This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The opinion is based solely on the facts and circumstances as stated below and was approved by the Commission on December 1, 1995.

May a county supervisor at the expiration of his term accept employment with a community college that is funded by the supervisor's county?

         The Mississippi Ethics Commission is restricted 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, Mississippi laws outside the jurisdiction of the Commission and internal rules and regulations of the governmental entities are not addressed by this opinion.

         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 25-4-103(f)(i)(ii), (g)(i)(v), (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

(v) Any department, agency, board, commission, institution, instrumentality, or legislative or administrative body of the state, counties or municipalities created by statute, ordinance or executive order including all units that expend public funds.

(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 fitness 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 part of this opinion.

For the past eight (8) years, I have served as a supervisor for the County and during the past four (4) years I have served as president of the Board of Supervisors for the County. My term expires in early January, 1996.

I write concerning my desire to accept a teaching position at the Community College (the "College"). Four (4) counties, including the County I now serve, provide financial support to the College. The Board of Supervisors of the County, on which sat, does not approve the budget for the College and during the past four (4) years, did not increase the County's mileage for its support of the College. In fact, there was a slight decrease in the mileage during the past four years.

I write to inquire whether my immediate employment by the College following the expiration of my current term in January, 1996 will violate the provisions of the Ethics and Government Law and the related provisions of the Mississippi Constitution.

         It is the Commission's understanding from the requestor's letters and from previous information provided by the county administrator to the Commission's staff that the supervisor's county provides the minimum mandatory amount of funding to the community college as required by Section 37-29-141, 1972 Mississippi Code Annotated.

         The Commission formally adopts Advisory Opinion No. 93-096-E in response to this request and by attachment incorporates it into this opinion.

         Based solely on the facts and circumstances presented by the requestor, the Commission's opinion is that the supervisor's employment by the community college upon the expiration of his term of office when his county provided only the minimum mandatory funding to the community college during his term is not prohibited by the conflict of interest laws.

         Should any funding have been provided by the county to the community college during the supervisor's present term that is non-discretionary, in other words more than the minimum mandatory amount, this opinion will no longer be applicable.
 
 

Ronald E. Crowe Executive Director