding ten (10) years on each such enterprise hereafter constructed,
and may grant exemptions not exceeding ten (10) years on each addition thereto
or expansion thereof, and may grant exemptions not exceeding ten (10) years on
future additions to or expansions of existing manufactures and other
enterprises of public utility. The time of each exemption shall commence from
the date of completion of the new enterprise, and from the date of completion
of each addition or expansion, for which an exemption is granted. When the Legislature grants such exemptions for a
period of ten (10) years or less, it shall be done by general laws, which shall
distinctly enumerate the classes of manufactures and other new enterprises of
public utility, entitled to such exemptions, and shall prescribe the mode and
manner in which the right to such exemptions shall be determined.
SOURCES: Laws 1961, ch.
9, 1st Extraordinary Session, effective October 16, 1961.
NOTE: The 1961 amendment to Section 182 was
proposed by Laws 1961, ch. 9, 1st Extraordinary Session, and upon
ratification by the electorate on October 3, 1961, was inserted by proclamation
of the Secretary of State on October 16, 1961.
SECTION 183.
No county, city, town, or other
municipal corporation shall hereafter become a subscriber to the capital stock
of any railroad or other corporation or association, or make appropriation, or
loan its credit in aid of such corporation or association. All authority
heretofore conferred for any of the purposes aforesaid by the legislature or by
the charter of any corporation, is hereby repealed. Nothing in this section
contained shall affect the right of any such corporation, municipality, or
county to make such subscription where the same has been authorized under laws
existing at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and by a vote of the
people thereof, had prior to its adoption, and where the terms of submission
and subscription have been or shall be complied with, or to prevent the issue
of renewal bonds, or the use of such other means as are or may be prescribed by
law for the payment or liquidation of
such subscription, or of any existing indebtedness.
SECTION 184.
All railroads which carry persons or
property for hire shall be public highways, and all railroad companies so
engaged shall be common carriers. Any company organized for that purpose under
the laws of the state shall have the right to construct and operate a railroad
between any points within this state, and to connect at the state line with
roads of other states. Every railroad company shall have the right with its
road to intersect, connect with, or cross any other railroad; and all railroad
companies shall receive and transport each other's passengers, tonnage, and
cars, loaded or empty, without unnecessary delay or discrimination.
SECTION 185.
The rolling-stock belonging to any
railroad company or corporation in this state shall be considered personal
property, and shall be liable to execution and sale as such.
SECTION 186.
The legislature shall pass laws to
prevent abuses, unjust discrimination, and extortion in all charges of express,
telephone, sleeping-car, telegraph, and railroad companies, and shall enact
laws for the supervision of railroads, express, telephone, telegraph,
sleeping-car companies, and other common carriers in this state, by commission
or otherwise, and shall provide adequate penalties, to the extent, if necessary
for that purpose, of forfeiture of their franchises.
SECTION 187. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 187 required that if a
railroad pased within three miles of any county seat that it was required to
pass through same and establish a depot therein unless prevented by natural
obstacles and provided for the grant of rights of way and grounds for depot
purposes.
The repeal of Section 187 was proposed by Laws 1977, ch. 585,
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 552, and upon ratification by the electorate
on November 7, 1978, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 22, 1978.
SECTION 188.
No railroad or other transportation
company shall grant free passes or tickets, or passes or tickets at a discount,
to members of the legislature, or any state, district, county, or municipal
officers, except railroad commissioners. The legislature shall enact suitable
laws for the detection, prevention, and punishment of violations of this
provision.
SECTION 189. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 189 provided that all
charters granted to private corporations in the state be recorded in the
chancery clerk’s office of the county in which the principal office or place of
business of the company is located.
The repeal of Section 189 was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 692,
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 551, and upon ratification by the electorate
on November 3, 1987, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 4, 1987.
SECTION 190.
The exercise of the right of eminent
domain shall never be abridged, or so construed as to prevent the legislature
from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies, and
subjecting them to public use; and the exercise of the police powers of the
state shall never be abridged, or so construed as to permit corporations to
conduct their business in such manner as to infringe upon the rights of
individuals or general well-being of the state.
SECTION 191.
The legislature shall provide for the
protection of the employees of all corporations doing business in this state
from interference with their social, civil, or political rights by said
corporations, their agents or employees.
SECTION 192.
Provision shall be made by general
laws whereby cities and towns may be authorized to aid and encourage the
establishment of manufactories, gasworks, waterworks, and other enterprises of
public utility other than railroads, within the limits of said cities or towns,
by exempting all property used for such purposes from municipal taxation for a
period not longer than ten years.
SECTION 193.
Every employee of any railroad
corporation shall have the same right and remedies for any injury suffered by
him from the act or omission of said corporation or its employees, as are
allowed by law to other persons not employees where the injury results from the
negligence of a superior agent or officer, or of a person having the right to
control or direct the services of the party injured, and also when the injury
results from the negligence of a fellow-servant engaged in another department
of labor from that of the party injured, or of a fellow-servant on another
train of cars, or one engaged about a different piece of work. Knowledge by any
employee injured, of the defective or unsafe character or condition of any
machinery, ways, or appliances, shall be no defense to an action for injury
caused thereby, except as to conductors or engineers in charge of dangerous or
unsafe cars, or engines voluntarily
operated by them. Where death ensues from any injury to employees, the legal or personal
representatives of the person injured shall have the same right and remedies as
are allowed by law to such representatives of other persons. Any contract or
agreement, express or implied, made by any employee to waive the benefit of
this section shall be null and void; and this section shall not be construed to
deprive any employee of a corporation or his legal or personal representative,
of any right or remedy that he now has by the law of the land. The legislature
may extend the remedies herein provided for to any other class of employees.
SECTION 194. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 194 provided for shareholder
voting for managers and directors of incorporated companies, provided for
issuance of preferred stock with no voting rights, and provided that no person
engaged or interested in a competing business serve on the board of directors
without consent of a majority in interest of the stockholders.
The repeal of Section 194 was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 691,
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 550,
and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1987, was deleted
by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 195.
Express, telegraph, telephone, and
sleeping-car companies are declared common carriers in their respective lines
of business, and subject to liability as such.
SECTION 196. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 196 provided that no
transportation corporation could issue stocks or bonds except for money or
labor done or agreed to be done or money or property actually received and the
section declared fictitious increases of stock or indebtedness void.
The repeal of Section 196 was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 689,
Senate Concurrent Resolution 548, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 3, 1987, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 4, 1987.
SECTION 197. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 197 required that any foreign
corporation or association wishing to be granted a license to build, operate or
lease any railroad in the state, where such railroad would be partially in
Mississippi and partially in another state or states, must first become
incorporated under the laws of Mississippi. The former section also pertained
to a domestic railroad company consolidating with a foreign company.
The repeal of Section 197 was proposed by Laws 1989, ch. 588,
House Concurrent Resolution No. 6, and upon ratification by the electorate on
June 20, 1989, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on August
1, 1989.
SECTION 198.
The legislature shall enact laws to
prevent all trusts, combinations, contracts, and agreements inimical to the
public welfare.
SECTION 198-A.
It is hereby declared to be the
public policy of Mississippi that the right of a person or persons to work
shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in
any labor union or labor organization. Any agreement or combination between any
employer and any labor union or labor organization whereby any person not a
member of such union or organization shall be denied the right to work for an
employer, or whereby such membership is made a condition of employment or
continuation of employment by such employer, or whereby any such union or
organization acquires an employment monopoly in any enterprise, is hereby
declared to be an illegal combination or conspiracy and against public policy.
No person shall be required by an employer to become or remain a member of any
labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or continuation
of employment by such employer. No
person shall be required by an employer to abstain or refrain from membership
in any labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or
continuation of employment. No employer shall require any person, as a
condition of employment or continuation of employment, to pay any dues, fees or
other charges of any kind to any labor union or labor organization. Any person
who may be denied employment or be deprived of continuation of his employment
in violation of any paragraph of this section shall be entitled to recover from
such employer and from any other person, firm, corporation or association
acting in concert with him by appropriate action in the courts of this state
such actual damages as he may have sustained by reason of such denial or
deprivation of employment.
The provisions of this
section shall not apply to any lawful contract in force on the effective date
of this section, but they shall apply
to all contracts thereafter entered into and to any renewal or extension of an
existing contract thereafter occurring. The provisions of this section shall
not apply to any employer or employee under the jurisdiction of the Federal
Railway Labor Act.
SOURCES: Laws 1990, ch.
512, effective June 22, 1960.
NOTE: The 1960 insertion of this section was
proposed by Laws 1960, ch. 512, so as to guarantee that the right of persons to
work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership
in a labor union or labor organization, and declaring the public policy of this
state in this regard. This proposed amendment was ratified by the electorate at
a special election held June 7, 1960, and was inserted by proclamation of the
Secretary of State on June 22, 1960.
SECTION 199.
The term "corporation" used
in this article shall include all associations and all joint-stock companies
for pecuniary gain having privileges not possessed by individuals or
partnerships.
SECTION 200.
The legislature shall
enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE 8
EDUCATION
SECTION 201. Free
public schools.
SECTION 202. State
Superintendent of Public Education.
SECTION 203. State
Board of Education.
SECTION 204. County superintendents of education.
SECTION 205. Repealed.
SECTION 206. State
common-school fund; additional tax levy by district.
SECTION 206-A. Establishment
of education improvement trust fund.
SECTION 207. Repealed.
SECTION
208. Control of funds by religious sect;
certain appropriations prohibited.
SECTION 209. Institutions for education of deaf, dumb
and blind.
SECTION 210. Sale
of public school supplies.
SECTION 211. Sixteenth section lands.
SECTION 212. Interest rate on Choctaw School Fund and other educational trust
funds.
SECTION 213. Agricultural and mechanical colleges.
SECTION 213-A. State
institutions of higher learning.
SECTION 213-B. Repealed.
SECTION 201.
The Legislature shall, by general
law, provide for the establishment, maintenance and support of free public
schools upon such conditions and limitations as the Legislature may prescribe.
SOURCES: Laws 1934, ch.
362; Laws 1960, ch. 547; Laws 1987, ch. 671 effective, December 4, 1987.
NOTE: The 1960 amendment to Section 201 was
proposed by Laws 1960, ch. 547, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 8, 1960, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
November 23, 1960.
The 1987 amendment to Section 201 was proposed by Laws 1987,
ch. 671, House Concurrent Resolution No. 9, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 3, 1987, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 202.
(1) Until July 1, 1984, there shall
be a Superintendent of Public Education elected at the same time and in the
same manner as the Governor, who shall have the qualifications required by the
Secretary of State, and hold his office for four (4) years, and until his
successor shall be elected and qualified, who shall have the general
supervision of the common schools and and of the educational interests of the
state, and who shall perform such other duties and receive compensation as
shall be prescribed by law. However, an election for the Superintendent of
Public Education shall not be held at the general election in 1983, and the
term of the Superintendent of Public Education who was elected at the general
election in 1979 shall be extended to July 1, 1984, on which date it shall
expire.
