Kegley, 031003 MSAGO, AGO 2003-70

• Case Date: March 10, 2003
• Court: Mississippi

Mr. Glynn Kegley AGO 2003-70 No. 2003-0070 Mississippi Attorney General Opinions March 10, 2003          Mr. Glynn Kegley          Chairman          Mississippi State Agencies Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Fund          Office of Insurance          Post Office Box 24208          Jackson, Mississippi 39225-4208          Re: Transfers from the State Agencies Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Fund          Dear Mr. Kegley:          Attorney General Mike Moore has received your request for an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and response. Your letter reads as follows:

The Mississippi State Agencies Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Trust (the “Trust”) was established July 1, 1990 as a legal trust, “to provide a depository for the funds collected from participating state agencies to discharge their legal responsibilities under the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Law and to administer, through the Board of Trustees, such assets in accordance with such law. The income of the Trust shall be used solely for the purpose of paying workers' compensation claims and administrative costs of the Trust. The principal and income of the Trust shall not accrue to the benefit of any person, firm, or corporation except the members of the Pool.” (Excerpt from the Trust Agreement). This program provides workers' compensation coverage for the more than 24, 000 employees of the 90-plus state agencies participating in this program. This self-insurance pool is funded by actuarially determined assessments to each of the member agencies, whose funding sources include Federal and/or other Special Funds, as well as State General Funds. Please refer to the Trust Agreement (copy enclosed) for additional information regarding the creation and operation of the Trust, including restrictions on the use of funds collected and maintained by the Trust. It has come to the attention of the Board of Trustees of the Trust that Senate Bill 2541, currently being considered by the Mississippi State Legislature, seeks to transfer $5,000,000.00 from the Trust to the State's Budget Contingency Fund. As Chairman and at the behest of the Board of Trustees, I hereby request your opinion on the following: 1. Can funds be legally transferred from the Mississippi State Agencies Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Trust for purposes other than those state in the Trust Agreement and without the consent of the duly elected Board of Trustees? 2. If funds can be so transferred,

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