Opinion ID: 1737377
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Miscellaneous duties.

Text: The Attorney General contends each of these activities is an executive function belonging solely to the executive department of government and by virtue of Article I, Section 2, the above named appellants are constitutionally forbidden to perform such functions, either directly or indirectly. The Legislators contend otherwise. First, they argue the separation of powers article should be given a flexible construction to permit an overlap in the exercise of powers. Second, the Legislators vigorously contend the present system is efficient, that it works well. The legislators argue that the affairs of state have been well managed with our government structured so that legislators have substantial influence upon boards and commissions which exercise powers we regard as essentially executive in nature. If such boards and commissions are essentially executive, then, in that event, the legislators' degree of control is of practical benefit to the state in that efficiency is promoted, or so we are told. The second point, in our opinion, is legally irrelevant. [T]he fact that a given law or procedure is efficient, convenient, and useful in facilitating functions of government, standing alone, will not save it if it is contrary to the Constitution. INS v. Chadha, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 103 S.Ct. 2764, 2780-81, 77 L.Ed.2d 317, 340 (1983). If the system be found efficient and nevertheless in violation of the constitution, our duty is clear. See Runnels v. State, Walker (1 Miss.) 146 (1823). The first point is dispositive. Our ultimate inquiry is the correct meaning of Article I of the Constitution without regard to whether our interpretation be labeled flexible or rigid, liberal or conservative. We are engaged with what the people in convention assembled in 1890 intended and with what the document they made our supreme law means for us today. We hold that the whole of the legislative power has been vested in the legislature of this state. We further hold that the whole of the executive power has been vested in a separate and distinct department of our government, and that no person a member of the legislative branch may consistent with the constitution exercise any powers essentially executive in nature.