(2) From and after July
1, 1984, there shall be a State Superintendent of Public Education who shall be
appointed by the State Board of Education, with the advice and consent of the
Senate, and serve at the board's will and pleasure. He shall possess such
qualifications as may be prescribed by law. He shall be the chief
administrative officer for the State Department of Education and shall
administer the department in accordance with the policies established by the
State Board of Education. He shall perform such other duties and receive such
compensation as shall be prescribed by law.
SOURCES: 1869 art VIII
§3; Laws 1982, ch. 616, effective January 28, 1983.
NOTE: The 1982 amendment to Section 202 was
proposed by Laws 1982, ch. 616, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 506, of the
1982 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification of the
electorate on November 2, 1982, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on January 28, 1983.
SECTION 203.
(1) Until July 1, 1984, there shall
be a board of education, consisting of the Secretary of State, the Attorney
General and the Superintendent of Public Education, for the management and
investment of the school funds according to law, and for the performance of
such other duties as may be prescribed. The superintendent and one (1) other of
said board shall constitute a quorum.
(2) From and after July
1, 1984, there shall be a State Board of Education which shall manage and
invest school funds according to law, formulate policies according to law for
implementation by the State Department of Education, and perform such other
duties as prescribed by law. The board shall consist of nine (9) members of
which none shall be an elected official. The Governor shall appoint one (1)
member who shall be a resident of the
Northern Supreme Court District and who shall serve an initial term of
one (1) year, one (1) member who shall be a resident of the Central Supreme Court
District and who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years, one (1) member
who shall be a resident of the Southern Supreme Court District and who shall
serve an initial term of nine (9) years, one (1) member who shall be employed
on an active and full-time basis as a school administrator and who shall serve
an initial term of three (3) years, and one (1) member who shall be employed on
an active and full-time basis as a schoolteacher and who shall serve an initial
term of seven (7) years. The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint two (2) members
from the state at large, one (1) of whom shall serve an initial term of four
(4) years and one (1) of whom shall serve an initial term of eight (8) years.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint two (2) members from
the state at large, one (1) of who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years and one (1) of whom
shall serve an initial term of six (6) years. The initial terms of appointees
shall begin on July 1, 1984, and all subsequent appointments shall begin on the
first day of July for a term of (9) years and continue until their successors
are appointed and qualify. An appointment to fill a vacancy which arises for
reasons other than by expiration of a term of office shall be for the unexpired
term only. The Legislature shall by general law prescribe the compensation
which members of the board shall be entitled to receive. All members shall be
appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate and no members shall be
actively engaged in the educational profession except as stated above.
SOURCES: 1869 art VIII
§3; Laws 1982, ch. 616, effective January 28, 1983.
NOTE: The 1982 amendment to Section 203 was
proposed by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 506, ch. 616, of the 1982 regular
session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November
2, 1982, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on January 28,
1983.
SECTION 204.
There shall be a superintendent of
public education in each county, who shall be appointed by the board of
education by and with the advice and consent of the senate, whose term of
office shall be four years, and whose qualifications, compensation, and duties,
shall be prescribed by law: Provided, That the legislature shall have power to
make the office of county school superintendent of the several counties
elective, or may otherwise provide for the discharge of the duties of county
superintendent, or abolish said office.
SOURCES: 1869 art VIII §4.
SECTION 205. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 205 empowered the Legislature
to establish and maintain free public schools and the term or terms thereof in
each county of the state.
The
repeal of Section 205 was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 671, House Concurrent
Resolution No. 9, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1987,
was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 206.
There shall be a state common-school
fund, to be taken from the General Fund in the State Treasury, which shall be
used for the maintenance and support of the common schools. Any county or
separate school district may levy an additional tax, as prescribed by general
law, to maintain its schools. The state common-school fund shall be distributed
among the several counties and separate school districts in proportion to the
number of educable children in each, to be determined by data collected through
the office of the State Superintendent of Education in the manner to be
prescribed by law.
SOURCES: 1869 art VIII
§6. See amendment No. 2; Laws 1904, ch.
173; Laws 1989, ch. 589, effective August 1, 1989.
NOTE: The 1989 amendment to Section 206 of was
proposed by Laws 1989, ch. 589, House Concurrent Resolution No. 9, and upon
ratification by the electorate on June 20, 1989, was inserted by proclamation
of the Secretary of State on August 1, 1989.
SECTION 206-A.
There is hereby created and
established in the State Treasury a trust fund which may be used, as
hereinafter provided, for the improvement of education within the State of
Mississippi. There shall be deposited in such trust fund:
(a) The state's share of all oil severance taxes and
gas severance taxes derived from oil and gas resources under state-owned lands
or from severed state-owned minerals;
(b) (b) Any and all monies received by the state from
the development, production and utilization of oil and gas resources under
state-owned lands or from severed state-owned minerals, except for the
following portions of such monies:
(i)
All mineral leasing revenues
specifically reserved by general law in effect at the time of the ratification
of this amendment for the following purposes: (A) management of a state leasng
program; (B) clean-up, remedial or abatement actions involving pollution as a
result of oil or gas exploration or production; (C) management or protection of
state waters, land and wildlife; or (D) acquisition of additional waters and
land; and
(ii)
Monies derived from sixteenth section lands and lands held in lieu thereof or
from minerals severed from sixteenth section lands and lands held in lieu
thereof; and
(iii)
Monies derived from lands or minerals administered in trust for any state
institution of higher learning or administered therefor by the head of any such
institution;
(c)
Any gift, donation, bequest, trust,
grant, endowment or transfer of money or securities designated for said trust
fund; and
(d)
All such monies from any other source whatsoever as the Legislature shall, in
its discretion, so appropriate or shall, by general law, so direct.
The principal of the
trust fund shall remain inviolate and shall be invested as provided by general
law. Interest and income derived from investment of the principal of the trust
fund may be appropriated by the Legislature by a majority vote of the elected
membership of each house of the Legislature and expended exclusively for the
education of the elementary and secondary school students and/or vocational and
technical training in this state.
SOURCES: Laws 1985, ch.
546, effective November 20, 1986.
NOTE: The insertion of Section 206-A was proposed
by Laws 1985, ch. 546, House Concurrent Resolution No. 35, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 4, 1986, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 20, 1986.
Laws 1966, ch. 399, §2, effective July 1, 1986, provides as
follows:
“Upon the effective date of this act, any funds, including
interest earned theron, to the credit of the special fund for the
administration of the Mineral Lease Division of the Department of Natural
Resources and to the credit of the Gulf and Wildlife Protection Fund, which are
in excess of the amounts set forth in Section 29-7-3 to be used for the
purposes prescribed therin, shall be transferred into the Education Trust Fund
created in Section 206-A.”
SECTION 207. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 207 provided that separate
schools be maintained for “children of the white and colored races.”
The repeal of Section 207 was proposed by Laws 1977, ch. 587,
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 557, and upon ratification by the electorate
on November 7, 1978, was deleted by proclamation by the Secretary of State on
December 22, 1978.
SECTION 208.
No religious or other sect or sects
shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this
state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian
school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is
not conducted as a free school.
SOURCES: 1869 art VIII
§9.
SECTION 209.
It shall be the duty of the legislature
to provide by law for the support of institutions for the education of the
deaf, dumb, and blind.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§27.
SECTION 210.
No public officer of this state, or
any district, county, city, or town thereof, nor any teacher or trustee of any
public school, shall be interested in the sale, proceeds, or profits of any
books, apparatus, or furniture to be used in any public school in this state.
Penalties shall be provided by law for the violation of this section.
NOTE: Senate Concurent Resolution No. 514, enacted
as ch. 655, Laws 1984, adopted by the Senate on April 26, 1984, and the House
of Representatives on April 25, 1984, proposed to repeal Section 210. The proposed repeal was submitted to the electorate
on November 6, 1984, but was rejected.
SECTION 211.
(1) The Legislature shall enact such
laws as may be necessary to ascertain the true condition of the title to the
sixteenth section lands in this state, or lands granted in lieu thereof, in the
Choctaw Purchase, and shall provide that the sixteenth section lands reserved
for the support of township schools, except as hereinafter provided, shall not
be sold nor shall they be leased for a longer term than ten (10) years for
lands situated outside municipalities and for lands situated within
municipalities for a longer term than ninety-nine (99) years, for a gross sum;
provided further, that existing leases of the sixteenth section lands situated
in the municipalities of the state may, for a gross sum, be extended for a term
of years not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years from the date of such extension,
but the Legislature may provide for the lease of sixteenth section lands for a term of years not exceeding
twenty-five (25) years for forest and agricultural lands and not exceeding
forty (40) years for all other classifications of such lands for a ground
rental, payable annually, and in the case of uncleared lands may lease them for
such short terms as may be deemed proper in consideration of the improvement
thereof, with right thereafter to lease for a term or to hold on payment of
ground rent; provided however, that land granted in lieu of sixteenth section
lands in this state and situated outside of the county holding or owning same
may be sold and the proceeds from such sale may be invested in a manner to be
prescribed by the Legislature; but provided further, however, that the
Legislature, for industrial development thereon, may authorize the sale, in
whole or in part for a gross sum or otherwise, of sixteenth section lands, or
lands granted in lieu thereof situated within the county; and the Legislature
shall either provide for the purchase
of other lands within the county to be held for the benefit of the
township schools in lieu of the lands sold or shall provide for the investment
of the proceeds of such sale for the benefit of the township schools, or the
Legislature may provide for both purchase of other lands to be so held and
investment of proceeds for the benefit of the township schools; and the
Legislature, for industrial development thereon, may authorize the granting of
leases on sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, in whole
or in part, for a gross sum or otherwise, for terms not to exceed ninety-nine
(99) years, and the Legislature shall provide for the investment of the
proceeds of such leases for the benefit of the township schools. The Legislature may authorize the lease of
not more than three (3) acres of sixteenth section lands or lands granted in
lieu thereof for a term not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years for a ground
rental, payable annually, to any church, having its principal place of worship situated on such lands, which has been
in continuous operation at that location for not less than twenty-five (25)
years at the time of the lease.
(2) Notwithstanding any
limitation on the terms of leases provided in subsection (l) of this section,
the Legislature may provide, by general law, for leases on liquid, solid or
gaseous minerals with terms coextensive with the operations to produce such
minerals.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §20;
Laws 1942, ch. 329; Laws 1944, ch. 343; Laws 1961, 1st Extraordinary
Session, ch. 10; Laws 1986, ch. 643; Laws 1992, ch. 730, effective December 8,
1992.
NOTE: The 1961 amendment to Section 211 was
proposed by Laws 1961, ch. 10, 1st Extraordinary Session, ch. 10,
and upon ratification by the electorate on October 3, 1961, was inserted by
proclamation by the Secretary of State on October 16, 1961.
The 1986 amendment to Section 211 was proposed by Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 537, ch. 643, of the 1986 regular session of the
Legislature, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 4, 1986, was
inserted by proclamation by the Secretary of State on November 20, 1986.
