Can someone in Arkansas hold both a public school board seat and the office of county coroner at the same time?

Plain-English summary

Representative Reginald Murdock asked whether a person could simultaneously serve on an Arkansas public school board and as a county coroner. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge answered that the question cannot be answered without knowing the sequence in which the offices are taken on. Two different constitutional provisions point in opposite directions:

• If a sitting school board member is later elected coroner: The answer is yes. Article 19, section 26 of the Arkansas Constitution expressly says that "officers of the public schools and notaries may be elected to fill any executive or judicial office." A school board member is an officer of the public schools (Craighead Cty. Bd. of Ed. v. Henry), and a county coroner holds an executive office (Art. 7, § 46; Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-502(b)(2)(A)(iv)). The school board member can therefore run for and simultaneously serve as coroner.

• If a sitting coroner is later appointed or elected to a school board: The answer is no. Article 7, section 53 lists ten county offices, including coroner, and provides that a person elected or appointed to any of those offices "shall not, during the term for which he or she has been elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office in this state." A school board member holds a "civil office" (Williams v. Douglas), so the sitting coroner is barred from school board service during the coroner term.

The two provisions create an asymmetric rule. The chronological ordering of the two offices matters.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and constitutional framework

Arkansas dual-office holding rules sit in three constitutional provisions that interact in intricate ways:

• Article 7, section 46 establishes the position of coroner as an elective county executive office, alongside other county offices. Coroners are part of the executive department of county government.
• Article 7, section 53 lists ten specific county offices: county judge, justice of the peace, sheriff, circuit clerk, county clerk, assessor, coroner, treasurer, county surveyor, and collector of taxes. A person elected or appointed to any of these offices "shall not, during the term for which he or she has been elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office in this state." This is a categorical bar.
• Article 19, section 26 carves out an exception for three categories: militia officers, officers of the public schools, and notaries. These officers "may be elected to fill any executive or judicial office." This is a permission, not just an absence of prohibition.

The case law establishes which side of the line a school board member sits on:

• Craighead Cty. Bd. of Ed. v. Henry held that a member of a county board of education was an "[officer] of the public schools" and was not ineligible to serve on the board after his election as mayor of a city. That confirms school board membership counts as a "school office" within Article 19, section 26's permission.
• Williams v. Douglas held that "the office of school director is a civil office," and a state senator was barred from simultaneously serving on a local school board because Article 5, section 10 (the parallel state legislator dual-office bar) prohibited senators and representatives from holding "any civil office under this State." That confirms school board membership is also a "civil office" for purposes of the categorical bars.

A school board seat is therefore both a school office (which gives it Article 19, section 26's exception) and a civil office (which makes it the kind of office that other categorical bars block). Whether a school board seat is reachable from another office depends on which constitutional rule you start with.

Why the order matters

The asymmetry comes from the fact that Article 19, section 26 is a special permission for school officers running for executive or judicial office, while Article 7, section 53 is a bar on certain county officers running for any civil office. So:

• Starting from school board: Article 19, section 26 is the operative rule. It expressly permits the school board member to run for executive office (which the coroner role is). No bar applies.
• Starting from coroner: Article 7, section 53 is the operative rule. It is a categorical bar. Article 19, section 26's permission does not run in this direction; it covers school officers reaching out, not other officers reaching in.

The result is that the same person can simultaneously hold both offices, but only by being on the school board first and being elected to coroner second. If the order is reversed, the person must wait until the coroner term expires before being eligible for school board service.

Common questions

Can a sitting school board member run for county coroner without resigning the school board seat?

Yes, under Article 19, section 26 of the Arkansas Constitution. School officers are expressly permitted to be elected to any executive office, and the coroner role is an executive office.

Can a sitting coroner run for or be appointed to a school board?

No. Article 7, section 53 bars a sitting coroner from being appointed or elected to any civil office during the coroner's term. School board membership is a civil office.

What's the policy behind the asymmetry?

Article 7, section 53's bar on cross-office mobility for the listed ten county officers is broad and is designed to keep those officers focused on their county roles. Article 19, section 26 is a narrow exception for school officers, militia officers, and notaries, on the theory that these are non-paid or part-time roles that should not lock holders out of public service generally.

Does this rule apply to other county offices too?

Article 7, section 53's bar covers all ten listed offices: county judge, justice of the peace, sheriff, circuit clerk, county clerk, assessor, coroner, treasurer, county surveyor, and collector of taxes. The same asymmetry exists for any of those offices in relation to school board service.

What if the coroner term ends mid-school-board term?

The opinion does not address this directly. The text of Article 7, section 53 ties the bar to "the term for which he or she has been elected." Once that term ends, the bar lifts. A school board appointment after the coroner's term expires would be permissible.

Citations

Arkansas Constitution art. 7, § 46; art. 7, § 53; art. 19, § 26; art. 5, § 10; Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-502(b)(2)(A)(iv); Craighead Cty. Bd. of Ed. v. Henry, 295 Ark. 242, 748 S.W.2d 132 (1988); Williams v. Douglas, 251 Ark. 555, 558, 473 S.W.2d 896, 898 (1971); prior AG opinions 96-035, 92-098.

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2018-120
January 3, 2019
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
The Honorable Reginald Murdock
State Representative
P. O. Box 1071
Marianna, AR 72360-1071
Dear Representative Murdock:

This is in response to your request for an opinion on the following question concerning an individual's public service in more than one office:

May someone simultaneously serve on a public school board and as the county coroner?

RESPONSE

The answer to your question is "yes" if you are asking whether a sitting school board member can retain his or her position on the board after being elected to the office of coroner. The Arkansas Constitution expressly permits the election of "officers of the public schools" to any executive or judicial office. A member of a public school board is clearly an "officer of the public schools" as that term is used in Article 19, section 26. And the office of county coroner clearly falls within the executive department of government. Under the express terms of Article 19, section 26, therefore, a sitting member of a public school board may run for, and simultaneously serve as, county coroner.

However, the converse is not the case. Article 7, section 53 of the Arkansas Constitution bars a sitting county coroner from being appointed or elected, during his county-office term, to "any civil office":

A person elected or appointed to any of the following county offices shall not, during the term for which he or she has been elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office in this state:

(1) County judge;
(2) Justice of the peace;
(3) Sheriff;
(4) Circuit clerk;
(5) County clerk;
(6) Assessor;
(7) Coroner;
(8) Treasurer;
(9) County surveyor; or
(10) Collector of taxes.

A public school board member plainly holds a "civil office" under Article 7, section 53. It would, therefore, violate the Arkansas Constitution for someone who was elected or appointed to the office of coroner to be appointed or elected to a position on a public school board during his term as coroner.

CONCLUSION

Your question concerning one's simultaneous service on a public school board and as county coroner cannot be definitively answered without knowing the sequence of the office-holding you describe. Under the express terms of Article 19, section 26 of the Arkansas Constitution, a sitting member of a public school board may run for and simultaneously serve as county coroner. The answer to your question is, therefore, "yes" if you are asking whether a sitting school board member can retain his or her position on the board after being elected to the office of coroner. But service on a public school board is foreclosed to a county coroner by Article 7, section 53 of the Arkansas Constitution. The answer to your question is therefore "no" if you are asking whether someone who was appointed or elected as county coroner can be appointed or elected to a public school board.

Sincerely,
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General