The State of Mississippi now has the right to repossess the land Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium sits on if it chooses. The issue comes a decade after community members and city leaders debated over a proposal to commercialize and open a Costco on the land where the stadium sits just off Lakeland Drive.
House Bill 1983, a bond bill also known as a legislative capital investment package, included several projects across the city. Reeves signed the bill into law on May 13, 2024. It also included a clause that opens a path for the State to reclaim the land where the 49-year-old stadium sits.
But Rep. Christopher Bell, D-Jackson, told the Mississippi Free Press on Wednesday that legislative leaders added the clause mentioning ownership of the land to the bill “at the last minute” during a committee meeting before the Legislature voted on the final bill and sent it to the governor’s desk.
“It was not in the original bill that we received,” Bell said. “They agreed upon certain projects being in the bond bill which we all had championed for. For them to do this, it was pretty disrespectful.”
While Bell said it is not uncommon for legislators to add last-minute sections to a bill before a final vote to send it to the governor, he believes this particular choice is another attempted scheme for the state to take over parts of the capital city.
‘It Kind of Hit Me Out of Left Field’
Section 22 of House Bill 1983 appears to say that the state can garnish ownership of the parcel of land if they find it is not being used for the purposes outlined in a 1944 deed.
Part (a) of the section states the land was transferred “by the State Mineral Lease Commission to the City of Jackson, Mississippi, by a deed executed May 4, 1944.”
It continues:
“(b) The conveyance of property was made subject to, among other things, the condition that the property shall only be used by the City of Jackson for park purposes and purposes incident thereto, and when same shall cease to used for such purposes, said property shall revert to and become property of the State of Mississippi; and (c) That if the property conveyed to the City of Jackson, the subject property as defined in subsection (2) of this section is not being used by the city in compliance with such condition, and therefore, the property must revert to and become property of the State of Mississippi.”
The bill directs the attorney general to “take all actions necessary to enforce the terms of instrument conveying the property and to have the subject property revert to and become the property of the State of Mississippi.”
Smith-Wills Stadium is not mentioned explicitly by name in the bill but the section refers to Hinds County Tax Parcel 444-2, which is the land where the stadium is located.
Tim Bennet, the CEO of the Hank Aaron Sports Academy that utilizes Smith-Wills Stadium, told WLBT on May 14, 2024, that the legislation surprised him.
“No pun intended, but it kinda hit me out of left field,” Bennet said. “We’ve been very careful to make sure that we stay compliant.”
Although Bennet said his contract allows him to lease out building space on the land to other tenants, legislatures may be targeting the land because of a cigar shop near the stadium, WLBT reported.
‘It Is Paternalistic, And It Is Racist’
As of today, the Hinds County Landroll shows that the City of Jackson still owns the land on Lakeland Drive where Smith-Wills Stadium sits.
Hinds County Tax Assessor Charles Stokes told the Mississippi Free Press on May 22 that the correct paperwork must be filed with the Hinds County Chancery Clerk before ownership of the land changes. “The state can’t just go out there and take that land without a process,” Stokes said.
“The City of Jackson owns it now; there’s got to be some paperwork (done). Somebody’s got to transfer something or a court has to direct us to change that name from the City of Jackson to the State of Mississippi. A judge may rule on it but still, there’s got to be some paperwork.”
During a press conference on May 20, Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba blasted the move as another example of what he believes is the state’s “paternalistic” relationship with the city. “The City of Jackson is the owner of that property and we will be the owner in the foreseeable future,” he said.
“People need to take their blinders off and see what is taking place on a consistent basis,” the mayor continued. The mayor referenced the City’s fights regarding its water infrastructure, Jackson Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport and the Jackson Public School system as other examples.
“There is a barrage of attacks on the City of Jackson. … We have to call that what it is. It is paternalistic, and it is racist.”
The state has also intervened regarding Jackson’s policing and court systems in recent years.
Last year, Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1020 into law which expanded the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety’s Capitol Police Department and created a new court system to rule over Jackson’s Capitol Complex Improvement District.
Opponents of the law, including the NAACP, said the proposed CCID court would suppress the voting power of residents in the majority-Black city.
They filed a motion asking for a judicial injunction to block the implementation of the new court.
But on Jan. 3, 2024, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Judge Henry T. Wingate delivered a final order denying the NAACP’s motion to block appointments to the court.
The Capitol Police Department’s jurisdiction in Jackson is set to expand on July 1, 2024.
