Opinion ID: 1857262
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Police Dinners.

Text: At the trial Mayor Nichols testified that the police dinners were working meetings, held at times when gathering the entire police force together was necessary. Olive Branch stated that the credible testimony of Nichols was offered to show that the police dinners were business related, and the Auditor offered no proof otherwise. On that basis alone, the police dinners were lawful expenditures. The Auditor counters that the record is clear that there was no authorization on the minutes of the city of Olive Branch for payment for these dinners. No minute entry or other documentation is found in any city record to say who was present or what business was conducted. A county board of supervisors approves the use of county funds collected from its community taxes and used for the betterment of their community. As such, our case precedent requires the entry of an order by the board of supervisors upon their minute book when sitting together for the purpose of making expenditures... . Butler v. Board of Supervisors for Hinds County, 659 So.2d 578, 579 (Miss. 1995). [A]lways it has been the positive rule in this state, both by statute and by a long line of judicial decisions strictly enforcing those statutes, that boards of supervisors [sic] can bind counties, or districts therein, only when acting within their authority and in the mode and manner by which this authority is to be exercised under the statutes, and that their contracts, and every other substantial action taken by them must be evidenced by entries on their minutes, and can be evidenced in no other way. Board of Supervisors of Tishomingo County v. Dawson, 208 Miss. 666, 672, 45 So.2d 253 (1950) (quoting Lee County v. James, 178 Miss. 554, 559, 174 So. 76, 77 (1937)). The reasoning behind this rule is: (1) That when authority is conferred upon a board, the public is entitled to the judgment of the board after an examination of a proposal and a discussion of it among the members to the end that the result reached will represent the wisdom of the majority rather than the opinion or preference of some individual member; and (2) that the decision or order when made shall not be subject to the uncertainties of the recollection of individual witnesses of what transpired, but that the action taken will be evidenced by a written memorial entered upon the minutes at the time, and to which all the public may have access to see what was actually done. Lee County, 178 Miss. at 558-59, 174 So. at 77. The record reveals that the Mayor and the Board of Alderman did not approve the expenditures of Olive Branch. Only the Board could approve the expenditures of city funds for business purposes, and they must properly reflect the approval by the minutes. Thus, the exception taken to the police dinners was proper.