The 1992 amendment of Section 211 was proposed by Laws 1992,
ch. 591, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 552, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 3, 1992, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on December 8, 1992.
SECTION 212.
The rate of interest on the fund
known as the "Chickasaw School Fund," and other trust funds for
educational purposes for which the state is responsible, shall be fixed, and
remain as long as said funds are held by the state, at six per centum per annum
from and after the close of the fiscal year A.D. 1891; and the distribution of
said interest shall be made semi-annually, on the first of May and November of
each year.
SECTION 213.
The state having received and
appropriated the land donated to it for the support of agricultural and
mechanical colleges by the United States, and having, in furtherance of the
beneficent design of congress in granting said land, established the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi and the Alcorn Agricultural
and Mechanical College, it is the duty of the state to sacredly carry out the
conditions of the act of congress upon the subject, approved July 2, A.D. 1862,
and the legislature shall preserve intact the endowments to and support said
colleges.
NOTE: MS Code §37-121-1 changed the name of Alcorn
Agricultural and Mechanical College to Alcorn State University.
SECTION 213-A.
The state institutions of higher
learning now existing in Mississippi, to-wit: University of Mississippi,
Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, Mississippi University
for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University, Alcorn
State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State
University, and any others of like kind which may be hereafter organized or
established by the State of Mississippi, shall be under the management and
control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State
Institutions of Higher Learning, the members thereof to be appointed by the
Governor of the state with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor
shall appoint only men or women as such members as shall be qualified electors
residing in the district from which each is appointed, and at least twenty-five (25) years of age, and of the
highest order of intelligence, character, learning, and fitness for the
performance of such duties, to the end that such board shall perform the high
and honorable duties thereof to the greatest advantage of the people of the
state of such educational institutions, uninfluenced by any political
considerations. There shall be appointed one (1) member of such board from each
congressional district of the state as now existing and one (1) member from
each Supreme Court district, and two (2) members shall be appointed from the
state at large. The term of office of said trustees herein provided for shall
begin May 8, 1944; and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make such
appointments during the regular session of the Legislature of Mississippi in
1944; and one-third (1/3) of the membership of said board shall be appointed
for a period of four (4) years; one-third (1/3) for a period of eight (8)
years; and one-third (1/3 for a period
of twelve (12) years; and thereafter their successors shall hold office for a
period of twelve (12) years. The members of the board of trustees as
constituted at the time this amendment shall be inserted in the Constitution as
a part thereof shall continue to hold office until their respective terms
expire under existing law, after which time the membership of the board shall
consist of the number hereinabove provided for. In case of a vacancy on said
board by death or resignation of a member, or from any other cause than the
expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his
successor, who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the
Legislature. During such term of the session of the Legislature the Governor
shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which
his predecessor was appointed, to hold office until the end of the period for which such original trustee was
appointed, to the end that one-third (1/3)
of such trustees' terms will expire each four (4) years.
The Legislature shall
provide by law for the appointment of a trustee for the La Bauve Fund at the
University of Mississippi and for the perpetuation of such fund.
Such board shall have the
power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher
learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the
teaching staff, and all administrative employees of said institutions for a
term not exceeding four (4) years; but said board shall have the power and
authority to terminate any such contract at any time for malfeasance,
inefficiency or contumacious conduct, but never for political reasons.
Nothing herein contained shall in any way limit or take
away the power the Legislature had and possessed, if any, at the time of the
adoption of this amendment, to consolidate, abolish or change the status of any
of the above named institutions.
SOURCES: Laws 1942, ch.
342; Laws 1944, ch. 344; Laws 1987, ch. 673, effective December 4, 1987.
NOTE: The 1944 amendment of this section was duly
inserted by the Legislature in House Concurrent Resolution No. 13, Laws 1944,
ch. 344.
The 1987 amendment of Section 213-A was
proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 673. House Concurrent Resolution No. 19, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 3, 1987, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
MS Code §37-117-1 changed the name of
Mississippi State College for Women to Mississippi University for Women; MS
Code §37-121-1 changed the name of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College
to Alcorn State University; MS Code §37-123-1 changed the name of Delta State
College to Delta State University.
SECTION 213-B. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 213-B provided that by vote
of the Legislature public schools of the state could be abolished; the counties
and school districts could be authorized to abolish their public schools; the
legislature could dispose of school buildings, land and property by lease, sale
or otherwise; and, authorized the legislature and governmental subdivisions and
districts to appropriate funds to aid educable children in the state to secure
an education.
The repeal of Section 213-B was proposed by Laws 1987, ch.
671, House Concurrent Resolution No. 9, and upon ratification by the electorate
on November 3, 1987, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 4, 1987.
ARTICLE 9
SECTION 214. Persons subject to military duty.
SECTION 215. Organization of militia by legislature.
SECTION 216. Appointment and removal of militia
officers.
SECTION 217. Governor as commander-in-chief.
SECTION 218. Major-general; brigadier-general.
SECTION 219. Adjutant-general.
SECTION 220. Exemption of militia from arrest for
certain offenses.
SECTION 221. Appropriations for Mississippi national
guard.
SECTION
222. Support of Mississippi
national guard by county boards
supervisors.
SECTION 214.
All able-bodied male citizens of the
state between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years shall be liable to
military duty in the militia of this state, in such manner as the legislature
may provide.
SOURCES: 1869 art IX §1.
SECTION 215.
The legislature shall provide for the
organizing, arming, equipping, and discipline of the militia, and for paying
the same when called into active service.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Militia §1; 1832 art “Militia” §1; 1869 art IX §2.
SECTION 216.
All officers of militia, except
non-commissioned officers, shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the
consent of the senate, or elected, as the legislature may determine; and no
commissioned officer shall be removed from office except by the senate on
suggestion of the governor, stating the ground on which such removal is
recommended, or by the decision of a court-martial pursuant to law, or at his
own request.
SECTION 217.
The governor shall be
commander-in-chief of the militia, except when it is called into the service of
the United States, and shall have power to call forth the militia to execute
the laws, repel invasion and to suppress riots and insurrections.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Militia” §4; 1832 art “Militia” §4; 1869 art IX §5.
SECTION 218.
The governor shall nominate, and, by
and with the consent of the Senate, commission one major-general for the state,
who shall be a citizen thereof, and also one brigadier-general for each
congressional district, who shall be a resident of the district for which he
shall be appointed, and each district shall constitute a militia division.
SOURCES: 1869 art IX §6.
SECTION 219.
The adjutant-general, and other staff
officers to the commander-in-chief, shall be appointed by the governor, and
their appointment shall expire with the governor's term of office, and the
legislature shall provide by law a salary for the adjutant-general commensurate
with the duties of said office.
SOURCES: 1869 art IX §7.
SECTION 220.
The militia shall be exempt from arrest
during their attendance on musters, and in going to and returning from the
same, except in case of treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
SOURCES: 1869 art IX §8.
SECTION 221.
The legislature is hereby required to
make an annual appropriation for the efficient support and maintenance of the
Mississippi national guard, which shall consist of not less than one hundred
men for each senator and representative to which this state may be entitled in
the congress of the United States; but no part of such funds shall be used in
the payment of said guard except when in actual service.
SOURCES: 1817 art
“Militia” §3; 1832 art “Militia” §3; 1869 art IX §4.
SECTION 222.
The legislature shall empower the
board of supervisors of each county in the state to aid in supporting a
military company or companies of the Mississippi national guard within its
borders, under such regulations, limitations, and restrictions as may be
prescribed by law.
ARTICLE 10
THE
PENITENTIARY AND PRISONS
SECTION 223. Repealed
SECTION
224. Employment of convicts on public
roads, public works or public levee projects.
SECTION
225. Placement of convicts on state
farms; prison industries; reformatory schools; good behavior.
SECTION 226. Hire or lease of county jail inmates.
SECTION 223. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 223 provided that no lease or
hiring of penitentiary convicts after December 31, 1984, be undertaken unless
in compliance with Section 224 and that prior lease arrangements not extend
beyond that date.
The repeal of Section 223 was proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 599,
House Concurrent Resolution No. 99, Part II, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 6, 1990, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of
State on December 19, 1990.
SECTION 224.
The legislature may authorize the
employment under state supervision and the proper officers and employees of the
state, of convicts on public roads or other public works, or by any levee board
on any public levees, under such provisions and restrictions as it may from
time to time see proper to impose; but said convicts shall not be let or hired
to any contractors under said board, nor shall the working of the convicts on
public roads, or public works, or by any levee board ever interfere with the
preparation for or the cultivation of any crop which it may be intended shall
be cultivated by the said convicts, nor interfere with the good management of
the state farm, nor put the state to any expense.
SECTION 225.
The Legislature may place the
convicts on a state farm or farms and have them worked thereon or elsewhere. It
may also provide for the creation of a nonprofit corporation for the purpose of
managing and operating a state prison industries program which may make use of
state prisoners in its operation. It may establish a reformatory school or
schools, and provide for keeping of juvenile offenders from association with
hardened criminals. It may provide for the commutation of the sentence of
convicts for good behavior, and for the constant separation of the sexes, and
for religious worship for the convicts.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§28; Laws 1990, ch. 599, effective December 19, 1990
NOTE: The 1990 amendment to Section 225 was
proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 599, House Concurrent Resolution No. 99, Part I, and
upon ratification of the electorate on November 6, 1990, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
SECTION 226.
Convicts sentenced to the county jail
shall not be hired or leased to any person or corporation outside of the county
of their conviction after the first day of January, A.D. 1893, nor for a term
that shall extend beyond that date.
ARTICLE 11
LEVEES
SECTION 227. Maintenance
of levee system.
SECTION 228. Levee
districts.
SECTION 229. Boards
of levee commissioners.
SECTION 230. Commissioner
qualifications and bond.
SECTION 231. Election of commissioners.
SECTION 232. Duties
and powers of commissioners.
SECTION 233. Appropriation
of private property.
SECTION 234. Bills
changing district boundaries or taxes.
SECTION 235. Report
by levee board.
SECTION 236. Levee
taxes.
SECTION 237. System
of levee taxation.
SECTION 238. Property
exempt from levee taxation.
SECTION 239. Publication
of itemized account.
SECTION 227.
A levee system shall be maintained in
the state as provided in this article.
SECTION 228.
The division heretofore made by the
legislature of the alluvial land of the state into two levee districts-viz.,
the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District and the Mississippi Levee District,
as shown by the laws creating the same, and the amendments thereto-is hereby
recognized, and said districts shall so remain until changed by law; but the
legislature may hereafter add to either of said districts any other alluvial
land in the state.
SECTION 229.
There shall be a board of levee
commissioners for the Yazoo-Mississippi delta levee district which shall
consist of two members from each of the counties of Coahoma and Tunica, and one
member from each of the remaining counties, or parts of counties now or
hereafter embraced within the limits of said district.
