Mississippi HC 27: Constitution; amend to reconstitute the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Bill Text

HC 27 (As Introduced) - 2020 Regular Session 

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Constitution

By: Representative Hines

House Concurrent Resolution 27

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 
213A, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO RECONSTITUTE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

���� BE IT RESOLVED BY THE 
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the 
Mississippi Constitution of 1890 be submitted to the qualified electors of the 
state:

���� Amend Section 213A, 
Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

���� "Section 213A.� The 
state institutions of higher learning in Mississippi, to wit:� University of 
Mississippi, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, 
Mississippi University for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, Delta 
State University, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, 
Mississippi Valley State University, and any others which may be organized or 
established by the State of Mississippi, shall be under the management and 
control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State 
Institutions of Higher Learning.� The Governor shall appoint * * *the members of the board one (1) member from 
the state at large with the advice and consent of the Senate.� 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 jointly appoint 
one (1) from their group to serve as a member.� The * * *Governor appointments shall * * *appoint only be persons who are 
qualified electors * * * 
residing in the district from which each is appointed, and who 
are at least * * *twenty‑five 
(25) 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 its high and honorable duties 
to the greatest advantage of the people of the state and such educational 
institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations.� The board of 
trustees shall be composed of * * *twelve (12) members ten (10) members. * * *� The members of the board of trustees as constituted on 
January 1, 2004, shall continue to serve until expiration of their respective 
terms of office.� Appointments made to fill vacancies created by expiration of 
members' terms of office occurring after January 1, 2004, shall be as follows:� 
The initial term of the members appointed in 2004 shall be for eleven (11) years; 
the initial term of the members appointed in 2008 shall be for ten (10) years; 
and the initial term of the members appointed in 2012 shall be for nine (9) 
years.� After the expiration of the initial terms, all terms shall be for nine 
(9) years.� Four (4) members of the board of trustees shall be appointed from 
each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court districts and, as such 
vacancies occur, the Governor shall make appointments from the Supreme Court 
district having the smallest number of board members until the membership 
includes four (4) members from each district. The terms of the 
members of the board of trustees as constituted on December 31, 2021, shall 
expire at midnight of that date, and the newly appointed members shall take 
office on January 1, 2022, for a term of four (4) years.� After the expiration 
of the terms of the initial members, all subsequent appointments shall be made 
for terms of four (4) years from the expiration date of the previous term.� 
In case of a vacancy on the board by death or resignation of a member, 
or from any cause other 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 term. * * *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 for the balance of the 
unexpired term for which such original trustee was appointed, to the end that 
one‑third (1/3) of such trustees' terms will expire each three (3) years.

���� The Legislature shall 
provide by law for the appointment of a trustee for the La Bauve Fund at the 
University of Mississippi and for the perpetuation of such fund.

���� Such board shall have the 
power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher 
learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the 
teaching staff, and all administrative employees of the institutions for a term 
not exceeding four (4) years; but the board may terminate any such contract at 
any time for malfeasance, inefficiency or contumacious co