Does a town housing authority commissioner have to live inside the town, or can they live within five miles of the town?
Plain-English summary
The Town of Summit's attorney asked the AG whether the town can appoint people who live within five miles of the town (but outside the town limits) to its Housing Authority Board. The concern: § 43-33-1(g) defines "area of operation" of a "city housing authority" using the word "city," but Summit is a town, not a city. Does that matter?
The AG said no, it does not matter. Mississippi treats city and town housing authorities the same:
- § 43-33-5 authorizes housing authorities in any town, city, or county.
- § 21-1-1 classifies "municipal corporations" into cities or towns based on population, but the substantive housing-authority statutes do not distinguish between them in operation.
- § 43-33-1(g) defines the area of operation for a housing authority of a city as including "such city and the area within five (5) miles of the territorial boundaries thereof." That same five-mile buffer applies to a town housing authority because the AG reads the city/town statutes in pari materia (together as parts of the same scheme).
- § 43-33-7 does not specify residency for commissioners, but a long line of AG opinions has read it together with § 43-33-131 (regional housing authorities) to require commissioners to reside within the geographic boundaries of the housing authority's area of operation.
So the Town of Summit can appoint commissioners who live within five miles of the town's territorial boundaries, even if they live outside the town limits.
What this means for you
If you are a mayor or town board member appointing housing authority commissioners
You have a wider candidate pool than just town residents. The five-mile area of operation around your town's boundaries is the residency frontier. Practical implications:
- You can recruit candidates who live just outside the town, so long as their residence is within five miles of the town's boundary line.
- You cannot appoint someone living more than five miles from the town, even if they have housing expertise or work in the town. Residency is the threshold rule.
- Document residency on the appointment record. Keep a note in the minutes confirming the appointee's residence and the distance from town boundaries.
- The five-mile rule cuts off cleanly at the boundary; it doesn't expand into other municipalities' areas in unusual ways. If your town's five-mile buffer overlaps another municipality's area, the commissioner can still serve so long as the commissioner's home is within your five-mile area.
If you are a prospective commissioner asked to serve on a town housing authority
Living in the town is not required. Living within five miles of the town's boundaries is. Confirm this with the town clerk or attorney before accepting the appointment, especially if you live in unincorporated county territory.
If you are an attorney for a town housing authority
This opinion is a helpful citation when challenges arise about who can serve. The combined effect of §§ 43-33-1(g), 43-33-5, and 43-33-7, read in pari materia with § 43-33-131, makes the residency rule clear: within the area of operation, which for a city or town is the municipality plus the surrounding five-mile band.
If your housing authority has been operating with commissioners who live more than five miles away, address it. The fix is replacement, not retroactive challenge to actions taken when the appointee was nominally serving.
If you are a county housing authority or regional housing authority
This opinion is about town/city housing authorities specifically. The residency rules for a county housing authority follow the county boundaries, and regional housing authorities' commissioners must reside within the regional area of operation under § 43-33-131. The same in-pari-materia reasoning the AG used for towns applies.
If you live near a town and want to serve on its housing authority
Measure five miles from the town's boundaries. If your residence is inside that band, you are eligible. If you are just outside, you are not. The town itself decides whom to appoint, but state law sets the residency floor.
Common questions
Q: What is a town versus a city in Mississippi?
A: § 21-1-1 classifies municipal corporations by population. The exact thresholds are in the statute. The classification matters for some governance purposes, but for housing authority residency, the AG opinion treats towns and cities the same.
Q: What's the "area of operation" under § 43-33-1(g)?
A: For a city housing authority, the area of operation is "such city and the area within five (5) miles of the territorial boundaries thereof." This is the geographic zone in which the housing authority is authorized to act and within which commissioners must reside.
Q: Do all five commissioners have to live within the area of operation?
A: § 43-33-7 calls for five commissioners to be appointed once the governing body adopts a resolution establishing the need for a municipal housing authority. The AG's opinion is that all commissioners must reside within the area of operation. There is no stated allowance for non-resident expertise members.
Q: What if a commissioner moves out of the area of operation during their term?
A: This opinion does not address that question directly. Mississippi practice for similar local boards generally treats residency as a continuing qualification, and a commissioner who moves out may forfeit office or be subject to removal. Consult your municipal attorney for a specific recommendation.
Q: Can the town authority operate beyond five miles?
A: § 43-33-1(g) defines the "area of operation," which limits where the authority can act. Acting outside that area would generally require a different statutory basis (such as a regional housing authority or an interlocal agreement under §§ 17-13-1 et seq.).
Q: Why use other statutes (§ 43-33-131) to read residency into § 43-33-7?
A: § 43-33-7 itself doesn't say where commissioners must live. The AG's longstanding view, supported by prior opinions (Patten 1992, Notter 2009), is that since other parts of the housing-authority law (§ 43-33-131 for regional authorities) explicitly require residency within the area of operation, reading the same rule into § 43-33-7 keeps the law internally consistent. This is the in-pari-materia canon: statutes on the same subject are read together.
Background and statutory framework
Mississippi's municipal and county housing authority law is in §§ 43-33-1 et seq. The structure:
- § 43-33-5 creates a public body corporate and politic called the "housing authority" of any town, city, or county.
- § 43-33-7 says, once the governing body adopts a resolution finding need for a municipal housing authority, five people are appointed as commissioners. The statute does not specify residency.