And there shall also be a
board of levee commissioners for the Mississippi levee district which shall
consist of two members from each of the counties of Bolivar and Washington and
one from each of the counties of Issaquena, Sharkey, and from that part of
Humphreys county now embraced within the limits of said district. In the event
of the formation of a new county, or counties out of the territory embraced in
either or both of said levee districts, each new county shall each be entitled
to representation and membership in the
proper board or boards.
And in the counties
having two judicial districts and from which said counties two levee
commissioners are to be elected, at least one of the commissioners shall reside
in the judicial districts through which the line of levee runs.
SOURCES: Laws 1928, ch.
357.
NOTE: Section 1 of Laws 1982, ch. 310, effective
March 1, 1982, provides as follows:
“The Board of Mississippi
Levee Commissioners is hereby authorized to join the Lower Mississippi Valley
Flood Control Association and pay dues annually. The board is also authorized to join any association or make
contributions to any organization which, in its opinion, can contribute to the
completion of flood control projects on the rivers in its district.”
SECTION 230.
All of said commissioners shall be
qualified electors of the respective counties or parts of counties from which
they may be chosen, except the one selected for the Louisville, New Orleans and
Texas Railway Company; and the legislature shall provide that they shall each
give bond for the faithful performance of his duties, and shall fix the penalty
thereof; but the penalty of such bond in no instance shall be fixed at less
than ten thousand dollars, and the sureties thereon shall be freeholders of the
district.
SECTION 231.
The levee commissioners shall be
elected by the qualified electors of the respective counties, or parts of
counties, from which they may be chosen, said election to be held in the manner
and at the time as may be prescribed by law.
The term of office of
said commissioners shall be four years.
SOURCES: Laws 1928, ch.
356.
NOTE: Section 1 of Laws 1983, ch. 317, effective
from and after April 15, 1983 (the date the United States Attorney General
interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965),
provides as follows:
“Section
2, Laws 1930, ch. 85, as amended by Section 1, Laws of 1968, ch. 574, is
amended as follows:”
“SECTION
2. (a)
Except as may be herein otherwise provided, the general laws for the
election of county officers shall apply to govern the election of the
commissioners of said levee district from their respective counties and parts
of counties.
(b) The County Election Commissioners shall have
printed on the ballot for any election provided for hereunder the name of any
candidate who shall have been requested to be a candidate for the office of
commissioner from his county by a petition filed not less than thirty (30) days
previous to the date of the election and signed by not less than fifty (50)
qualified electors of the county and of the levee district wherein the
candidates resides.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, if ten (10) days prior to the date of
the election, only one (1) person shall have qualified as a candidate for the
office of levee commissioner, the County Election Commissioners shall certify
to the Board of Levee Commissioners that there is but one (1) candidate. Thereupon, the County Election Commissioners
shall dispense with the election and appoint that one (1) candidate in lieu of
an election. The clerk of the board
shall certify to the Secretary of State the fact of such appointment in lieu of
an election, and the person so appointed shall be commissioned by the
Governor.”
SECTION 232.
The commissioners of said levee districts shall have supervision of the
erection, repair, and maintenance of the levees in their respective districts,
and shall have power to cede all their rights of way and levees and the
maintenance, management and control thereof to the government of the United
States.
SOURCES: Laws 1900, ch.
200.
SECTION 233.
The levee boards shall have, and are
hereby granted, authority and full power to appropriate private property in
their respective districts for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and
repairing levees therein; and when any owner of land, or any other person
interested therein, shall object to the location or building of the levee
thereon, or shall claim compensation for any land that may be taken, or for any
damages he may sustain in consequence thereof, the president, or other proper
officer or agent of such levee board, or owner of such land, or other person
interested therein, may forthwith apply for an assessment of the damages to
which said person claiming the same may be entitled; whereupon the proceedings
as now provided by law shall be taken, viz.: In the Mississippi levee district,
in accordance with the terms and provisions of section three of an act entitled
"An act to amend an act to
incorporate the board of levee commissioners for Bolivar, Washington, and
Issaquena counties, and for other purposes, approved November 27, A. D. 1865,
and to revise acts amendatory thereof," approved March 13, A. D. 1884; and
in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District, in accordance with the terms and
provisions of section three of an act entitled "An act to incorporate the
board of levee commissioners for the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, and for other purposes,"
approved February 28, A. D. 1884, and the amendments thereto; but the
legislature shall have full power to alter and amend said several acts, and to
provide different manners of procedure.
SECTION 234.
No bill changing the boundaries of
the district, or affecting the taxation or revenue of the Yazoo-Mississippi
Delta Levee District, or the Mississippi levee district, shall be considered by
the legislature unless said bill shall have been published in some newspaper in
the county in which is situated the domicile of the board of levee
commissioners of the levee district to be affected thereby, for four weeks
prior to the introduction thereof into the legislature; and no such bill shall
be considered for final passage by either the senate or house of representatives,
unless the same shall have been referred to, and reported on, by an appropriate
committee of each house in which the same may be pending; and no such committee
shall consider or report on any such bill unless publication thereof shall have
been made as aforesaid.
SECTION 235.
Each levee board shall make, at the
end of each fiscal year, to the governor of this state, a report showing the
condition of the levees and recommending such additional legislation on the
subject of the system as shall be thought necessary, and showing the receipts
and expenditures of the board, so that each item, the amount and consideration
therefor, shall distinctly appear, together with such other matters as it shall
be thought proper to call to the attention of the legislature.
SECTION 236.
The legislature shall impose for
levee purposes, in addition to the levee taxes heretofore levied or authorized
by law, a uniform tax of not less than two nor more than five cents an acre per
annum upon every acre of land now or hereafter embraced within the limits of
either or both of said levee districts. The taxes so derived shall be paid into
the treasury of the levee board of the district in which the land charged with
the same is situated; and the legislature, by the act imposing said tax, shall
authorize said levee boards to fix the annual rate of taxation per acre within
the limits aforesaid, and thereby require said levee boards, whenever a
reduction is made by them in their other taxes, to make a proportionate reduction
in the acreage tax hereinbefore mentioned; but said acreage tax shall not be
reduced below two cents an acre per annum; and all reductions in such taxation shall be uniform in each of said
districts; but the rate of taxation need not be the same in both of them; and
such specific taxes shall be assessed on the same assessment roll, and
collected under the same penalties, as ad valorem taxes for levee purposes, and
shall be paid at the same time with the latter. And no levee board shall ever
be permitted to buy lands when sold for taxes; but the state shall have a prior
lien for taxes due thereto. The legislature may provide for the discontinuance
of the tax on cotton, but not in such manner as to affect outstanding bonds
based on it, and on the discontinuance of the tax on cotton, shall impose
another tax in lieu thereof; but the legislature may repeal the acreage tax
required to be levied hereby after the first day of January, A. D. 1895.
SECTION 237.
The legislature shall have full power
to provide such system of taxation for said levee districts as it shall, from
time to time, deem wise and proper.
SECTION 238.
No property situated between the
levee and the Mississippi river shall be taxed for levee purposes, nor shall
damage be paid to any owner of land so situated because of its being left
outside a levee.
SECTION 239.
The legislature shall require the
levee boards to publish at each of their sessions an itemized account embracing
their respective receipts since the prior session, and such appropriations as
have been made or ordered by them respectively, in some newspaper or newspapers
of the district.
ARTICLE 12
SECTION 240. Elections to be by ballot.
SECTION 241. Qualifications for electors.
SECTION 241-A. Repealed.
SECTION 242. Voter
registration.
SECTION 243. Repealed.
SECTION 244. Repealed.
SECTION 244-A. Additional
qualifications for voter registration.
SECTION 245. Elector qualifications in municipal
elections.
SECTION 246. Regulation of elections.
SECTION 247. Securing fairness in party primary
elections and conventions.
SECTION 248. Remedies for illegal or improper
registration.
SECTION 249. Registration required to vote.
SECTION 250. Qualified electors eligible for office.
SECTION 251. Time
of registration.
SECTION 252. Terms of office; general election dates.
SECTION 253. Restoration of right of suffrage after
crime.
SECTION 240.
All elections by the people shall be
by ballot.
SOURCES: 1869 art VII §1.
SECTION 241.
Every inhabitant of this state,
except idiots and insane persons, who is a citizen of the United States of
America, eighteen (18) years old and upward, who has been a resident of this
state for one (1) year, and for one (1) year in the county in which he offers
to vote, and for six (6) months in the election precinct or in the incorporated
city or town in which he offers to vote, and who is duly registered as provided
in this article, and who has never been convicted of murder, rape, bribery,
theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery,
embezzlement or bigamy, is declared to be a qualified elector, except that he
shall be qualified to vote for President and Vice President of the United
States if he meets the requirements established by Congress therefor and is otherwise
a qualified elector.
SOURCES: Laws 1935, ch.
117; Laws 1950, ch. 569; Laws 1952, ch. 441; Laws 1968, ch. 614; Laws 1972, ch.
626, effective November 22, 1972.
NOTE: The 1968 amendment to Section 241 was
proposed by House Concurrent Resolution No. 5 of the 1968 regular session of
the Legislature, and upon ratification of the electorate on June 4, 1968, was
inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on June 13, 1968.
The
1972 amendment to Section 241 was proposed by Laws 1972, ch. 626, Senate Concurrent
Resolution No. 502, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 7,
1972, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 22,
1972.
SECTION 241-A. Repealed.
NOTE: Former
Section 241-A read as follows:
“In addition to all other qualifications required of a person
to be entitled to register for the purpose of becoming a qualified elector,
such person shall be of good moral character.
The legislature shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this
section by appropriate legislation.”
Former Section 241-A was proposed as an
additional section by Laws 1960, ch. 550, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 8, 1960, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on November 23, 1960. The
proposal for the repeal of this section was made by Laws 1965, ch. 40,
Extraordinary Session, and upon the repeal being ratified by the electorate on
the third Tuesday of August, 1965, the Secretary of State issued a proclamation
setting out the fact that former Section 241-A stood repealed.
SECTION 242.
The legislature shall provide by law
for the registration of all persons entitled to vote at any election and shall
prescribe an oath or affirmation as to the truthfulness of the statements of
every applicant concerning his or her qualifications to be registered to vote.
Any wilful and corrupt false statement in said affidavit shall be perjury.
SOURCES: 1869 art VII §3;
Laws 1965, ch. 40, Extraordinary Session, effective August 31, 1965.
NOTE: The 1965 amendment to Section 242 to provide that the legislature shall
prescribe the form of oath to be taken by persons offering to register to vote
was proposed by Laws 1965, ch. 40, Extraordinary Session, and upon ratification
by the electorate on the third Tuesday in August, 1965, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on August 31, 1965.
SECTION 243. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 243 provided for a uniform
poll tax to be used solely in aid of common schools.
The repeal of Section 243 was proposed by Laws 1975, ch. 524,
House Concurrent Resolution No. 46, and upon ratification of the electorate on
November 4, 1975, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 8, 1975.
SECTION 244. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 244 provided that, in
addition to any other qualifications, every elector must be able to read and
write.
