Case Name: Monique Brooks MONTGOMERY v. The LOWNDES COUNTY DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE and Leon Hines, In His Official Capacity as Party Chairman
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2007-06-07
Citations: 969 So. 2d 1
Docket Number: No. 2007-EC-00863-SCT
Parties: Monique Brooks MONTGOMERY v. The LOWNDES COUNTY DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE and Leon Hines, In His Official Capacity as Party Chairman.
Judges: WALLER, P.J., GRAVES AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. RANDOLPH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY CARLSON AND LAMAR, JJ. SMITH, C.J., AND EASLEY, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 969
Pages: 1–6

Head Matter:
Monique Brooks MONTGOMERY v. The LOWNDES COUNTY DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE and Leon Hines, In His Official Capacity as Party Chairman.
No. 2007-EC-00863-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
June 7, 2007.
Brian Austin Hinton, attorney for appellant.
William Thomas Cooper, attorney for appellees.

Opinion:
DIAZ, Presiding Justice, for the Court.
¶ 1. In this case we are presented with a question of first impression. A candidate for justice court judge does not live in the particular election subdistrict where she wishes to run for office, although she is a resident of that county. Does her lack of residence within the subdistrict prevent her qualifying as a candidate? Because the Constitution of 1890 sets the only requirements for justice court judges, we hold that she is not barred from qualification.
Facts and Proceeding Below
¶ 2. Monique Brooks Montgomery desires to qualify as a candidate for the position of justice court judge in District 3 of Lowndes County. She is a resident of that county but admits that she is not a resident within District 3. The Lowndes County Democratic Executive Committee, through its Chairman Leon Hines, refused to qualify her, citing her lack of residence within the subdistrict of the county. Montgomery petitioned the Lowndes County Circuit Court for a review of that decision.
¶ 3. After a scholarly and insightful examination of election law, the trial court declined to overturn the decision of the Executive Committee, but noted that the issue was subject to other interpretations. Aggrieved, Montgomery filed a bill of exceptions with this Court pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-961 (Rev.2001). Because of the importance of timeliness we expedited our review of this case. As the sole issue in this case is one of law, we examine the findings below de novo. See Boyd v. Tishomingo Co. Dem. Exec. Comm., 912 So.2d 124, 128 (Miss.2005).
Discussion
¶ 4. The Constitution of 1890 creates a series of requirements for those wishing to qualify as candidates for the office of justice court judge. Along with providing a four-year term of office and placing educational requirements on those persons elected after 1976, the Constitution requires that "[e]ach justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection." Miss. Const. of 1890 art. 6, § 171.
¶ 5. In deciding that Montgomery did not meet the qualifications for candidate, the trial court examined another section of the Constitution, which provides "that as to an office where no other qualification than that of being a qualified elector is provided by this Constitution, the Legislature may, by law, fix additional qualifications for such office." Miss. Const. of 1890 art. 12, § 250. Based upon this constitutional provision that allows the Legislature to change qualifications for office in certain instances, the trial court turned to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-359(8) (Rev.2001), which requires in pertinent part that:
The appropriate election commission shall determine whether each candidate is a qualified elector of the state, state district, county or county district they seek to serve, and whether each candidate meets all other qualifications to hold the office he is seeking or presents absolute proof that he will, subject to no contingencies, meet all qualifications on or before the date of the general or special election at which he could be elected to office.
(emphasis added). Based upon this reasoning, the trial court concluded that the Legislature intended that residency requirements in county districts apply to candidates for justice court judge. A similar conclusion was reached in an opinion rendered by the Office of the Attorney General:
It has long been the opinion of this office that a candidate for the office of justice court judge must be a lawful resident of the district they seek to serve based, in part, on the above quoted statute [referencing Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-359(8) ], the constitutional requirement that only qualified electors are eligible to hold public office and the fact that one who is not a resident of a particular justice court district cannot be a qualified elector of that district.
Op. Miss. Att'y Gen., 2005 Miss. AG LEXIS 308,1-2 (Sept. 23, 2005).
