This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The Commission approved this opinion on January 14, 2005, basing its approval solely on the facts and circumstances stated herein.
 

May a county road manager also serve as deputy coroner?

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:

Code Section 25-4-103(a), (e), (g)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v), (h) and (p)(i)(ii)(iii) states:
 

“(a) ‘Authority’ means any component unit of a governmental entity.

(e) ‘Compensation’ mean money or thing of value received, or to be received, from any person for services rendered.

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

(i) Counties;

(ii) Municipalities;

(iii) All school districts;

(iv) All courts; 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 funds authorized to be expended by the government.”

Code Section 25-4-105(3)(a) and (4)(h) states:
 

“(3) No public servant shall:

(a) Be a contractor, subcontractor or vendor with the governmental entity of which he is a member, officer, employee or agent, other than in his contract of employment, or have a material financial interest in any business which is a contractor, subcontractor or vendor with the governmental entity of which he is a member, officer, employee or agent.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, a public servant or his relative:

(h) May be employed by or receive compensation from an authority of the governmental entity other than the authority of the governmental entity of which the public servant is an officer or employee.”

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 writing requesting a formal opinion in relation to appointing a Deputy Coroner.

The proposed appointee serves as Road Manager for the County where I serve as Coroner. Prior to accepting the position of Road Manager, the appointee worked with me and for me at a Funeral Home. The appointee is aware of the job I do as coroner, and is willing to also serve as my Deputy in the County. The proposed appointee has spoken with a member of your staff and I have spoken to the County Board of Supervisors about this appointment as my deputy and their attorney suggested that we write for a formal opinion. Once we receive a formal opinion, he will be appointed as Deputy and then attend the next session of classes on death investigation.

The Commission formally adopts Advisory Opinions No. 99-105-E and 96-088-E in response to this request and by attachment incorporates them into this opinion.

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

Section 25-4-105(3)(a), Miss. Code of 1972, quoted above, prohibits a county employee from being a contractor to the county. Section 25-4-105(4)(h), Miss. Code of 1972, also quoted above, provides an exception to that prohibition when the public servant works for two separate “authorities,” or component units, of county government, as that term is defined in Section 25-4-103(a), Miss. Code of
1972, above. The Commission hereby finds the board of supervisors, by which the county road manager is employed, and the coroner are not separate authorities of county government.

Therefore, Code Section 25-4-105(3)(a) will prohibit the county road manager from simultaneously serving as a deputy coroner.
 

Scott Rankin
Executive Director