JACKSON, Miss.—The Metro Jackson Water Act, a new law creating an authority to take over the Mississippi capital city’s water system, is temporarily blocked from taking effect while a federal judge reviews its legality. That includes whether it encroaches on his own court’s authority over the system.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate’s injunction against the law, House Bill 1667, bars any action by the would-be Metro Jackson Water Authority Board other than seating members. His decision was in response to the City of Jackson’s request for an injunction against the law on Monday.
“I think that was a good decision,” Jackson Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay told the Mississippi Free Press on April 30. “That was a win for the city of Jackson, and I hope that the final decision will be just as favorable for the city as the win today.”
This decision comes in the fourth year of litigation surrounding the city’s troubled water system, which has been under the jurisdiction of Wingate’s court since the 2022 Jackson water crisis.
“Just as the City is concerned about the state encroaching on Jackson’s authority to manage
its affairs, the court likewise has questions as to whether the state encroaches on federal
authority regarding the future of Jackson water and wastewater,” Jackson Mayor John Horhn said in a Thursday press release.
The City of Jackson’s filings on Monday requested a status conference for updates on the case, in addition to the request for the injunction.
‘The Bill Does Not Usurp … The Court’s Authority’
Mississippi House Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent from Jackson who authored the Metro Jackson Water Act, said her bill specifically avoids violating the federal court’s authority on the matter. “There’s several places in the bill, and I think once the judge reads it, he will hopefully agree that the bill does not usurp any of the court’s authority,” she told the Mississippi Free Press on May 1.
Yates pointed to measures in the bill, like its specification that the Metro Jackson Water Authority Board will not come into effect until the federal court’s current order ends, and that the authority should work with the courts to minimize transitional hiccups between court control and the water authority board.
“No provision of the legislation seeks to weaken or limit the power or discretion of the Federal Court during the pendency of the court case,” Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement on Facebook Friday. “I am confident that once the Court has sufficient time to carefully consider the legislation and the State’s briefing, it will find the City’s procedurally improper legal challenges … to be meritless.”
Reeves also doubled down on his comments from last week, when he said the City of Jackson proved in 2022 that it does not need majority control of its water system.
“This new frivolous court filing by the City leadership to ignore the facts of the last four years just further solidifies my belief that the governance of the system can NEVER be returned to the pre-August 29, 2022, structure that led to the initial Emergency Declaration,” Reeves said in a Facebook statement.
“The people of Jackson and the ratepayers of the system deserve better than having to ever go through that mess again. The Authority created under House Bill 1677 is the best way to ensure future chaos is avoided.”
Jackson Appointing Members to Board It Opposes
The City of Jackson is appointing three members to the Metro Jackson Water Act Authority Board, as required in the statute, despite local officials’ opposition to the law.
Horhn announced his proposed appointments to the Metro Jackson Water Authority Board on April 25, including Mississippi Small Business Development Center Business Counselor Shirley R. Tucker; Clearwater Group Managing Partner Austin Barbour, the nephew of former Gov. Haley Barbour; and Adonai Environmental Development and Power President and CEO Daniel L. Walker. Tucker and Barbour are both Jackson residents, the mayor’s office said in a Saturday press release. The Jackson City Council has yet to approve Horhn’s appointments.
The two other municipalities to be represented on the would-be Metro Jackson Water Authority Board are Ridgeland, which receives only sewer services from the Jackson water system, and Byram.
Byram leadership appointed Jackson State University alumnus Tramone Smith, a wastewater treatment engineer and Byram resident, as its representative on the authority board.
Ridgeland appointed Jackson resident Paul Forster as its Metro Jackson Water Act Board member at its April 21 city council meeting. Forster is Ridgeland’s city engineer, and he previously served as director of engineering and utilities for the City of Flowood, a Ridgeland press release said.
Reeves and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann will also appoint two members to the Jackson Metro Water Authority Board each. Hosemann announced one of his appointments Monday, naming Jackson resident and businessman Sandy Carter.
“Out of respect for and due to the Court’s entry of a ‘status quo’ injunction, I will not be making my three appointments to the Authority Board at this time,” Reeves said. “The State will continue to work with the Court to ensure that when the receivership is terminated, control of the water system will be transferred to an entity that can best serve the residents, state offices and businesses of Jackson.”
