Opinion 05-098-E.

Case DateOctober 07, 2005
CourtMississippi
Mississippi Ethics Opinions 2005. Opinion 05-098-E. OFFICIAL ADVISORY OPINION NO. 05-098-EOctober 7, 2005This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The Commission approved this opinion on October 7, 2005, basing its approval solely on the facts and circumstances stated herein.May a board of aldermen choose an alderman's landlord as its city attorney?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: 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(c), (d), (f)(i)(ii), (l) and (p)(i)(ii)(iii) states: "(c) `Business' means any corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, organization, holding company, self-employed individual, joint stock company, receivership, trust or other legal entity or undertaking organized for economic gain, a nonprofit corporation or other such entity, association or organization receiving public funds. (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. (l) `Pecuniary benefit' means benefit in...

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