Clark, Legislators Working on 16th Section Bill

Secretary of State Eric Clark, Senator Tom King, and Representative Ray Rogers are pushing a change in Mississippi law to assist local school boards managing timber on 16th section land.

"Strong 16th section land management is crucial in providing quality schools in our state," Clark said. "I’m pleased to be working with leaders like Senator King and Representative Rogers on this important issue."

As Secretary of State, Clark oversees more than a million acres of state-owned land. 16th section land is owned in trust by the schoolchildren of the local district, and managed by the local school board. All 16th section lease revenue stays in the local district, Clark said, keeping taxes down. Statewide, 16th section generates about $50 million a year for education.

The bill would protect school board members with ties to the timber companies from any conflict of interest under state ethics laws. Under current law, some school boards are hamstrung in properly managing timber land when they have members working for timber companies. The bill provides that in the event a local school board was unable to make decisions on timber management questions due to ethics concerns, the Secretary of State would step in and execute the needed leases in the best interest of the district.

"First and foremost, this bill provides for our schoolchildren and helps them get a fair return on their land," Clark said. "We don't want any land going to waste, and we want to remove any possibility of ethics problems that could cloud these lease transactions."

Senate Bill No. 2938 is sponsored by Senator King (Forrest and Perry counties); House Bill No. 1048 is sponsored by Representative Rogers (Rankin county). In addition to their work on education issues, Senator King is chairman of the Executive Contingent Fund committee and vice-chairman of the Municipalities committee. Representative Rogers is chairman of the Military Affairs committee.

Clark's office will be following the bills closely during the 2001 legislative session, scheduled to end April 1.