If a Mississippi city annexes my neighborhood, do I have to wait two years before I can run for city council?

Plain-English summary

Section 23-15-300(1) requires Mississippi candidates for municipal, county, or county district office to have been residents of the territory they want to represent "for two (2) years immediately preceding the day of election."

Senator Blackwell asked the AG: if a city annexes part of the surrounding county, can a resident of the newly annexed area run for city office, even if the annexation occurred less than two years before the election?

The AG said yes. The resident did not move; the political boundary did. Mississippi has a long-standing AG doctrine that "a candidate whose residency is continuous and uninterrupted may apply his previous period of residency in his former district to the period he has resided in the newly created district to satisfy the residency requirements" (citing Sautermeister, 1991). The same principle applies to annexation: "[t]he candidate has not moved and remains a resident in the same location. It is merely the configuration and designation which has changed and is applicable to the same land area" (Martin, 1983).

So a person who lived in the same house for ten years can run for the new municipal office that now governs that house, regardless of how recently the annexation took effect. The two-year clock does not restart with annexation.

What this means for you

If you live in a newly annexed area and want to run for municipal office

You can run, even if the annexation just happened, as long as you've lived in your home (now within the city) for at least two years before the election. The pre-annexation time counts.

Practical guidance:
- Confirm the date the annexation became effective.
- Document your residency at your current address (utility bills, voter registration, deed, lease, tax records).
- Confirm with your city clerk that your name is correctly on the voter rolls for the new municipality.
- File for office under the city's qualifying procedures.

If you're a city clerk or election commissioner reviewing candidate qualifications

A candidate from a newly annexed area is qualified if their residency at the address is continuous and totals at least two years before election day. Review the same way you would for a candidate who has always been within the city. The annexation does not interrupt the residency for purposes of § 23-15-300(1).

If you're a city attorney advising on annexation politics

A common concern: existing city officials worry that annexation will quickly produce candidates from the new area. This opinion confirms that those candidates can run immediately if they have two years' residency at their address. Annexation does not give existing incumbents a candidacy lockout window for the new area.

If you're a Mississippi state legislator

The continuous-residency principle applied here is the AG's interpretation of § 23-15-300(1). If you wanted to require a separate residency period after annexation, you would need to amend the statute. The current statute focuses on residency in the "territory," which the AG reads as land-based, not boundary-based.

Common questions

Q: Does this work for redistricting too?
A: Yes. The AG cited the same principle as it applies to redistricting (Sautermeister, Martin). A redistricting that places your house in a different district doesn't restart your residency clock.

Q: What if I moved into the annexed area only one year ago?
A: Then you don't have two years of residency, regardless of the annexation timing. The two-year requirement is two years of continuous residency, period.

Q: Does residence in the unincorporated area count for county office before annexation?
A: Time in the unincorporated area counted as residency in the county. Annexation moves the area into the city, but does not undo the county residency. For county office, your county residency continues.

Q: What if the annexation takes me out of one school district and into another?
A: That's a school board residency question with its own statute. The same continuous-residency principle generally applies, but check the specific board's residency rules.

Q: How do I prove residency?
A: Voter registration, utility bills, deed or lease, tax filings, school records for children, postal records. The qualifying authority can ask for proof.

Background and statutory framework

Section 23-15-300(1) reads: "Any candidate for any municipal, county or county district office shall be a resident of the municipality, county, county district or other territory that he or she seeks to represent in such office for two (2) years immediately preceding the day of election."

The interpretive challenge is what counts as "residency in the territory" when boundaries shift. The AG has consistently read residency as land-based: the candidate lives in the same place; if the political designation of that place changes, the residency continues uninterrupted.

This is consistent with how Mississippi has historically treated boundary changes, both in redistricting (where federal census-driven shifts can move addresses across district lines) and in annexation (where municipalities expand into surrounding county areas). Treating each boundary change as a residency reset would create unnecessary candidate disqualifications.

Citations and references

Statute:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-300(1) (two-year residency requirement for municipal/county/county district candidates)

Prior AG opinions referenced:
- MS AG Op., Sautermeister (Apr. 30, 1991), continuous residency before redistricting counts toward residency in the new district
- MS AG Op., Martin (July 8, 1983), same principle for redistricting

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/K.Blackwell-April-26-2023-Residency-Requirements-under-Section-23-15-300.pdf

Original opinion text

April 26, 2023

The Honorable Kevin Blackwell
Senator, District 19
Post Office Box 1412
Southaven, Mississippi 38671

Re: Residency Requirements under Section 23-15-300

Dear Senator Blackwell:

The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Question Presented

If a municipality annexes part of the county, would a resident of the newly annexed area be eligible to run for municipal office if the annexation occurred less than two (2) years from the day of the election?

Brief Response

The time that an individual resided within the territory prior to municipal annexation would apply to the residency requirement for municipal office in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-300(1).

Applicable Law and Discussion

Pursuant to Section 23-15-300(1), "[a]ny candidate for any municipal, county or county district office shall be a resident of the municipality, county, county district or other territory that he or she seeks to represent in such office for two (2) years immediately preceding the day of election."

In MS AG Op., Sautermeister (Apr. 30, 1991), a county election commission asked several questions related to the effect of redistricting on a candidate's eligibility to seek office in a newly created district. Sautermeister at 2. This office opined "that a candidate whose residency is continuous and uninterrupted may apply his previous period of residency in his former district to the period he has resided in the newly created district to satisfy the residency requirements for holding office from such district." Id. The Sautermeister opinion relied on the "principle of combining periods of residency where there has been a change in jurisdictions without a change of location by the candidate or voter." Id. (internal citations omitted). In MS AG Op., Martin (July 8, 1983), this office was asked about a situation in which a candidate's residency switched from one district to another based upon the adoption of a new redistricting plan. In opining that the candidate was entitled to run in the new district in which he resided under the new redistricting plan, this office opined that "[t]he candidate has not moved and remains a resident in the same location. It is merely the configuration and designation which has changed and is applicable to the same land area." Martin at 2. Similarly, it is the opinion of this office that an individual's continuous and uninterrupted residency in territory that is annexed by a municipality should be considered residency within the municipality when determining whether the individual meets the residency duration requirement in Section 23-15-300(1).

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: /s/ Beebe Garrard
Beebe Garrard
Special Assistant Attorney General