Council to vote on Melton's law team
Headline News
The Jackson City Council on Tuesday could vote to hire an outside law firm to represent Mayor Frank Melton in two civil lawsuits.
Melton said he hoped the council would agree to hire Jackson law firm Coxwell & Associates, which represented the mayor earlier this year in a criminal case.
The Phelps Dunbar firm was hired in August to represent the city in four lawsuits in which Melton was named, but in a letter recently recommended that the city hire another firm in two of those cases. Phelps Dunbar's letter said, "a review of the facts thus far leads us to the conclusion that the mayor was acting in a manner beyond the scope of his duties as mayor if the allegations concerning his conduct are true in each of these instances."
Melton has said he was within his duties when he and his entourage damaged a duplex on Ridgeway Street and when he banged on a resident's front door with a shotgun. Both homeowners sued him and the city.
Phelps Dunbar also recommended that the city pay Melton's legal bills, then ask a court to decide if he should repay the money. The mayor, who originally said he would pay his own fees, agrees with the firm.
"(City) legal has said that council has a fiduciary responsibility to (do) that," Melton said Friday.
Phelps Dunbar charges the city $185 per hour and has recommended Coxwell be paid the same. To date, Phelps Dunbar has billed the city for more than $19,000 related to the four cases.
Merrida Coxwell said he was interested in the cases but said he would step away if they generated undue controversy.
"It would save the city of Jackson a little bit of money," said Coxwell, who along with Dale Danks was a member of Melton's criminal defense team in the duplex case. Melton and his body guards were acquitted in that case.
The council on Dec. 7 discussed the lawsuit legal representation issue in closed session but made no decision.
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