An amendment to Section 244, which eliminated and amended
certain qualifications for voting, was proposed by Laws 1965, ch. 40,
Extraordinary Session, and upon ratification by the electorate on the third
Tuesday August, 1965, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
August 31, 1965.
The repeal of Section 244 was proposed by
Laws 1975, ch. 523, House Concurrent Resolution No. 45, and upon ratification
by the electorate on November 4, 1975, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 8, 1975.
SECTION 244-A.
The legislature shall have the power
to prescribe and enforce by appropriate legislation qualifications to be
required of persons to vote and to register to vote in addition to those set
forth in this Constitution.
SOURCES: Laws 1965, ch. 40, Extraordinary Session, effective August 31, 1965.
NOTE: The amendment adding Section 244-A, to
confer upon the Legislature power to prescribe and enforce additional
qualifications to be required of persons to register and vote in addition to
those set forth in the Constitution, was proposed by Laws 1965, ch. 40,
Extraordinary Session, and upon ratification by the electorate on the third Tuesday
in August, 1965, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
August 31, 1965.
SECTION 245.
Electors in municipal elections shall
possess all the qualifications herein prescribed, and such additional
qualifications as may be provided by law.
SECTION 246.
Prior to the first day of January,
A.D. 1896, the elections by the people in this state shall be regulated by an
ordinance of this convention.
SECTION 247.
The legislature shall enact laws to
secure fairness in party primary elections, conventions, or other methods of
naming party candidates.
SECTION 248.
Suitable remedies by appeal or
otherwise shall be provided by law, to correct illegal or improper registration
and to secure the elective franchise to those who may be illegally or
improperly denied the same.
SECTION 249.
No one shall be allowed to vote for
members of the legislature or other officers who has not been duly registered
under the Constitution and laws of this state, by an officer of this state,
legally authorized to register the voters thereof. And registration under the
Constitution and laws of this state by the proper officers of this state is
hereby declared to be an essential and necessary qualification to vote at any
and all elections.
SECTION 250.
All qualified electors and no others
shall be eligible to office, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution;
provided, however, that as to an office where no other qualification than that
of being a qualified elector is provided by this Constitution, the legislature
may, by law, fix additional qualifications for such office.
SOURCES: Laws 1962, ch.
640, effective November 16, 1962.
NOTE: The 1962 amendment to Section 250 was
proposed by Laws 1962, ch. 640, and upon ratification by the electorate at an
election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1962,
was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 16, 1962.
SECTION 251.
Electors shall not be registered
within four months next before any election at which they may offer to vote;
but appeals may be heard and determined and revision take place at any time
prior to the election; and no person who, in respect to age and residence,
would become entitled to vote within the said four months, shall be excluded
from registration on account of his want of qualification at the time of
registration.
SECTION 252.
The term of office of all elective
officers under this Constitution shall be four years, except as otherwise
provided herein. A general election for all elective officers shall be held on
the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, A.D. 1895, and every four
years thereafter; Provided, The legislature may change the day and date of
general elections to any day and date in October, November or December.
SECTION 253.
The legislature may, by a two-thirds
vote of both houses, of all members elected, restore the right of suffrage to
any person disqualified by reason of crime; but the reasons therefor shall be
spread upon the journals, and the vote shall be by yeas and nays.
ARTICLE 13
APPORTIONMENT
SECTION 254. Senatorial
and representative districts.
SECTION 255. Repealed.
SECTION 256. Repealed.
SECTION 254.
The legislature shall at its regular
session in the second year following the 1980 decennial census and every ten (10) years thereafter, and
may, at any other time, by joint resolution, by majority vote of all members of
each house, apportion the state in accordance with the constitution of the
state and of the United States into consecutively numbered senatorial and
representative districts of contiguous territory. The senate shall consist of
not more than fifty-two (52) senators, and the house of representatives shall
consist of not more than one hundred twenty-two (122) representatives, the
number of members of each house to be determined by the legislature. Should the
legislature adjourn, without apportioning itself as required hereby, the
governor by proclamation shall reconvene the legislature within thirty (30)
days in special apportionment session which
shall not exceed thirty (30) consecutive days, during which no other
business shall be transacted, and it shall be the mandatory duty of the
legislature to adopt a joint resolution of apportionment. Should a special
apportionment session not adopt a joint resolution of apportionment as required
hereby, a five-member commission consisting of the chief justice of the supreme
court as chairman, the attorney
general, the secretary of state, the speaker of the house of representatives
and the president pro tempore of the senate shall immediately convene and
within one hundred eighty (180) days of the adjournment of such special
apportionment session apportion the legislature, which apportionment shall be
final upon filing with the office of the secretary of state. Each apportionment
shall be effective for the next regularly scheduled elections of members of the
legislature.
SOURCES: Laws 1962, ch.
57, 2nd Extraordinary Session, effective February 13, 1963; Laws
1977, 2nd Extraordinary Session, ch. 27, effective November 30,
1979.
NOTE: Laws of 1962, ch. 18, 1st
Extraordinary Session, which proposed the repeal of this section, was not
approved by the electorate.
The 1962 amendment to Section 254 was proposed by Laws 1962,
ch. 57, 2nd Extraordinary Session,
and upon ratification by the electorate on February 5, 1963, was
inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on February 13, 1963.
Laws 1962, ch. 57, 2nd Extraordinary Session, also
provides as follows: “Be it further
resolved, that it is the intenet of this resolution to provide by
constitutional amendment for the apportionment of Senators and Representatives
to be elected in 1963 to take office the first Tuesday after the first Monday
of January, 1964, and thereafter, and nothing contained herein shall serve to
or be construed to shorten or otherwise affect the term of office of any
Senator or Representative presently serving in that capacity. The constitutional amendments submitted
herewith shall, if approved, be self-executing for the purpose of providing for
senatorial and legislative representation to be elected in 1963 in the event
implementing legislation is not enacted and approved.”
In a 1966 decision of a three-judge federal court, Connor v
Johnson, 256 F supp 962, supp op 265 F Supp 492, the provisions of this
section, as amended, were declared to be unconstitutional and invalid for all
future elections of members of the House of Representatives.
The 1977 amendment to Section 254 was proposed by Laws 1977,
ch. 27, 2nd Extraordinary Session, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 507, and
upon ratification by the electorate on November 6, 1979, was inserted by the
Secretary of State on November 30, 1979.
SECTION 255. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 255, as amended effective
February 13, 1963, provided that there were 52 senators, enumerated and
described the senatorial districts, and provided for further reapportionment
following the Federal Census of 1970.
Laws of 1962, ch. 18, 1st
Extraordinary Session, which also proposed to amend this section, was not
approved by the electorate.
The 1962 amendment to Section 255 was
proposed by Laws 1962, ch. 57, 2nd Extraordinary Session, and upon ratification by the electorate on
February 5, 1963, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
February 13, 1963.
Laws 1962, ch. 57, 2nd
Extraordinary Session also provides as follows: “Be it further resolved, that it is the intent of this resolution
to provide by constitutional amendment for the apportionment of Senators and
Representatives to be elected in 1963 to take office the first Tuesday after
the first Monday of January, 1964, and thereafter, and nothing contained herein
shall seve to or be construed to shorten or otherwise affect the term of office
of any Senator or Representative presently serving in that capacity. The constitutional amendments submitted
herewith shall, if approved, be self-executing for the purpose of providing for
senatorial and legislative representation to be elected in 1963 in the event
implementing legislation is not enacted and approved.”
In
a 1966 decision of a three-judge federal court, Connor v Johnson, 256 F Supp
962, supp op 265 F Supp 492, the provisions of this section, as amended, were
declared to be unconstitutional and invalid for all future elections of members
of the House of Representatives.
The repeal of Section 255 was proposed by
Laws 1977, ch. 27, 2nd Extraordinary Session, Senate Concurrent
Resolution No. 57, and upon ratitication by the electorate on November 6, 1979,
was deleted from the Constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
November 30, 1979.
SECTION 256. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 256 read as follows:
“SECTION 256. The
legislature may, at the first session after the Federal census of 1900, and
decennially, thereafter, make a new apportionment of senators and
representatives. At each apportionment
each county then organized shall have a least one representative. The counties of Tishomingo, Alcorn,
Prentiss, Lee, Itawamba, Tippah, Union, Benton, Marshall, Lafayette, Pontotoc,
Monroe, Chickasaw, Calhoun, Yalobusha, Grenada, Carroll, Montgomery, Choctaw,
Webster, Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha, or the territory now composing them,
shall together never have less than forty-four representatives. The counties of Attala, Winston, Noxubee,
Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Lauderdale, Newton, Scott, Rankin, Clarke, Jasper,
Smith, Simpson, Copiah, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Covington, Jones, Wayne,
Greene, Perry, Marion, Pike, Pearl River, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson, or the
territory now composing then, shall together never have less than forty-four
representatives; nor shall the remaining counties of the state, or the
territory now composing then, ever have less than forty-four representatives. A reduction in the number of senators and
representatives may be made by the legislature if the same be uniform in each
of the three divisions; but the number of representatives shall not be less
than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and thirty-three, nor the number of
senators less than thirty, nor more than forty-five, provided that new counties
hereafter created shall be given at least one representative until the next
succeeding apportionment.”
The repeal of Section 256 proposed by Laws 1962, ch. 57, 2nd
Extraordinary Session, became effective upon ratification of the proposal by
the electorate on February 5, 1963, and the certification thereof by a
proclamation of the Secretary of State on February 13, 1963.
ARTICLE 14
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
SECTION 257. Commencement of political year.
SECTION 258. Credit
of state.
SECTION 259. Removal of county seat.
SECTION 260. Formation of new county; changing judicial
districts.
SECTION 261. Expenses of criminal prosecutions; fines,
forfeitures and costs.
SECTION 262. Asylums for the aged or infirm.
SECTION 263. Repealed.
SECTION 264. Qualifications of grand and petit jurors.
SECTION 265. Denial of Supreme Being disqualification to
hold office.
SECTION 266. Holding office under federal or foreign government.
SECTION 267. Devotion of time to office.
SECTION 268. Oath of office.
SECTION 269. Repealed.
SECTION 270. Repealed.
SECTION 271. Consolidation of
counties.
SECTION 272. Repealed.
SECTION 272-A. Retirement systems.
SECTION 257.
The political year of the
state of Mississippi shall commence on the first Monday of January in each
year.
SOURCES: 1869 art IV §6,
and art XII §1.
SECTION 258.
The credit of the state shall not be
pledged or loaned in aid of any person, association, or corporation; and the
state shall not become a stockholder in any corporation or association, nor
assume, redeem, secure, or pay any indebtedness or pretended indebtedness
alleged to be due by the state of Mississippi to any person, association, or
corporation whatsoever, claiming the same as owners, holders, or assignees of
any bond or bonds, now generally known as "Union Bank" bonds and
"Planters Bank" bonds.
SOURCES: 1832 art VII §9;
1869 art XII §5 and amendment 1.
SECTION 259.
