Can a Mississippi county use public law library funds to buy metal detectors for the courthouse?

Plain-English summary

Panola County has two judicial districts and two courthouses, and each courthouse contains a public county law library. The sheriff wanted the metal detectors at the courthouse entrances replaced because the existing units were antiquated, and the board of supervisors asked whether it could pay for the new metal detectors out of public law library funds.

Section 19-7-31 authorizes the board of supervisors to establish and maintain a public county law library and to purchase or lease "additional books, furniture, or equipment" for the library. Subsection (6) allows counties with two judicial districts to maintain a law library in each district and to pay all authorized costs from the law library special fund or the county general fund, subject to a per-district minimum spend.

The AG had previously opined in MS AG Op., Dunn (Apr. 17, 1998), that "law library funds may be used to purchase video equipment, as long as such equipment will be available to members of the bar and to the general public." Applying the same logic, the AG concluded that metal detectors at the courthouse entrances qualify as "equipment" that benefits both the law library and its users. The board can use law library funds to buy them.

What this means for you

For boards of supervisors and law library committees

You can use law library special-fund money to pay for metal detectors at courthouse entrances if the law library is housed in that courthouse. Section 19-7-31(1)(b) authorizes purchase or lease of "books, furniture, or equipment for the public law library." The AG reads "equipment" broadly enough to include security equipment that protects access to the library, especially where the courthouse entrance is the only point of access.

For two-judicial-district counties, follow Section 19-7-31(6). The minimum-spend-per-district rule (no district shall spend less than the special court costs collected in that district) applies regardless of which fund is the source.

For sheriffs and courthouse security officers

The opinion concludes that where a courthouse contains a public county law library, law library funds may pay for entry-point screening equipment such as metal detectors. The AG tied that to the facts described in the request: "[p]ublic access for each courthouse/law library is restricted to front door entrance," and all persons entering pass through a metal detector.

For county bar associations

The opinion noted that "[t]he Panola County Bar Association supports this purchase." The AG treated that as part of the factual background, not a legal requirement; the conclusion rests on Section 19-7-31 and the Dunn opinion's reading of "equipment," not on bar approval.

For the public who uses county law libraries

Equipment purchased from law library funds must remain "available to members of the bar and to the general public" per the Dunn opinion. Metal detectors do not raise that issue (they apply to anyone entering), but the broader principle is that law library equipment cannot be co-opted exclusively for non-public use.

Common questions

What does Section 19-7-31 authorize?

Section 19-7-31 authorizes a county board of supervisors to establish and maintain a public county law library, with rules and supervision the board sets, and to acquire books, furniture, and equipment by gift, grant, donation, bequest, exchange, sale, purchase, or lease. The board may exchange duplicate volumes for other suitable books or furniture, and may purchase or lease additional books, furniture, or equipment.

What kinds of items count as "equipment" the law library fund can buy?

The statute uses the word broadly. Prior AG opinions, including Dunn (1998), have read it to include video equipment available to bar members and the public. The 2024 Baker opinion adds security equipment at the entry point of the building housing the library.

What about counties with two judicial districts?

Section 19-7-31(6) lets such counties maintain a law library in each judicial district and pay all authorized costs from either the law library special fund or the county general fund, subject to a minimum-spend rule per district.

Can the county use law library funds for general courthouse maintenance?

The opinion does not go that far. The connection in this opinion is that the metal detector controls access to the courthouse (and thus to the law library inside it), and metal detectors fit within the "equipment" category that benefits the library.

Does the bar association have to approve law library expenditures?

No. The bar association's support of the metal detector purchase was noted in the opinion as part of the factual background but is not a legal requirement.

Are there any limits on what kinds of equipment can be bought?

The board has to abide by Section 19-7-31(6) and any rules or regulations the board has adopted regarding the law libraries. The equipment also has to be for the law library's purposes, not for unrelated county functions.

Background and statutory framework

Section 19-7-31, Mississippi's public county law library statute. Subsection (1)(a) authorizes the board to establish a public law library and to accept gifts, grants, donations, or bequests of property for the purpose. Subsection (1)(b) authorizes exchange or sale of duplicate volumes and purchase or lease of additional books, furniture, or equipment. Subsection (6) authorizes a two-judicial-district county to maintain a library in each district and to fund it from the special fund or general fund, with the minimum-spend rule.

MS AG Op., Dunn (Apr. 17, 1998). Reads "equipment" broadly, finding video equipment a permissible use of law library funds when the equipment is available to bar members and the public.

Citations

• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-7-31
• MS AG Op., Dunn (Apr. 17, 1998)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/C.G.-Baker-October-23-2024-Use-of-Public-Law-Library-Funds-to-Purchase-Metal-Detectors.pdf

Original opinion text

October 23, 2024
C. Gaines Baker, Esq.
Attorney, Panola County Board of Supervisors
136 Public Square, Suite One
Batesville, Mississippi 38606
Re:

Use of Public Law Library Funds to Purchase Metal Detectors

Dear Mr. Baker:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Background
According to your request, Panola County has two judicial districts, and each of the county
courthouses therein has a public county law library. Public access for each courthouse/law library
is restricted to front door entrance. All persons entering through said entrances must walk through
a metal detector. The current metal detectors are antiquated, and the Sheriff has requested that they
be replaced. The board of supervisors ("Board") wishes to purchase new metal detectors from the
law library fund to protect all members of the public and ensure the continued safety of the
courthouses and law libraries therein. The Panola County Bar Association supports this purchase.
Question Presented
May public law library funds be used to purchase metal detectors for the entrances of county
courthouses housing public law libraries?
Brief Response
Mississippi Code Annotated Section 19-7-31 allows a board of supervisors to purchase equipment
for public law libraries.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 19-7-31 provides, in part:

(1)(a) The board of supervisors of each county in the state shall have power, by an
appropriate order or orders on its minutes, to establish and maintain in the county
courthouse or other suitable public building adjacent or near thereto, a public
county law library under such rules, regulations and supervision as it may from
time to time ordain and establish, and to that end, the board may accept gifts, grants,
donations or bequests of money, furniture, fixtures, books, documents, maps, plats
or other property suitable for that purpose.
(b) The board of supervisors shall have power to exchange or sell duplicate volumes
or sets of any such books or furniture, and in case of sale, to invest the proceeds in
other suitable books or furniture. The board may also purchase or lease from time
to time additional books, furniture, or equipment for the public law library.
.
.
.
(6) The board of supervisors of each county in which there are two (2) judicial
districts, in its discretion, may maintain a law library in each judicial district. In
those counties the board, in its discretion, may pay from the county general fund or
from the special fund authorized in this section all the costs authorized in this
section, provided that the board shall not spend in each judicial district less than the
amount of the special court costs authorized in this section and collected in each
such district.
(emphasis added). Given Section 19-7-31(1), in MS AG Op., Dunn at *1 (Apr. 17, 1998), we
concluded that "law library funds may be used to purchase video equipment, as long as such
equipment will be available to members of the bar and to the general public as described in your
letter." It is likewise the opinion of this office that if the Board abides by Section 19-7-31(6) and
any rules or regulations that it has adopted regarding the law libraries, the Board may use public
law library funds to purchase metal detectors, i.e., equipment, for the entrances of county
courthouses housing public law libraries.
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/ Maggie Kate Bobo
Maggie Kate Bobo
Special Assistant Attorney General