Opinion ID: 1094077
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Secretary of State's Role

Text: ¶ 23. Columbia contends that once the Mississippi Gaming Commission approved the site for gaming, the Secretary of State was required to enter into a lease of the public trust tidelands. We disagree. When the landowner seeks to construct a gaming vessel, there are several agencies which have a role in the approval process, and a landowner is required to obtain the requisite permits or approvals from each agency or office. First of all, a landowner is required to obtain a lease of the public trust tidelands adjacent to his littoral property. To do so, the landowner must obtain the approval of the Secretary (with the approval of the Governor). The remaining prerequisites for approval of the establishment of a gaming vessel are not at issue in today's appeal and, therefore, will not be discussed. ¶ 24. The crucial issue before us today is whether the Secretary of State must approve a lease of the public tidelands upon the approval by the other state agencies which have been granted legislative authority to evaluate and make determinations regarding the legality and suitability of proposed uses of the public tidelands. Although the Secretary of State has acknowledged that the Mississippi Gaming Commission has the exclusive jurisdiction in determining the legality of the site for gaming purposes pursuant to the gaming regulations [3] , the answer to the question at hand does not depend on any decision by the Gaming Commission. The chancellor correctly found that Mississippi legislation allows the success of any proposed gaming site to be dependent on the approval of numerous state departments and agencies. Each effectively has a veto power. ¶ 25. The chancellor further reasoned that [m]ost of the agencies have limited scopes of inquiry (such as [Commission on Marine Resources] and [Department of Environmental Quality]); however, both the MGC and the Secretary of State have broader scopes. Indeed, the role of the Secretary of State is that of a trustee. The rule is that trustees are bound in the management of all the matters of the trust to act in good faith and employ such vigilance, sagacity, diligence and prudence as in general prudent [persons] of discretion and intelligence in like matters employ in their own affairs. The law does not hold a trustee, acting in accord with such rule, responsible for errors of judgment. All that equity requires from trustees is common skill, common prudence, and common caution. [Footnotes omitted] Turney, 481 So.2d at 777-78 (citing Bogert, Law of Trusts, § 93 (5th ed.1973); see also, Scott, Scott on Trusts, § 174 (3rd ed.1967)). Although Turney involved sixteenth section lands, the same duty applies to the public trust tidelands. Thus, this Court finds that it is the Secretary of State's constitutional duty to exercise discretion in a manner consistent with the public policy as stated in the Tidelands Act, Miss.Code Ann. § 29-15-3 (Rev.2000).