No county seat shall be removed
unless such removal be authorized by two-thirds of the electors of the county
voting therefor; but when the proposed removal shall be toward the center of
the county, it may be made when a majority of the electors participating in the
election shall vote therefor.
SECTION 260.
No new county shall be formed unless
a majority of the qualified electors voting in each part of the county or
counties proposed to be dismembered and embraced in the new county, shall
separately vote therefor; nor shall the boundary of any judicial district in a
county be changed, unless, at an election held for that purpose, two-thirds of
those voting assent thereto. The elections provided for in this and the section
next preceding shall not be held in any county oftener than once in four years.
No new county shall contain less than four hundred square miles; nor shall any
existing county be reduced below that size.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §19;
1832 art VII §17; 1869 art IV §37.
SECTION 261.
The expenses of criminal prosecutions
shall be borne by the county in which such prosecution shall be begun; and all
fines and forfeitures shall be paid into the treasury of such county.
Defendants, in cases of conviction, may be taxed with the costs.
SOURCES: Laws 1966, ch.
732, effective June 20, 1966.
NOTE: The 1966 amendment to Section 261 was
proposed by Laws 1966, ch. 732, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 115, adopted
at the regular session of the 1966 Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on June 7, 1966, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of
State on June 20, 1966.
SECTION 262.
The board of supervisors shall have
power to provide homes or farms as asylums for those persons who, by reason of
age, infirmity, or misfortune, may have claims upon the sympathy and aid of
society; and the legislature shall enact suitable laws to prevent abuses by
those having the care of such persons.
SOURCES: 1869 art XII
§29.
SECTION 263. Repealed.
NOTE: Former
Section 263 declared a marriage void between a white person and negro or
mulatto with one-eighth or more of negro blood.
The
repeal of Section 263 was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 672, House Concurrent Resolution No. 13, and upon ratification by
the electorate on November 3, 1987, was deleted by proclamation of the
Secretary of State on December 4, 1987.
SECTION 264.
The Legislature shall, by law,
provide for the qualifications of grand and petit jurors. The Legislature shall provide, by law, for
procuring a list of persons so qualified, and the drawing therefrom of grand
and petit jurors. After February 1, 1973, grand jurors may serve both in
termtime and vacation and any circuit judge may empanel a grand jury in
termtime or in vacation.
SOURCES: Laws 1960, ch.
502; Laws 1972, ch. 538, effective November 22, 1972.
NOTE: The 1960 amendment to Section 264 was
proposed by Laws 1960, ch. 502, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 8, 1960, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
November 23, 1960.
The
1972 amendment to Section 264 was proposed by Laws 1972, ch. 538, House
Concurrent Resolution No. 4 of the 1972 regular session of the Legislature, and
upon ratification of the electorate was inserted by proclamation of the
Secretary of State on November 22, 1972.
SECTION 265.
No person who denies the existence of
a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state.
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §6;
1832 art VII §5; 1869 art XII §3.
SECTION 266.
No person holding or exercising the
rights or powers of any office of honor or profit, either in his own right or
as a deputy, or while otherwise acting for or in the name or by the authority
of another, under any foreign government, or under the government of the United
States, shall hold or exercise in any way the rights and powers of any office
of honor or profit under the laws or authority of this state, except notaries,
commissioners of deeds, and United States commissioners.
SOURCES: 1817 art III §27
and art VI §15; 1832 art VII §13; 1869 art XII §3.
SECTION 267.
No person elected or appointed to any
office or employment of profit under the laws of this state, or by virtue of
any ordinance of any municipality of this state, shall hold such office or
employment without personally devoting his time to the performance of the
duties thereof.
SECTION 268.
All officers elected or appointed to
any office in this state, except judges and members of the legislature, shall,
before entering upon the discharge of the duties thereof, take and subscribe
the following oath: "I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States and the
Constitution of the State of Mississippi, and obey the laws thereof; that I am
not disqualified from holding the office of ________; that I will faithfully
discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me
God."
SOURCES: 1817 art VI §1;
1832 art VII §1; 1869 art XII §26.
SECTION 269. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 269 read as follows:
“SECTION 269. Every
devise or bequest of lands, tenemants, or hereditaments, or any interest therein,
of freehold or less than freehold, either present or future, vested or
contingent, or of any money directed to be raised by the sale therof, contained
in any last will and testament, or codicil, or other testamentary writing, in
favor of any religious or ecclesiastical corporation, sole or aggregate, or any
religious or ecclesiastical society, or to any religious denomination or
association or persons, or to any person or body politic, in trust, either
express or implied, secret or resulting, either for the use and benefit of such
religious corporation, society, denomination, or association, or for the
purpose of being given or appropriated to charitable uses or purposes, shall be
null and void, and the heir at law shall take the same property so devised or
bequeathed, as though no testamentary disposition had been made.”
The
repeal of Section 269 was proposed by a concurrent resolution passed at the
1938 Extraordinary Session of the Legislature, and upon ratification of the
proposal by the electorate on November 7, 1939, the repeal became effective by
virtue of Laws 1940, ch 325.
SECTION 270. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 270, as amended in 1987, read
as follows:
“SECTION 270. Any
person may, by will, bequeath or devise all or any portion of his estate to any
charitable, religious, educational or civil institutions, subject to any
statutory rights of surviving spouses and minor children and such other
exceptions as may be prescribed by general law; provided that, in all cases,
the will containing such bequest or devise must be executed at least one
hundred and eighty (180) days before the death of the testator, or such bequest
or devise shall be void.
Provided, however, that any land devised, not in violation of
this section, to any charitable, religious, educational, or civil institution
may be legally owned, and further may be held by the devisee for a period of
not longer than ten (10) years after such devise becomes effective as a fee
simple or possessory interest, during which time such land and improvements
thereon shall be taxed as any other land held by any other person, unless
exempted by some specific statute.”
The 1987 amendment was proposed by Laws 1987, ch. 670, House
Concurrent Resolution No. 7, and upon ratification by the electorate on November
3, 1987, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 4,
1987.
The repeal of Section 270 was proposed by Laws 1992, ch. 614,
House Concurrent Resolution No. 86, and upon ratification by the electorate on
November 3, 1992, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 8, 1992.
SECTION 271.
The Legislature may provide by a
two-thirds (2/3) vote of the elected members of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate for the consolidation of existing counties of the State,
provided, however, that such counties combined must be adjoining.
SOURCES: Laws 1966, ch.
691, effective November 23, 1966.
NOTE: The 1966 amendment to Section 271, which
vests the Legislature with exclusive authority to consolidate existing
counties, was proposed by House Concurrent Resolution No. 36, adopted at the
1966 regular session of the Legislature, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 8, 1966, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on November 23, 1966.
SECTION 272. Repealed.
NOTE: Former Section 272 provided for pensions to
confederate soldiers and sailors who enlisted and honorably served in the civil
war and for the widows therof.
The repeal of Section 272 was proposed by Laws 1990, ch. 691,
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 519, and upon ratification by the electorate
on November 6, 1990, was deleted by proclamation of the Secretary of State on
December 19, 1990.
SECTION 272-A.
(1) All of the assets, proceeds or
income of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi and the
Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System or any successor systems,
and all contributions and payments made to the systems to provide for
retirement and related benefits shall be held, invested as authorized by law,
or disbursed as in trust for the exclusive purpose of providing for such
benefits, refunds and administrative expenses under the management of the board
of trustees of the systems, and shall not be encumbered for or diverted to any
other purposes.
(2) Legislation shall not
be enacted increasing benefits under the Public Employees' Retirement System of
Mississippi and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System in any
manner unless funds are available
therefor, or unless concurrent provisions are made for funding any such
increase in accordance with a prior certification of the cost by the board of
trustees of the systems based on accepted actuarial standards.
SOURCES: Laws 1985, ch.
618, effective November 20, 1986.
NOTE: The insertion of Section 272-A was proposed
by Laws 1985, ch. 618, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 518, and upon
ratification by the electorate on November 4, 1986, was inserted by
proclamation of the Secretary of State on November 20, 1986.
ARTICLE 15
AMENDMENTS
TO THE CONSTITUTION
Beginning Section
IN GENERAL 273
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF MISSISSIPPI
NOT BEING AMENDMENTS OF PREVIOUS SECTIONS 286
SECTION 273. Amendment
process.
SECTION 274. Laws
to remain in force.
SECTION 275. Repeal
of laws repugnant to Constitution.
SECTION 276. Laws
repugnant to franchise and election provisions.
SECTION 277. Laws
repugnant to apportionment provisions.
SECTION 278. Appointment
of persons to draft laws.
SECTION 279. Continuation
of writs, actions and causes of actions.
SECTION 280. Jurisdiction
of courts in preexisting actions.
SECTION 281. Accrual
of fines, penalties and forfeitures.
SECTION 282. Preexisting
bonds remain binding.
SECTION 283. Crimes
and misdemeanors.
SECTION 284. Continuation
in office.
SECTION 285. Abrogated
or repealed laws not revived.
SECTION 273.
(1) Amendments to this Constitution
may be proposed by the Legislature or by initiative of the people.
(2) Whenever two-thirds
(2/3) of each house of the Legislature, which two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of
not less than a majority of the members elected to each house, shall deem any
change, alteration or amendment necessary to this Constitution, such proposed
amendment, change or alteration shall be read and passed by two-thirds (2/3)
vote of each house, as herein provided; public notice shall then be given by
the Secretary of State at least thirty (30) days preceding an election, at
which the qualified electors shall vote directly for or against such change,
alteration or amendment, and if more than one (1) amendment shall be submitted at one (1) time, they shall be
submitted in such manner and form that the people may vote for or against each
amendment separately; and, notwithstanding the division of the Constitution
into sections, the Legislature may provide in its resolution for one or more
amendments pertaining and relating to the same subject or subject matter, and
may provide for one or more amendments to an article of the Constitution
pertaining and relating to the same subject or subject matter, which may be
included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it shall appear that a
majority of the qualified electors voting directly for or against the same
shall have voted for the proposed change, alteration or amendment, then it
shall be inserted as a part of the Constitution by proclamation of the
Secretary of State certifying that it received the majority vote required by
the Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and direct the calling of
elections for the purposes hereof.
(3) The people reserve
unto themselves the power to propose and enact constitutional amendments by
initiative An initiative to amend the
Constitution may be proposed by a petition signed over a twelve-month period by
qualified electors equal in number to at least twelve percent (12%) of the
votes for all candidates for Governor in the last gubernatorial election. The signatures of the qualified electors
from any congressional district shall not exceed one-fifth (1/5) of the total
number of signatures required to qualify an initiative petition for placement
upon the ballot. If an initiative
petition contains signatures from a single congressional district which exceed
one-fifth (1/5) of the total number of required signatures, the excess number
of signatures from that congressional district shall not be considered by the
Secretary of State in determining
whether the petition qualifies for placement on the ballot.
(4) The sponsor of an
initiative shall identify in the text of the initiative the amount and source
of revenue required to implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction in any source of
government revenue, or a reallocation of funding from currently funded programs,
the sponsor shall identify in the text of the initiative the program or
programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the
initiative. Compliance with this
requirement shall not be a violation of the subject matter requirements of this
section of the Constitution.
