Can a Mississippi city hire a councilmember's daughter for a 'cashier/clerk' job in the city electric department, given the state nepotism law?

Plain-English summary

The City of Okolona had a job opening for a "cashier/clerk" in its electric department. After interviews, the department head recommended the daughter of a sitting city council member as the preferred candidate. The council paused before voting and asked the city attorney and the AG's office whether the hire would violate the state nepotism law.

The AG's answer is "it depends, and it's the city's call." Mississippi's nepotism statute (Section 25-1-53) lists five prohibited classes of relative-employment: officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy, and assistant. The position at issue is "cashier/clerk." Whether that title encompasses the same duties as the statutory term "clerk" is a question of fact the AG cannot decide.

The city council, as the governing authority, has to make that determination. If the duties of the cashier/clerk match the duties of a clerk in the ordinary sense (recordkeeping, filing, document handling, general administrative work), then hiring the council member's daughter would violate Section 25-1-53. If the duties are predominantly cashiering (handling bill payments, customer cash transactions, point-of-sale work) and don't match the statutory clerk role, the hire is allowed under the nepotism statute.

The AG also flags that conflict-of-interest questions are separate and run through the Mississippi Ethics Commission, not the AG's office. Even if the nepotism statute is satisfied, the broader ethics rules (involving public-purchasing constraints, decisions where a relative benefits, and the like) need their own review.

This is a useful opinion because it sets the analytical frame for any "title" question under the nepotism statute. The list of prohibited classes is closed (only those five), but determining whether a real-world job title falls inside one of them is fact-specific. The governing authority bears the analytical burden.

What this means for you

If you are a city council or board of supervisors voting on a relative's hire

Don't rely on the job title alone. Walk through the actual duties of the position and compare them to what a "clerk" (or officer, stenographer, deputy, or assistant) would do under Section 25-1-53. Document that analysis in the council minutes. If you conclude the duties don't match, document why. The AG's opinion makes you the decisionmaker; that means you also bear the risk if a court later disagrees with your characterization.

For "cashier/clerk" specifically: cashiering work (running a customer-facing pay window, balancing a register, processing utility-bill payments) is closer to a teller than a clerk. Clerk work historically involves recordkeeping, document filing, official correspondence handling, and similar administrative tasks. If your "cashier/clerk" is 90% cashiering and 10% incidental paperwork, you've got a stronger argument that it's not a "clerk." If it's 50/50 or weighted toward filing and records, the analysis is harder.

If you are a municipal attorney

This is the kind of question where you should put the analysis in writing and have the council or board adopt the conclusion in a formal vote. The AG's opinion is explicit that the determination belongs to the governing authority. A documented analysis is your insulation if the matter is later challenged, and it forces the council to actually think about the duties rather than waving past them.

The Ethics Commission referral is also important. Even if Section 25-1-53 is cleanly satisfied, an Ethics Commission opinion gives the city additional cover on the broader conflict-of-interest questions (e.g., the council member's voting on the city budget that pays the relative's salary).

If you are an HR director or department head

Write your job descriptions carefully. The Section 25-1-53 analysis turns on duties as performed, not titles as written. If your department needs a position that is predominantly customer cashiering, name it accordingly and write a duties list that matches. A title with both "cashier" and "clerk" introduces ambiguity that, if the wrong relative applies, could blow up the hire.

If you are a council member with a relative considering city employment

Disclose early and often. The council has to make a Section 25-1-53 analysis on the duties; you should recuse from the vote on hiring your relative. Even when the statutory analysis comes out in favor of the hire, the broader ethics rules (which the Ethics Commission applies) often require recusal. An advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission is the cleanest way to clear it.

Common questions

Q: What is "third degree" of relationship under Mississippi law?
A: Section 25-1-53 uses "the rule of the civil law" to count degrees. Under that rule, the relationship is counted up to a common ancestor and back down to the relative. Third degree includes parent/child, grandparent/grandchild, and great-grandparent/great-grandchild relationships, plus aunts/uncles and nieces/nephews, and great-aunt/great-niece-type relationships. A councilwoman's daughter is first degree (parent-child): clearly within the prohibited class.

Q: What are the five prohibited employment categories?
A: "Officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy or assistant," per Section 25-1-53. The Mississippi AG's office has emphasized this is a closed list (Meek 2007). Positions outside those five categories are not covered by the nepotism statute (though they may still raise separate ethics issues).

Q: How is "clerk" defined for the statute?
A: Section 25-1-53 doesn't define it. Courts and AG opinions look at the duties traditionally associated with a "clerk": administrative recordkeeping, filing, document handling, official correspondence. The label on the job posting matters less than what the person actually does.

Q: What's the safe-harbor exception?
A: Section 25-1-53 has an exception for an "employee who shall have been in said department or institution prior to the time his or her kinsman, within the third degree, became the head of said department or institution or member of said board of trustees." So if the relative is already on staff before the family-member elected official joins the body, the existing employment is grandfathered. The exception does not apply here because the hire would be made after the council member took office.

