AGO 1996-122.

Case DateFebruary 01, 1996
CourtAlabama
Alabama Attorney General Opinions 1996. AGO 1996-122. 1996-122February 1, 1996Honorable Gregory D. Wren Member, House of Representatives 4211 Carmichael Road Montgomery, AL 36106 Health Care Authorities - County Commissioners - Dual Officeholding - Conflicts of Interest A county commissioner cannot serve as a member of the board of directors of a health care authority.Dear Representative Wren: This opinion is issued in response to your request for an opinion from the Attorney General. QUESTION Can a county commissioner serve on the board of directors of a health care authority? FACTS, LAW AND ANALYSIS Code of Alabama 1975, _ 11-3-2 provides: "No county commissioner shall be eligible to or may discharge the duties either as principal or deputy of any other public office; provided, that a county commissioner may be a member of a county board of human resources." Members of the board of directors of a health care authority are appointed pursuant to Code, _ 22-21-316. Further, according to _ 22-21-316(c), the board members do not receive compensation, but receive reimbursement for expenses actually incurred by him or her. "Public office" was defined by the Supreme Court of Alabama in State v. Baumhauer, 244 Ala. 1, 12 So.2d 326 (1942). The Court stated: ". . . [I]t is said that an '"office" implies a delegation of a portion of the sovereign power, and the possession of it by the person filling the office * * * [Such power is] a portion belonging sometimes to one of the three great departments, and sometimes to another. Still, it is a legal power, which may be rightfully exercised, and, in its effects, will bind the rights of others, and be subject to revision and correction only according to the standing laws of the state. An employment, merely, has none of these...

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