Qualifying kicks off today for 24 county and district races where voters in Warren County will decide winners in summer primaries and fall’s general election.

All five seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for re-election, as are members of the local legislative delegation. Offices elected countywide such as sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, coroner, tax assessor and tax collector will be renewed. Such district posts as district attorney, constable and justice court join those, with the justice court position appearing on a local ballot for the third straight year.

Qualifying runs through March 1 for county and statewide races and June 1 for legislative offices. Party primaries are Aug. 2, and the general election is Nov. 8.

In Warren, one countywide spot is expected to be open.

Chancery Clerk Dot McGee said in November that she wouldn’t seek a fourth term.

Since, District 1 Supervisor David McDonald, 61, and City Clerk Walter Osborne, 51 have said they are interested in running for the position.

McGee, 73, has been unopposed in two elections since winning the job in 1999.

Even if elected, McDonald, a three-term supervisor, said Monday that he hopes to continue as head of a justice system committee of public and private sectors formed to study a new jail and changes to the judicial system. He has mentioned differences with Sheriff Martin Pace on where to build a new jail as one reason to ponder leaving the county board, along with the higher state-set salary the chancery office brings. Pace favors finding space inside Vicksburg for proximity reasons, while McDonald has favored building at Ceres industrial park for space purposes.

Chancery clerks maintain all records for boards of supervisors and chancery court. Statutory duties include recording board minutes, preparing the claims docket and county payroll, and recording and storing deeds, land records and documents received from chancery court. Another function is to handle collection of property taxes after the tax collector sells property at a tax sale. State law establishes a $90,000 annual base salary for the position, though fees paid for various services make the pay variable from county to county. Supervisor salaries are based on population, with Warren’s five board members making $44,012 annually.

The balance of the board’s incumbents are expected to run for their respective seats again. If so, it’s a list that would have 57 years on the board collectively — Board President Richard George, who has represented District 5 on the board for 16 out of the last 20 years, District 4 Supervisor Bill Lauderdale, on the board for 20 out of the last 24 years, District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, first elected in 1995 and District 2’s William Banks, elected in 2005 when Michael Mayfield won the North Ward alderman race in Vicksburg.

Justice court and constable races involve northern, central and southern district posts. Incumbent James Jefferson Jr. has said he’ll run for a full term in the central district following his 2009 appointment to the position that presides over small-claims cases, misdemeanor offenses outside city limits and state traffic offenses. He bested six opponents in a special election last year. Southern District judge Jeff Crevitt is expected to run for a full term for the post in which he succeeded his father in a special election in 2009.

In the Legislature, members have until June 1 to qualify in case Mississippi redraws districts as a result of county-specific information from the 2010 census. Statewide data released in December showed a 4 percent uptick in the state’s population compared to 2000, to 2.9 million people.

As a result, state Reps. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, and Alex Monsour and state Sen. Briggs Hopson III, both Republicans, are expected to run again. Reps. Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, and Chuck Middleton, D-Port Gibson, also represent some precincts in extreme northern and southern Warren County.

Mississippi also will elect a governor and lieutenant governor this year, races that usually help stir interest in local elections.