Smith v. Dorsey
Mississippi Supreme Court
530 So. 2d 5 (1988)
- Written by Alexander Hager-DeMyer, JD
Facts
Jimmy Smith, Daniel Jennings, Calvin Williams, and Bennie Knox (defendants) were members of the Clairborne County School Board (school board) in Mississippi. As part of the school board, Smith and his associates were responsible for hiring, firing, and allocating salaries to teachers for the district. During their terms as school-board members, Smith and his associates approved teacher-employment contracts for their own spouses with the district over multiple years. The Reverend James Dorsey, several other individual taxpayers in the county, and another member of the school board (plaintiffs) filed suit in the chancery court against Smith and his associates for violating Section 109 of the Mississippi Constitution, which stated that a public officer could not have any direct or indirect interest in any contract with the state or its subdivisions while the individual was in office or for one year after the end of his term. The chancellor found Smith and his associates in violation of Section 109, declared the spouses’ contracts to be null and void, and ordered that restitution be made against the spouses. Smith and his associates appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Griffin, J.)
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