Dorothy Glenn has been given until Jan. 23 to explain to the Mississippi Supreme Court why she should be allowed to keep her seat on the Greenwood City Council.
In an order dated Dec. 26, Associate Justice James W. Kitchens granted Glenn’s request for additional time to file a brief with the high court in a case that challenges whether she was a legal resident of Ward 5 at the time she qualified last year to run for the open seat.
Initially, Glenn’s brief was due Dec. 17, but on Dec. 18, she asked the court for more time, saying she had just recently found legal representation and needed “time to meet with said representation to complete brief.”
She did not, however, name a lawyer in her filing.
Jackson attorney James Bell, who represents Andrew Powell, one of two candidates Glenn defeated in last year’s Democratic primary, said Kitchens’ order was expected.
“I’ll just let the judge’s order speak for itself. I would not be surprised if a lawyer appeared on her behalf,” Bell said.
Powell’s legal team, in response to Glenn’s Dec. 18 filing, had asked for the court to dismiss the case entirely.
Still, Bell said, he feels comfortable with Kitchens’ order.
Getting one extension is fairly easy, Bell said. Trying to get additional delays will be increasingly more difficult.
“A lawyer would have to do a lot of explaining to get another extension. ... You have to show good cause. That’s a higher standard each time,” he said.
Glenn has been without legal counsel since late November, when the Supreme Court granted the request of her previous attorney, state Rep. Willie Perkins Sr. of Greenwood, to withdraw from the case. Perkins cited irreconcilable differences with Glenn in his request.
In June, specially appointed Judge Henry Lackey, in response to an election challenge filed by Powell, ruled Glenn was ineligible to represent Ward 5 based on testimony from several witnesses and from Glenn’s admission that she had residencies in two other wards.
Lackey — part of a tribunal that also included Greenwood Election Commissioners Tish Goodman and Vallrie Dorsey — invalidated Glenn’s election and called for a runoff between Powell and Norman Smith, the third-place finisher in the Democratic primary.
That special election was blocked after Glenn, with Perkins’ assistance, appealed Lackey’s decision to the Supreme Court.
Glenn was allowed to assume the Ward 5 seat pending resolution of the election challenge.
Glenn could not be reached for comment Monday.
Powell said he still remains optimistic about the case.
“I’m very positive. Me, I’m like a pit bull. I’m going to bite it and not let go,” he said.