- § 43-33-1(g) defines the "area of operation" for a city housing authority as the city plus the five-mile buffer.
- § 43-33-131 governs regional housing authorities and explicitly requires commissioners to reside within the geographic boundaries of the housing authority.
The AG's office has consistently filled the § 43-33-7 silence by importing the residency rule from § 43-33-131, on the theory that the Legislature intended the same rule across all housing authorities. The 1992 Patten opinion was the first to read the statutes that way; the 2009 Notter opinion confirmed it; this 2023 opinion reaffirms it for towns specifically.
The "area of operation" five-mile buffer is a recognition that public housing serves communities that don't always fit within municipal boundaries. People living just outside town often work in town, send children to town schools, and need town services. Allowing them to serve as commissioners broadens the talent pool and gives the housing authority a community-of-interest perspective.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 21-1-1 (classification of municipal corporations as cities or towns by population)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 43-33-1(g) (definition of "area of operation": city plus area within five miles of territorial boundaries)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 43-33-5 (creation of housing authorities in towns, cities, and counties)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 43-33-7 (appointment of five commissioners after resolution of need)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 43-33-131 (regional housing authorities; commissioner residency requirement)
Prior AG opinions referenced:
- MS AG Op., Johnson (Dec. 7, 2007): § 43-33-5 authorizes the creation of a housing authority in towns and cities.
- MS AG Op., Wright (May 2, 2014): in pari materia construction of housing authority statutes.
- MS AG Op., McWilliams (May 13, 2013): general rule that statutes on the same subject are read together.
- MS AG Op., Patten (Feb. 14, 1992): § 43-33-7 (city) and § 43-33-131 (regional) read in pari materia; commissioners must reside within the housing authority's geographic boundaries.
- MS AG Op., Notter (Feb. 13, 2009): municipal housing authority commissioners must reside within the area of operation as defined by § 43-33-1(g).
- MS AG Op., Barry (Sept. 15, 2000): once governing body adopts the resolution, five commissioners are appointed under § 43-33-7.
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/B.GilbertJr.-September-6-2023-Appointment-to-Town-Housing-Authority-Board.pdf
Original opinion text
September 6, 2023
Ben L. Gilbert, Jr., Esq.
Attorney, Town of Summit
Post Office Drawer 1919
McComb, Mississippi 39649-1919
Re: Appointment to Town Housing Authority Board
Dear Mr. Gilbert:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Question Presented
Does the language in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 43-33-1(g), which defines the "area of operation" of a city housing authority, and includes the term "city," still allow the town of Summit ("Town") to appoint individuals to the Town Housing Authority Board as long as they live within five miles of the Town?
Brief Response
Pursuant to Section 43-33-7, the Town may appoint individuals to serve as commissioners on the Housing Authority Board. Such individuals must reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the housing authority, which, as defined by Section 43-33-1(g), includes the Town "and the area within five (5) miles of the territorial boundaries thereof."
Applicable Law and Discussion
Sections 43-33-1, et seq. of the Mississippi Code govern municipal and county housing authorities. Section 43-33-5 provides that "[i]n each town or city and in each county of the state there is hereby created a public body corporate and politic to be known as the 'housing authority' of the town or city or county." (emphasis added). See also MS AG Op., Johnson at 1 (Dec. 7, 2007) ("Section 43-33-5 authorizes the creation of a housing authority in towns and cities."); Miss. Code Ann. § 21-1-1 (classifying municipal corporations into cities or towns based on population). Because the statute clearly authorizes housing authorities in both cities and towns, when a section refers to a city housing authority, it necessarily includes a town housing authority. See MS AG Op., Wright at 1 (May 2, 2014) (quoting MS AG Op., McWilliams at *4 (May 13, 2013) ("As a general rule, statutes or statutory provisions which relate to the same person or thing, or to the same class of persons or things or appear to be indicative of a general policy on a cognate subject matter are regarded as in pari materia.")). It is the opinion of this office that town housing authorities would be subject to the same requirements as city housing authorities. To conclude otherwise would frustrate the meaning and intent of the municipal and county housing authority law.
Section 43-33-5 establishes municipal housing authorities in cities and towns, and Section 43-33-7 states that once the governing body of a city (or town) adopts a resolution establishing the need for a municipal housing authority, five people shall be appointed as commissioners. MS AG Op., Barry at 1 (Sept. 15, 2000). While Section 43-33-7 does not speak to the residency of the commissioners, this office has previously opined that "[Section] 43-33-7, discussing city housing commissioners and [Section] 43-33-131, discussing regional housing commissioners, must be read in pari materia and that city housing commissioners, like regional housing authority commissioners, must reside within the geographic boundaries of the housing authority." MS AG Op., Patten at 2 (Feb. 14, 1992); see also MS AG Op., Notter at *1 (Feb. 13, 2009) (opining that municipal housing authority commissioners "must reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the housing authority as defined by Mississippi Code Annotated Section 43-33-1(g) which, in its definition of the term 'area of operation,' provides that in the case of a housing authority of a city, shall include such city and the area within five (5) miles of the territorial boundaries thereof.") (citation omitted).
In conclusion, individuals may be appointed as commissioners of a municipal housing authority, which would include that of a town, pursuant to the requirements in Section 43-33-7. Individuals appointed to the town housing authority must reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the housing authority as defined by Section 43-33-1(g).
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/ Gregory Alston
Gregory Alston
Special Assistant Attorney General