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 June 9, 1995.

May a dispatcher employed by a county sheriffs department, who also is a licenced bail bond agent, write bail bonds returnable to judicial and law enforcement entities other than those of his or her employing 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 local governmental entity are not addressed by this opinion.

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

Code Section 25-4-103 (d), (t)(i)(ii), (g)(i)(v), (h), (k)(i)(ii), (1), (m) and (p)(ii) states:

"(d)" 'Business with which he is associated' means any business of which a public servant or his relative is an officer, director, owner, partner, employee or is a holder of more than ten percent (10%) of the fair market value or from which he or his relative derives more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in annual income or over which such public servant or his relative exercises control.

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

(i) Counties;

(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.

(k) 'Material financial interest' means a personal and pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, accruing to a public servant or spouse, either individually or in combination with each other. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following shall not be deemed to be a material financial interest with respect to a business with which a public servant may be associated:

(i) Ownership of any interest of less than two percent (2%) in a business where the aggregate annual net income to the