This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The Commission approved this opinion on September 7, 2001, basing its approval solely on the facts and circumstances stated herein.

May a county school board member be employed as a county school resource officer by the county sheriff's department when the county school board has entered into an agreement with the county sheriff's department to pay the salary of the county school resource officer the fourth year in compliance with a grant retention requirement?

State law restricts the Mississippi Ethics Commission to interpreting and issuing opinions on Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-119, 1972 Mississippi Code Annotated and Article IV, Section 109, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Therefore, this opinion does not address the Mississippi laws outside the Commission's jurisdiction nor the governmental entity's internal rules and regulations.

The pertinent conflict of interest laws to be considered here are:

Constitutional Section 109 states:
 

"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."

Code Section 25-4-101 states:
 

"The legislature declares that elective and public office and employment is a public trust and any effort to realize personal gain through official conduct, other than as provided by law, or as a natural consequence of the employment or position, is a violation of that trust. Therefore, public servants shall endeavor to pursue a course of conduct which will not raise suspicion among the public that they are likely to be engaged in acts that are in violation of this trust and which will not reflect unfavorably upon the state and local governments."

Code Section 25-4-103(f)(i)(ii), (g)(i)(iii), (h) and (p)(i)(ii)(iii) states:
 

"(f) "Contract" means:

(i) Any agreement to which the government is a party; or

(ii) Any agreement on behalf of the government which involves the payment of public funds.

(g) "Governmental" means the state and all political entities thereof, both collectively and separately, including but not limited to:

(i) Counties; and

(iii) All school districts.

(h) "Governmental entity" means the state, a county, a municipality or any other separate political subdivision authorized by law to exercise a part of the sovereign power of the state.

(p) "Public servant" means:

(i) Any elected or appointed official of the government;

(ii) Any officer, director, commissioner, supervisor, chief, head, agent or employee of the government or any agency thereof, or of any public entity created by or under the laws of the State of Mississippi or created by an agency or governmental entity thereof, any of which is funded by public funds or which expends, authorizes or recommends the use of public funds; or

(iii) Any individual who receives a salary, per diem or expenses paid in whole or in part out of funds authorized to be expended by the government."

Code Section 25-4-105(2) states:
 

"(2) No public servant shall be interested, directly or indirectly, during the term for which he shall have been chosen, or within one (1) year after the expiration of such term, 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."

Pertinent facts and circumstances provided by the requestor, absent identifying data, are set forth as follows and considered a part of this opinion.

I am requesting an opinion from your office, in reference to the following matter. Is there any legal or ethical problem with a County School Board member being hired as a County School Resource Officer by the Sheriff Department after entering into an agreement with the County School Board to pay the salary of the Officer the fourth year of the Grant in compliance with the Grant retention requirement? My concern is whether or not there is any conflict with the potential officer being an elected school board member and the County Schools Resource Officer.

Based solely on the facts and circumstances presented by the requestor, the Commission's opinion is as follows.
 

Constitutional Section 109 and Code Section 25-4-105(2), both cited above, absolutely prohibit a county school board member from having an interest, direct or indirect, in any contract authority by the county school board of which he is a member during his term and for one year thereafter.

The county school board member clearly has an interest in the agreement with the county sheriff's department authorized by the county school board in that it allows for his employment by the county sheriff's department and a county school resource officer and pays a portion of his salary for the position of county school resource officer in compliance with a grant retention requirement.

Therefore, Constitutional Section 109 and Code Section 25-4-105(2) will absolutely prohibit the county school board member from being employed by the county sheriff's department as a county school resource officer when the county school board of which he is a member has entered into an agreement to pay the salary of the county school resource officer the fourth year in compliance with a grant retention requirement.

The requestor is cautioned to advise the county school board member that a recusal or an abstention will not prevent a violation of Constitutional Section 109 and Code Section 25-4-105(2). Even without a board member's vote, the authorization by the member's board nonetheless results in a contract in which the board member has a prohibited interest.

Ronald E. Crowe

Executive Director