¶ 6. This reasoning is based upon the assumption that the Legislature could change the requirements for those seeking the office of justice court judge. This is not the case. Under the Constitution, the qualifications of a qualified elector are:
¶ 7. Every inhabitant of this state, except idiots and insane persons, who is a citizen of the United States of America, eighteen (18) years old and upward, who has been a resident of this state for one (1) year, and for one (1) year in the county in which he offers to vote, and for six (6) months in the election precinct or in the incorporated city or town in which he offers to vote, and who is duly registered as provided in this article, and who has never been convicted of murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement or bigamy, is declared to be a qualified elector, except that he shall be qualified to vote for President and Vice President of the United States if he meets the requirements established by Congress therefor and is otherwise a qualified elector.
Miss. Const. of 1890 art. 12, § 241. Yet under Article 6, Section 171, "[e]ach justice court judge shall have resided two (2) years in the county next preceding his selection," contrary to the general one-year requirement in Article 12, Section 241. In addition, the justice court judge section requires that justice court judges "shall be [a] high school graduate or have a general equivalency diploma" if elected after 1976, in contrast to the qualified elector statute, which sets no education requirement. Miss. Const. of 1890 Art. 6, § 171.
¶ 8. The Constitution allows "that as to an office where no other qualification than that of being a qualified elector is provided by this Constitution, the Legislature may, by law, fix additional qualifications for such office." Miss. Const. of 1890 art. 12, § 250 (emphasis added). A statute crafted by the Legislature may not provide for changes in the justice court judge section of the Constitution. Only an amendment may accomplish the task of altering the Constitution. See Saxon v. Harvey, 223 So.2d 620, 624 (Miss.1969) ("The wisdom of the drafters of our Constitution is not subject to question by this Court, and is to be modified or altered by amendment only").
¶ 9. Nor is there a conflict between the constitutional provision and the statutes which would require further analysis. See Bd. of Trs. of State Insts. of Higher Learning v. Ray, 809 So.2d 627, 636 (Miss.2002) ("The general principle followed when considering a possible conflict between the constitution and a statute is that the constitutional provision prevails"); Saxon, 223 So.2d at 624 ("If there exists an irreconcilable conflict" between a statute and the Constitution, "then the constitutional provisions must prevail").
¶ 10. The Constitution is detailed in setting its requirements for candidates for justice court. The interaction between the residency requirements as set by the Constitution and the districts or subdis-tricts within counties is properly addressed by constitutional amendment.
Conclusion
¶ 11. For the reasons above, we find that Monique Brooks Montgomery is properly qualified as a candidate. The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and we render judgment enjoining the Lowndes County Democratic Executive Committee and Leon Hines, in his official capacity as party chairman, to place the name of Monique Brooks Montgomery on the August 7, 2007, Democratic ballot as a candidate for Lowndes County Justice Court Judge, District 3. Because of the expedited requirements set out by Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-961(6) (Rev.2001), any motion for rehearing shall be filed no later than Monday, June 11, 2007, and any response shall be filed no later than Wednesday, June 13, 2007.
¶ 12. REVERSED AND RENDERED.
WALLER, P.J., GRAVES AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. RANDOLPH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY CARLSON AND LAMAR, JJ. SMITH, C.J., AND EASLEY, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
. At varying times, the federal courts have ruled upon the constitutionality of Section 241 as it relates to disenfranchisement. These decisions do not affect today's decision.
In Graham v. Waller, 343 F.Supp. 1, 3 (S.D.Miss.1972), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi determined that Section 241's one-year residency requirement violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court found that a thirty-day durational residence requirement would cure any constitutional issues. The subsequent amendment to this section did not change the residency requirements. Gen. Laws 1972, ch. 626, eff. Nov. 22, 1972.
However, more recently, in Cotton v. Fordice, 157 F.3d 388 (5th Cir.1998), the Fifth Circuit upheld Section 241 as constitutional. The court found that "§ 241 as it presently exists is unconstitutional only if the amendments were adopted out of a desire to discriminate against blacks." Id. at 392 (citing Hunter v. Underwood, 471 U.S. 222, 228, 105 S.Ct. 1916, 85 L.Ed.2d 222 (1985)).