What happens when two different people show up to court believing they’re going to be the judge?
Itta Bena is finding out.
Carlos Palmer and Deshandra Ross both arrived at the city’s courtroom on April 4 expecting to be on the bench, according to documents included in a lawsuit Palmer has filed.
Proceedings were delayed for a week, at which point Palmer held court. He’s continued to do so, although the town’s Board of Aldermen, which acknowledges Ross as the judge, has voted not to pay him.
So just who really is the Itta Bena municipal judge?
Palmer, who took over the role in 2008, believes he still is.
The Greenwood attorney sued July 3 in Leflore County Chancery Court in an attempt to prove that. The lawsuit names as defendants Ross, who is a Leland attorney, Aldermen Mildred Miller, Robert Wilson and Debra Hudson, and City Attorney Willie Perkins.
The three board members voted in March to hire Ross to replace Palmer as municipal judge, but Mayor Walter Parker vetoed the change.
However, the three aldermen didn’t recognize the veto, saying it wasn’t filed in time. That has led to a series of other board votes and mayoral vetoes.
Itta Bena paid Ross $600 per month in April, May and June, according to payroll documents. According to the lawsuit, Ross has never held court as Itta Bena’s municipal judge.
The board has voted not to pay Palmer, although Parker has vetoed those orders.
Palmer filed a “bill of exceptions” June 29 in Leflore County Circuit Court challenging the board’s decision to not compensate him for his June work.
In the separate chancery lawsuit, Palmer is requesting that the court:
nStop the aldermen from refusing to pay him as judge;
nStop Ross from serving as judge and being paid;
nStop Perkins from representing the city in the litigation;
nCompel the three aldermen and Perkins to personally reimburse the city for wages paid to Ross.
Palmer and Ross both formerly worked in Perkins’ Greenwood firm.
Palmer also serves as a Leflore County Justice Court judge and the Greenwood municipal judge.
Perkins and Ross could not be reached for comment.
A major part of Palmer’s argument is that the judgeship is an elected position, so the board doesn’t have authority to replace him as it would an appointee. He wrote in the lawsuit that by state law, Itta Bena municipal positions are elected unless the Board of Aldermen passes an ordinance making them appointive. A 1963 city ordinance cited by Palmer dictates that the offices of marshal, tax collector and town clerk be appointed, but it doesn’t mention city judge.
Voters, however, didn’t elect Palmer at the polls. Rather, the Board of Aldermen selected him at its first meeting following the 2009 municipal election.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office subsequently issued a certification that Palmer “has been elected municipal judge,” with a term expiring June 2013.
In a written legal opinion given to the board and mayor, Perkins said the city judge is appointed and serves “at the will and pleasure of the Board.” He said — based on his research and consulting with the state Attorney General’s Office — that Ross is the city judge and Palmer has no right to serve in that position
In the lawsuit, Palmer put the blame on Perkins for the situation.
“City Attorney Willie Perkins is totally, substantially, or in part, culpable for the confusion, obstruction, and/or harassment of Plaintiff Carlos D. Palmer’s service as municipal judge, due to his failure to adequately research the law, or alternatively, his blatant ill-advisement of the City of Itta Bena ... ,” Palmer wrote.
Palmer said in the lawsuit that Perkins “stands to profit from his ill-advisement and misrepresentations” by representing the city in the lawsuit. He’s asking the chancery court to stop Perkins from representing Itta Bena in any litigation involving Palmer’s status as municipal judge for one year or to prevent the city from paying Perkins for work related to the lawsuit until the outcome is determined.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
