Leflore County is awaiting word from its insurer on whether to appeal a suit over damage to some timber land.
Mike Touchstone and Jerry Short sued the county in June 1999. The landowners said county workers entered their property without consent the previous summer and damaged the land by cutting a ditch with heavy equipment. Last week, Circuit Judge Ashley Hines awarded the plaintiffs $111,300 plus interest for damage to the land.
Attorney Willie J. Perkins Sr., who represented the county, updated the Board of Supervisors about the case Monday in a closed session. He has not returned repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Arnold "Bo" Gwin, who represented the plaintiffs, said he told Perkins several times that he wanted to settle but was rejected.
Gwin also said he mentioned the possibility of a settlement to attorney Tom Calhoun, who represents District 1 Supervisor Phil Wolfe.
Gwin, who was prohibited by ethics rules from approaching the board directly, said he spoke to Calhoun because he hoped Calhoun would tell Wolfe about the offer and Wolfe could tell the other supervisors.
Calhoun is special counsel for the board, which means he can handle cases from time to time if asked, but he was not involved in trying this case.
Calhoun said he spoke to Gwin about scheduling matters related to an unrelated lawsuit. During that conversation, Gwin mentioned that he was still awaiting a final answer on a settlement in the Touchstone matter.
Calhoun said he and Gwin discussed a settlement offer but not specific terms. He said he told Wolfe about the settlement offer Aug. 31, three days before the trial started, but only in general terms because that was all he knew.
Wolfe said Aug. 31 was the first day he heard about the trial or the chance of a settlement.
Wolfe said that as far as he could remember, the suit had not been brought to the board before that. He also said he was examining board records to find whether the supervisors had authorized the work on the ditch.
The plaintiffs claimed county workers cut down trees on their land and caused flooding by altering the ditch. County workers denied cutting down trees. They also said they had merely cleaned debris out of the ditch, not deepened it.
The county also maintained that it could not be held liable because it was acting for the public good. However, the judge found that the owners must be compensated because the land was damaged without their consent.
Gwin said the only question about the outcome of this case was the amount of liability because the county had no defense for its actions.