(5) The initiative
process shall not be used:
(a)
For the proposal, modification or repeal of any portion of the Bill of Rights
of this Constitution;
(b)
To amend or repeal any law or any provision of the Constitution relating to the
Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System;
(c)
To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee that the right of any person to
work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership
in any labor union or organization; or
(d)
To modify the initiative process for proposing amendments to this Constitution.
(6) The Secretary of
State shall file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate
the complete text of the certified initiative on the first day of the regular
session. A constitutional initiative
may be adopted by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no
action is taken within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative on the
ballot for the next statewide general election.
The chief legislative
budget officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative and each
legislative alternative. A summary of each
fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(7) If the Legislature
amends an initiative, the amended version and the original initiative shall be
submitted to the electors. An
initiative or legislative alternative must receive a majority of the votes
thereon and not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the
election at which the measure was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives or legislative
alternatives are approved at the same election, the initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest
number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(8) If an initiative measure proposed to the Legislature has been rejected by the Legislature and an alternative measure is passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of both such measures shall be so printed on the official ballots that a voter can express separately two (2) preferences: First, by voting for the approval of either measure or against both measures, and, secondly, by voting for one measure or the other measure. If the majority of those voting on the first issue is against both measures, then both measures fail, but in that case the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully counted and made public. If a majority voting on the first issue is for the approval of either measure, then the measure receiving a majority of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the measure was submitted for approval shall be law. Any person who votes for the ratification of either measure on the first issue must vote for one (l) of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who votes against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall not be required to vote for any of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot.to be valid. Substantially the following form shall be a compliance with this subsection:
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE
Initiative
Measure No.____, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the
initiative measure).
Alternative Measure
No.____A, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the alternative measure).
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH:
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER
Initiative No.____
OR
Alternative No.____A ( )
AGAINST Both Initiative No.____
AND
Alternative No. ____A ( )
AND VOTE FOR ONE
FOR Initiative Measure
No. ____ ( )
FOR Alternative Measure No. ____A (
)
(9) No more than five (5)
initiative proposals shall be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and
the first five (5) initiative proposals
submitted to the Secretary of State with sufficient petitions shall be the
proposals which are submitted to the voters.
The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by
the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the state,
which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases.
(10) An initiative
approved by the electors shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of
the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the
measure provides otherwise.
(11) If any amendment to
the Constitution proposed by initiative petition is rejected by a majority of
the qualified electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the
same, or substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to the electors
for at least two (2) years after the date of the election on such amendment.
(12) The Legislature shall
provide by law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be circulated,
presented and certified.
(13) The Legislature may
enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section but shall in no way
restrict or impair the provisions of this section or the powers herein reserved
to the people.
SOURCES: 1817 art “Mode
of Revising,” etc. §1; 1832 art “Mode of Revising,” etc. §1; 1869 art 13; Laws
1912, ch. 416; Laws 1959, ch. 78, Extraordinary Session; Laws 1989, ch. 702;
Laws 1992, ch. 715, effective December 8, 1992.
NOTE: The 1958 amendment to Section 273 was
proposed by Laws 1958, ch. 629 for submission to the electors of the state in
an election held on August 26, 1958, and upon ratification by the electorate at
said election, was inserted by Laws 1959, ch. 78, Extraordinary Session.
The 1989 amendment to Section 273 was proposed by Laws 1989,
ch. 702, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 513.
The electorate, however, rejected the proposed amendment on June 20,
1989.
The 1992 amendment of Section 273 was proposed by Laws 1992,
ch. 715, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 516, and upon ratification by the
electorate on November 3, 1992, was inserted by proclamation of the Secretary
of State on December 8, 1992.
Laws 1998, ch. 619, House Concurrent Resolution No. 61,
provides in pertinent part:
“BE IT RESOLVED BY
THE LEGISLATIVE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,
That
the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to
the qualified electors of the state:
Amend Section 273, Mississippi
Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:”
“SECTION 273. (1) Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by the
Legislature or by initiative of the people.
(2) Whenever two-thirds (2/3) of each house of the Legislature, which
two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of not less than a majority of the members
elected to each house, shall deem any change, alteration or amendment necessary
to this Constitution, such proposed amendment, change or alteration shall be
read and passed by two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house, as herein provided;
public notice shall then be given by the Secretary of State at least thirty
(30) days preceding an election, at which the qualified electors shall vote
directly for or against such change, alteration or amendment, and if more than
one (1) amendment shall be submitted at
one (1) time, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the people
may vote for or against each amendment separately; and, notwithstanding the
division of the Constitution into sections, the Legislature may provide in its
resolution for one or more amendments pertaining and relating to the same
subject or subject matter, and may provide for one or more amendments to an
article of the Constitution pertaining and relating to the same subject or subject
matter, which may be included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it
shall appear that a majority of the qualified electors voting directly for or
against the same shall have voted for the proposed change, alteration or
amendment, then it shall be inserted as a part of the Constitution by
proclamation of the Secretary of State certifying that it received the majority
vote required by the Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and
direct the calling of elections for the
purposes hereof.
(3) The people reserve unto themselves the power to propose and enact
constitutional amendments by initiative
An initiative to amend the Constitution may be proposed by a petition
signed over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at
least twelve percent (12%) of the votes for all candidates for Governor in the
last gubernatorial election. The
signatures of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall not
exceed one-fifth (1/5) of the total number of signatures required to qualify an
initiative petition for placement upon the ballot. If an initiative petition contains signatures from a single
congressional district which exceed one-fifth (1/5) of the total number of required
signatures, the excess number of signatures from that congressional district
shall not be considered by the Secretary of
State in determining whether the petition qualifies for placement on the
ballot.
(4) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text of the initiative
the amount and source of revenue required to implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction in
any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding from currently
funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the initiative the
program or programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement
the initiative. Compliance with this
requirement shall not be a violation of the subject matter requirements of this
section of the Constitution.
(5) The initiative process shall not be used:
(a)
For the proposal, modification or repeal of any portion of the Bill of Rights
of this Constitution;
(b)
To amend or repeal any law or any provision of the Constitution relating to the
Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System;
(c)
To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee that the right of any person to
work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership
in any labor union or organization; or
(d)
To modify the initiative process for proposing amendments to this Constitution.
(6) The Secretary of
State shall file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate
the complete text of the certified initiative on the first day of the regular
session. A constitutional initiative may
be adopted by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no
action is taken within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative on the
ballot for the next statewide general election.
The
chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each
initiative and each legislative alternative.
A summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(7)
If the Legislature amends an initiative, the amended version and the original
initiative shall be submitted to the electors.
An initiative or legislative alternative must receive a majority of the
votes thereon and not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at
the election at which the measure was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives or legislative
alternatives are approved at the same election, the initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest
number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(8) If an initiative measure proposed to the Legislature has been rejected by the Legislature and an alternative measure is passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of both such measures shall be so printed on the official ballots that a voter can express separately two (2) preferences: First, by voting for the approval of either measure or against both measures, and, secondly, by voting for one measure or the other measure. If the majority of those voting on the first issue is against both measures, then both measures fail, but in that case the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully counted and made public. If a majority voting on the first issue is for the approval of either measure, then the measure receiving a majority of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the measure was submitted for approval shall be law. Any person who votes for the ratification of either measure on the first issue must vote for one (l) of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who votes against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall not be required to vote for any of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot.to be valid. Substantially the following form shall be a compliance with this subsection:
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY
LEGISLATURE
Initiative
Measure No.____, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the initiative
measure).
Alternative Measure
No.____A, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the alternative measure).
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH:
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER
Initiative No.____
OR
Alternative No.____A ( )
AGAINST Both Initiative No.____
AND
Alternative No. ____A ( )
AND VOTE FOR ONE
FOR Initiative Measure
No. ____ ( )
FOR Alternative Measure No. ____A (
)
(9) No more than five (5) initiative proposals shall be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first five (5) initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to the voters. The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases.
(10) An initiative approved by the electors shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides otherwise.
(11) If any amendment to the Constitution proposed by initiative petition is rejected by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the same, or substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to the electors for at least two (2) years after the date of the election on such amendment.
(12) The Legislature
shall provide by law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be
circulated, presented and certified. To
prevent signature fraud and to maintain the integrity of the initiative process
the state has a compelling interest in insuring that no person shall circulate
an initiative petition or obtain signatures on an initiative petition unless
the person is a resident of this state at the time of circulation. For the purposes of this subsection the term
“resident” means a person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an
intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely and
to return to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts
consistent with that intent. Every
person who circulates an initiative petition shall print and sign his name on
each page of an initiative petition, or on a separate page attached to each,
certifying that he was a resident of this state at the time of circulating the
petition. The Secretary of State shall
refuse to accept for filing any page of an initiative petition upon which the
signatures appearing thereon were obtained by a person who was not a resident
of this state at the time of circulatin the petition, and an initiative measure
shall not be placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines that without
such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient number of
signatures. The provisions of this
subsection (12) shall be applicable to all initiative measures that have not
been placed on the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is ratified by
the electorate.
(13) The Legislature may
enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section but shall in no way
restrict or impair the provisions of this section or the powers herein reserved
to the people.
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment 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 1998, as provided by
Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.”
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment
for the ballot shall read as follows:
“This proposed constitutional amendment provides that only a person who
is a resident of this state may circulate an initiative petition or obtain
signatures on an initiative petition for the purpose of proposing an amendment
to the Mississippi Constitution.”
“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 Columbia, in accordance with the
provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.”
SOURCES: Laws 1998, ch.
619, House Concurrent Resolution No. 61, effective November 30, 1998.
That no
inconvenience may arise from the changes in the Constitution of this state, in
order to carry the new Constitution into complete operation, it is hereby
declared that ----
SECTION 274.
The laws of this state now in force,
not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain in force until amended or
repealed by the legislature, or until they expire by limitation. All statute
laws of this state repugnant to the provisions of this Constitution, except as
provided in the next three sections, shall continue and remain in force until
the first day of April, A.D. 1892, unless sooner repealed by the legislature.
SECTION 275.
All laws of this state which are
repugnant to the following portions of this Constitution shall be repealed by
the adoption of this Constitution, to-wit: Laws repugnant to--
(a) All the ordinances of
this convention;
(b) The provisions of
Section 183, prohibiting counties, cities, and towns from voting subscriptions to
railroad and other corporations or associations;
(c) The provisions of
Sections 223 to 226, inclusive, of Article 10, prohibiting the leasing of
penitentiary convicts.
SECTION 276.
All laws of the state which are
repugnant to the provisions of Sections 240 to 253, inclusive, of Article 12,
on the subject of franchise and elections, shall be and remain in force until
the first day of January, A. D. 1891, and no longer.
SECTION 277.
