MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges

By: Representative Hines

House Bill 143

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-101-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO RECONSTITUTE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING BY REQUIRING THE GOVERNOR TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS FROM RECOMMENDATIONS SUBMITTED BY THE PRESIDENTS OF THE VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR MEMBERS OF THE RECONSTITUTED BOARD; TO AMEND SECTION 37-101-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DECREASE THE MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT FOR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 37-101-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-101-3.  (1)  (a)  The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning is composed of ten (10) members selected in the manner established in this section.  The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint * * *the members one (1) member of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning * * *, one (1) member from each congressional district of the state as existing as of March 31, 1944, one (1) member from each Supreme Court district and two (2) members from the state at large * * *, with the terms of each to begin on May 8, 1944.  One-third (1/3) of the membership of said board so appointed shall be appointed for a period of four (4) years, one-third (1/3) for a period of eight (8) years and one-third (1/3) for a period of twelve (12) years.  On the expiration of any of said terms of office the Governor shall appoint successors, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for terms of twelve (12) years in each case each president of a state institution of higher learning shall submit five (5) recommendations for a member to the Governor, and the Governor must select one (1) member from each president's recommendations.  All state institutions of higher learning student government association presidents shall appoint jointly one (1) person from their group to serve as a member.  All members of the board shall serve for a term of four (4) years. 

          (b)  In order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board of trustees as constituted on July 1, 2019, will expire at midnight on December 31, 2019, at which time the term of office of the members of the reconstituted board will commence. 

           * * *The current president, or his/her designee, of the Student Body President's Council of Mississippi (SBPCM) shall have a reserved seat at each meeting of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. (c)  No less than once a year, the board shall seek the advise and counsel of the student body president's organization.

     (2)  In case of a vacancy on * * *said the board by death or resignation of a member or from any other cause than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his successor, who shall hold office until the end of the * * *next session of the Legislature.  During such term of the session of the Legislature, the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his predecessor was appointed to hold office until the end of the period or term for which * * *said the original trustee was appointed * * *, to the end that one-third (1/3) of such trustees' terms shall expire each four (4) years.

     (3)  The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board, or his designee, and one (1) member of the Mississippi Community College Board, to be designated by the chairman of * * *said the board, shall attend all regular meetings of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.  * * *Said The community * * */ and junior college representatives shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board.  The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board and any designee who is a state employee shall receive no per diem for attending meetings of the board, but shall be entitled to actual and necessary expense reimbursement and mileage for attending meetings at locations other than Jackson, Mississippi.  The designee of the Mississippi Community College Board shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69 * * *, Mississippi Code of 1972, for attending * * *said the meetings, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual expense reimbursement and mileage, which shall be paid from funds appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

     SECTION 2.  Section 37-101-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-101-5.  There shall be appointed only men or women to membership on the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning * * *as shall be who are qualified electors residing in the * * *district from which each is appointed state and at least * * *twenty-five twenty-one (21) years of age and of the highest order of intelligence, character, learning and fitness for the performance of such duties to the end that such board shall perform the high and honorable duties thereof to the greatest advantage of the people of the state and of such institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations.

     SECTION 3.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019, but only in the event that House Concurrent Resolution No. ____, 2018 Regular Session, providing for the reconstitution of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, is approved by the electorate in a referendum held in November 2018, as certified by the Secretary of State.