Q: What about a 'cashier' alone (without "clerk")?
A: A pure cashier position is more clearly outside the closed list (officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy, assistant). The hybrid title is what created the question here.

Q: Does the council member need to recuse from the hiring vote?
A: That's an ethics question, not a Section 25-1-53 question. The Ethics Commission applies the conflict-of-interest rules. As a practical matter, the council member should recuse, and the Ethics Commission can issue a formal advisory opinion confirming the appropriate handling.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi's nepotism statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 25-1-53, is one of the cleaner anti-nepotism rules in state government. It prohibits any state, county, district, or municipal officer (or any board of trustees of a state institution) from appointing or employing as an "officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy or assistant" any person related by blood or marriage within the third degree, computed by the rule of the civil law, to the appointer or any board member with appointment authority. The grandfather exception protects pre-existing employees.

The five-category list is closed. MS AG Op., Meek (Oct. 26, 2007) emphasized that point. So whether a hire falls within or outside the statute turns on whether the position fits one of the five named categories. That is where the title-versus-duties analysis comes in.

The Ross 2026 opinion adds a clean decision rule for the closer cases: when a job title combines a covered term (like "clerk") with an uncovered term (like "cashier"), the governing authority must compare actual duties to the statutory term. If the duties match, the title controls and the hire is barred. If the duties don't match, the title doesn't override the duties and the hire is allowed under Section 25-1-53.

That puts the analytical burden where it belongs, on the city or county that is making the hire and that has the best information about what the job actually involves. It also puts the litigation risk on the same body if it characterizes the position wrong.

The Ethics Commission referral reflects a structural division. The AG's office handles state-law interpretation and prospective opinions to public officers; the Ethics Commission applies conflict-of-interest rules. For nepotism-adjacent questions, the bodies often produce complementary opinions, and counsel should run both in parallel.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 25-1-53 (nepotism statute)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (AG opinion authority)

Prior AG opinions referenced:
- MS AG Op., Meek (Oct. 26, 2007) (Section 25-1-53 prohibits five named classes of employment)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/H.-Ross-January-9-2026-Hiring-Councilwomans-Child-in-City-Electric-Department.pdf

Original opinion text

January 9, 2026

H. Scott Ross, Esq.
Attorney, City of Okolona
Post Office Box 332
West Point, Mississippi 39773

Re: Hiring Councilwoman's Child in City Electric Department

Dear Mr. Ross:

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

Background

According to your request, a councilwoman took office in July 2025. On September 10, 2025, the City of Okolona ("City") posted an advertisement in the Okolona Messenger seeking applicants for a job opening in the Okolona Electric Department for a "full time/cashier/clerk." Applications were received, and candidates were interviewed. The department head presented three candidates and recommended the daughter of the councilwoman as the preferred candidate for the city council to hire. The council deferred action pending investigation by the city attorney and guidance from the Attorney General's Office and/or the Mississippi Ethics Commission.

Question Presented

May the City hire a council member's child for the position of cashier/clerk in its electric department?

Brief Response

Whether the "cashier/clerk" position encompasses the same duties as a "clerk," as set forth in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 25-1-53, is factual determination to be made by the City's governing authorities.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 25-1-53, commonly known as the nepotism statute, provides in part:

It shall be unlawful for any person elected, appointed or selected in any manner whatsoever to any state, county, district or municipal office, or for any board of trustees of any state institution, to appoint or employ, as an officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy or assistant who is to be paid out of the public funds, any person related by blood or marriage within the third degree, computed by the rule of the civil law, to the person or any member of the board of trustees having the authority to make such appointment or contract such employment as employer. This section shall not apply to any employee who shall have been in said department or institution prior to the time his or her kinsman, within the third degree, became the head of said department or institution or member of said board of trustees[.]

As shown, "the [n]epotism [s]tatute, lists five prohibited classes of employment which are 'an officer, clerk, stenographer, deputy or assistant.'" MS AG Op., Meek at *1 (Oct. 26, 2007) (quoting Miss. Code Ann. § 25-1-53). According to your request, the position at issue here is not "clerk" but "cashier/clerk." Whether this position encompasses the same duties as a "clerk," as set forth in Section 25-1-53, is a factual determination to be made by the City's governing authorities. See Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (authorizing the Attorney General to opine upon prospective matters of state law only). If the governing authorities determine that the duties of "cashier/clerk" are not the same as the duties of "clerk," the City may hire a council member's child for the subject position without violating the nepotism statute. If it is determined that the duties are the same as the duties of a "clerk," hiring a council member's child would violate the nepotism statute.

Finally, we refer you to the Mississippi Ethics Commission for questions regarding potential conflicts of interest.

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