All laws of this state which are
repugnant to the provisions of Article 13, Sections 254 to 256, inclusive, on
the subject of apportionment of representatives and senators in the legislature
shall be and remain in force until the first day of October, A.D. 1891, but no
longer.
SECTION 278.
The governor shall, as soon as practicable,
appoint three suitable persons, learned in the law, as commissioners, whose
duty it shall be to prepare and draft such general laws as are contemplated in
this Constitution, and such other laws as shall be necessary and proper to put
into operation the provisions thereof and as may be appropriate to conform the
general statutes of the state to the Constitution. Said commissioners shall
present the same, when prepared, to the legislature at its next regular
session; and the legislature shall provide reasonable compensation therefor.
SECTION 279.
All writs, actions, causes of action,
proceedings, prosecutions, and rights of individuals and bodies corporate, and
of the state, and charters of incorporation shall continue; and all indictments
which shall have been found, or which shall hereafter be found, and all
prosecutions begun, or that may be begun, for any crime or offense committed
before the adoption of this Constitution may be proceeded with and upon as if
no change had taken place.
SECTION 280.
For the trial and determination of
all suits, civil and criminal, begun before the adoption of this Constitution,
the several courts of this state shall continue to exercise in said suits the
powers and jurisdictions heretofore exercised by them; for all other matters
said courts are continued as organized courts under this Constitution, with
such powers and jurisdiction as is herein conferred on them respectively.
SECTION 281.
All fines, penalties, forfeitures,
and escheats, accruing to the state of Mississippi under the Constitution and
laws heretofore in force shall accrue to the use of the state of Mississippi
under this Constitution, except as herein otherwise provided.
SECTION 282.
All recognizances, bonds,
obligations, and all other instruments entered into or executed before the
adoption of this Constitution, to the state of Mississippi, or to any state,
county, public or municipal officer or body, shall remain binding and valid,
and the rights and liabilities upon the same shall be continued, and may be
prosecuted as provided by law.
SECTION 283.
All crimes and misdemeanors and penal
actions shall be tried, prosecuted, and punished as though no change had taken
place, until otherwise provided by law.
SECTION 284.
All officers-state, district, county,
and municipal-now in office in this state, shall be entitled to hold the
respective offices now held by them, except as otherwise herein provided, and
until the expiration of the time for which they were respectively elected or
appointed, and shall receive the compensation and fees now fixed by the statute
laws in force when this Constitution is adopted.
SECTION 285.
The adoption of this Constitution
shall not have the effect, nor shall it be construed, to revive or put in force
any law heretofore abrogated or repealed.
This
Constitution, adopted by the people of Mississippi in convention assembled,
shall be in force and effect from and after this, the first day of November,
A.D. 1890.
S.
S. CALHOON,
President and Delegate from Hinds County.
R. F. ABBAY, Delegate
from Tunica county.
J. L. ALCORN, Delegate
from Coahoma county.
R. H. ALLEN, Delegate
from Tishomingo county.
D. B. ARNOLD, Delegate
from Panola county.
ARTHUR ABBINGTON,
Delegate from Jones county.
JNO. A. BAILEY, Delegate from
Lauderdale county.
JNO. R. BAIRD, Delegate
from Sunflower county.
W. L. BASSETT, Delegate
from Neshoba county.
D. R. BARNETT, Delegate
from Yazoo county.
T. P. BELL, Delegate from
Kemper county.
J. R. BINFORD, Delegate
from Montgomery county.
H. I. BIRD, Delegate from
Lawrence county.
JOHN A. BLAIR, Delegate
from state at large.
B. B. BOONE, Delegate
from Prentiss county.
J. B. BOOTHE, Delegate
from state at large.
W. A. BOYD, Delegate from
Tippah county.
D. BUNCH, Delegate from
Yazoo county.
R. B. CAMPBELL, Delegate
from Washington county.
J. P. CARTER, Delegate
from Perry county.
J. B. CHRISMAN, Delegate
from Lincoln county.
C. S. COFFEY, Delegate
from Jefferson county.
J. W. CUTRER, Delegate
from Coahoma county.
MARYE DABNEY, Delegate
from Warren county.
R. A. DEAN, Delegate from
Lafayette county.
WALTER M. DENNY, Delegate
from Jackson county.
GEO. G. DILLARD, Delegate from Noxubee county.
GEO. L. DONALD, Delegate
from Clarke county.
G. W. DYER, Delegate from
Panola county.
J. W. EDWARDS, Delegate
from Oktibbeha county.
A. J. ERVIN, Delegate
from Lowndes county.
W. S. ESKRIDGE, Delegate
from Tallahatchie county.
W. S. FARISH, Delegate
from Issaquena county.
D. S. FEARING, Delegate
from Hinds county.
W. S. FEATHERSTON, Delegate
from Marshall county.
J. E. FERGUSON, Delegate
from Newton county.
JNO. W. FEWELL, Delegate
from state at large.
GEO. J. FINLEY, Delegate
from Marshall county.
J. D. FONTAINE, Delegate
from Pontotoc county.
T. S. FORD, Delegate from
state at large.
J. Z. GEORGE, Delegate
from state at large.
F. M. GLASS, Delegate
from Attala county.
A. B. GUYNES, Delegate
from Copiah county.
D. T. GUYTON, Delegate
from Attala county.
F. M. HAMBLET, Delegate
from Quitman county.
J. G. HAMILTON, Delegate
from Yazoo and Holmes counties.
T. L. HANNAH, Delegate
from Choctaw county.
W. P. HARRIS, Delegate from Hinds county.
T. T. HART, Delegate from
Hinds county.
N. C. HATHORN, Delegate
from Covington county.
JOHN HENDERSON, Delegate
from Clay county.
ELLIOT HENDERSON,
Delegate from Harrison county.
PATRICK HENRY, Delegate
from state at large.
C. K. HOLLAND, Delegate
from Calhoun county.
H. S. HOOKER, Delegate
from Holmes county.
R. G. HUDSON, Delegate
from state at large.
THOS. D. ISOM, Delegate
from Lafayette county.
J. H. JAMISON, Delegate
from Noxubee county.
D. S. JOHNSON, Delegate
from Chickasaw county.
JAMES HENRY JONES,
Delegate from state at large.
WALTER L. KEIRN, Delegate
from Holmes county.
JAMES KENNEDY, Delegate
from Clay county.
J. KITTRELL, Delegate
from Greene county.
W. J. LACEY, Delegate
from Chickasaw county.
ROBERT CHARLES LEE,
Delegate from Madison county.
S. D. LEE, Delegate from
Oktibbeha county.
T. P. LEE, Delegate from
Yazoo county.
GEO. H. LESTER, Delegate
from Yalobusha county.
W. F. LOVE, Delegate from Amite county.
L. W. MAGRUDER, Delegate
from state at large.
E. J. MARETT, Delegate
from Marshall county.
C. B. MARTIN, Delegate
from Alcorn and Prentiss counties.
EDWARD MAYES, Delegate
from state at large.
MONROE McCLURG, Delegate
from Carroll county.
WILL T. McDONALD,
Delegate from Benton county.
T. J. McDONELL, Delegate
from Monroe county.
J. H. McGEHEE, Delegate
from Franklin county.
G. T. McGEHEE, Delegate
from Wilkinson county.
F. A. McLAIN, Delegate from
Amite and Pike counties.
WM. C. McLEAN, Delegate
from Grenada county.
A. G. McLAURIN, Delegate
from Smith county.
A. J. McLAURIN, Delegate
from Rankin county.
H. J. McLAURIN, Delegate
from Sharkey county.
J. S. McNEILLY, Delegate
from state at large.
GEO. P. MELCHOIR,
Delegate from Bolivar county.
T. L. MENDENHALL,
Delegate from Simpson county.
IRVIN MILLER, Delegate
from Leake county.
ISAIAH T. MONTGOMERY,
Delegate from Bolivar county.
W. H. MORGAN, Delegate
from Leflore county.
J. L. MORRIS, Delegate from Wayne county.
H. L. MULDROW, Delegate
from state at large.
J. R. MURFF, Delegate
from Monroe county.
T. V. NOLAND, Delegate
from Wilkinson county.
J. W. ODOM, Delegate from
DeSoto county.
S. E. PACKWOOD, Delegate
from Pike county.
J. K. P. PALMER, Delegate
from Scott county.
ROBT. C. PATTY, Delegate
from Noxubee county.
A. J. PAXTON, Delegate
from Washington county.
C. O. POTTER, Delegate
from Union county.
SAM POWELL, Delegate from
DeSoto county.
J. R. PURYEAR, Delegate
from Tate county.
JNO. H. REAGAN, Delegate
from Leake and Newton counties.
CHAS. K. REGAN, Delegate
from Claiborne county.
L. P. REYNOLDS, Delegate
from Alcorn county.
L. J. RHODES, Delegate
from Lee county.
W. C. RICHARDS, Delegate
from Lowndes county.
S. W. ROBINSON, Delegate
from Rankin county.
J. P. ROBINSON, Delegate
from Union county.
J. J. ROTTENBERRY,
Delegate from Yalobusha county.
J. S. SEXTON, Delegate
from state at large.
JNO. M. SIMONTON, Delegate from Lee county.
H. F. SIMRALL, Delegate
from Warren county.
JNO. F. SMITH, Delegate
from Jasper county.
MURRAY F. SMITH, Delegate
from Warren county.
W. F. SPENCE, Delegate
from Hancock county.
H. M. STREET, Delegate
from Lauderdale county.
T. W. SULLIVAN, Delegate
from Carroll county.
E. O. SYKES, Delegate
from Monroe county.
ALLEN TALBOTT, Delegate
from Benton and Tippah counties.
R. H. TAYLOR, Delegate
from Panola county.
R. H. THOMPSON, Delegate
from Lincoln and Jefferson counties.
STEVE H. TURNER, Delegate
from Itawamba county.
T. S. WARD, Delegate from
Madison county.
O. C. WATSON,
Delegate from Winston county.
W. C. WILKINSON, Delegate
from Copiah county.
FRANK K. WINCHESTER,
Delegate from Adams county.
WM. D. WITHERSPOON,
Delegate from Lauderdale, Kemper, and Clarke counties.
W. P. WYATT, Delegate
from Tate county.
WM. G. YERGER, Delegate
from Washington county.
Attest: R. E. Wilson,
Secretary.
Delegates Who Refused to
Sign the Constitution - Gen. William T.
Martin, of Adams; Frank Burkett, of Chickasaw; and John E. Gore, of Webster.
Delegate Absent and Not
Signing - A. G. Webb of Marion.
Delegate Who Died During
the Convention - N. D. Guerry, of Lowndes.
Total, 134.
ADDITIONAL
SECTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF MISSISSIPPI NOT BEING AMENDMENTS OF PREVIOUS
SECTIONS
SECTION 286, 287. Renumbered.
These sections of the
Constitution as heretofore published are numbered herein 145A, and 149A,
respectively.
NOTE – These sections of
the Constitution as heretofore published are numbered herein 145-A and 149-A,
respectively.