Smith, 032177 MSAGO, 1977-0013

• Case Date: March 21, 1977
• Court: Mississippi

Senator Theodore Smith No. 1977-0013 Mississippi Attorney General Opinions March 21, 1977          Senator Theodore Smith          Mississippi State Senate          State Capitol          Jackson, Mississippi Dear Senator Smith:          We have received your letter requesting an opinion of this office relative to the following questions:

“1. If the Senate takes no action whatsoever, can the Governor, subsequent to the adjournment of the Legislature, reappoint the individual to the position to which the appointee was originally made. “2. If the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee holds hearings on these appointees and no further action is taken, can the Governor reappoint the individual to the position subsequent to the adjournment of the Legislature. “3. If the appointments are assigned to a subcommittee for study, consideration and evaluation and no further action is taken by the committee or the Senate, can the Governor reappoint the individual to the position originally made subsequent to the adjournment of the Legislature.”

         Section 41-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, provides that appointments made by the Governor to the State Board of Health shall be confirmed by the Senate. The Mississippi Constitution Section 103 authorizes the Legislature to determine the mode for filling all vacancies not otherwise provided by the Constitution. The mode for filling of such vacancies is provided basically by Section 7-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, which states as follows:

The governor shall fill by appointment, with the advice and consent of the senate, all offices subject to such appointment when the term of the incumbent will expire within nine months after the meeting of the legislature, and also vacancies in such offices occurring from any cause during the session of the senate or during the vacation of that body. All such appointments to offices made in vacation shall be reported to the senate within ten days after the commencement of the session of that body for its advice and consent to the appointment, and the vacancy shall not be filled if caused by the senate's refusal to confirm any appointment or nomination, or if it do not occur during the last five days of the session, by the appointment of the governor in the vacation of the senate, without its concurrence. Any appointment in vacation to which the senate shall refuse to consent shall be thereby annulled from that date, but the acts of the appointee prior thereto shall not be

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