On a 3-2 vote, the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors approved the renovation of office space at the Ruleville Justice Court building to give Judge Lisa Bell a reportedly much-needed space for a courtroom to handle her civil cases.
President Riley Rice and District 3 Supervisor Ben Gaston cast the two no votes. Bell had originally made a request for action at their June 15 meeting amid controversy over whether or not a change was needed.
On Monday, she made another appeal centered on her admittedly unsuitable space to meet with lawyers and litigants for civil and criminal court. “They're on couches and chairs,” she said.
Bell said that she was appearing before the members because she still believes in her project, which according to her, "Will (also) help everybody from Rome, a lot of people from Drew and a lot of people in Ruleville get to court easier," she said.
Bell mentioned a recent court session where the participants had to travel an hour from Rome to the Indianola courtroom and because they needed to hire an attorney, they had to come back a second time. She said that could have been better served if a suitable courtroom was available in Ruleville.
Bell described the project as a simple renovation to give her a small courtroom. She asserted that the only costs involved would be for supplies because she is asking for the county's maintenance crew to perform the work.
Bell said, "I'm already doing court there (in Ruleville). I do civil court there and sometimes it gets to be pretty intense." In her June appearance, Bell had asked about the possibility of instituting a second judicial district, but now asserts that she is only asking for an adequate space to conduct court.
She assured the county decision-makers that she already has all of the people in place to do what she needs to do without hiring any new personnel. "I'm only asking you to renovate what I already have," she said.
Bell indicated that she had no knowledge of why former northern end judges had not asked for an appropriate space because they too had been having court in that office. She described it as "not a proper space."
Bell pointed out that she did not necessarily expect an immediate answer, but merely wanted to get on the county leaders' project list. "I know it's been tabled and you were thinking about it, I know I had opposition, but I just want you to think about the project standing on its own."
District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald then asked Attorney Johnny McWilliams if it was legal to have two courtrooms in the county and McWilliams asserted that it was. He noted that it was not required, but they could do it if they wanted to. So, Donald made a motion to take action.
County Administrator Gloria McIntosh expressed a desire to hold off on making a decision immediately, alluding to further clarity with regard to what all the change entailed.
McWilliams raised concern about the rotation of court cases and reminded the county lawmakers that the southern court justice court judge and the justice court clerk were against having to rotate out to Ruleville.
Bell again emphasized the simplicity of the renovation and stated that it would not involve Southern District Court Judge Gwendolyn Pernell having to rotate to Ruleville. However, Bell said she is still willing to travel to Indianola to handle her cases and that would not be affected.
Gaston asked Bell about the cost of the planned renovation and Bell said that she had gotten an estimate from an outside contractor for around $13,000, but that included labor costs and if the county were to do the work she knows that it would be much less.
Gaston then asked if she had submitted that amount during the budget requests. “I don't submit the budget, sir,” she said. Gaston then asked if she had any input into the budget and she replied that she did not. "I wasn't asked to," Bell said.
Bell again made her appeal for the county lawmakers’ support. "I'm already having court there, I'm already having civil there. We're having it on couches, we're having it in chairs and if you saw how that worked, it is not something that should be done," she said.
Rice assured her that no one was against what she wanted to do, but based on a concern regarding the handling of civil and criminal court cases, they wanted to wait and get an attorney's opinion. He wanted to wait until the next meeting session.
However, Donald reminded him that he had a motion on the floor. He first said, “My motion is that we go on and let her start looking at it and get with Dr. McIntosh and get with Daniel (Kent) and go up there and look at it and see what this structure does look like so that we can go on and remodel her office for her civil court."
However, it was expressed that his subsequent reiterations were different.
Donald reaffirmed that they were not discussing space for criminal cases at this time because they were not sure what the statute reflected, but only remodeling for the purpose of civil court.
Gaston questioned whether Rice had called for the item to be tabled, but Donald insisted that his motion should not be ignored. "Let it die for lack of a second, if you want to, but let my motion go forward," he said.
District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson seconded Donald's motion and during the vote the two of them, plus District 4 Supervisor Anthony Clark voted yes.
McWilliams then called for clarity on Donald's motion asserting that what he heard was a request for Kent to go and determine the cost to renovate Bell's office for the courtroom.
Rice and McIntosh asserted that to be the true motion, however, Donald said that was not his motion and restated it. However, that apparently also left McWilliams confused.
McWilliams asked, "Is he authorized to go and do it or does he have to come back and tell you—'I think I can do it for this much money—and then you authorize him to do it?" McIntosh and Rice asserted that was the motion, as they understood it.
"That ain't what my motion," Donald said, “My motion is we do the courtroom, Daniel just come back and tell us how much money we need to pull out of general funds to do it."
McIntosh then polled Clark and Dickerson and asked if that was the motion that they understood and both said yes.
She maintained that Donald kept changing his motion by adding to it. "Okay so we just voted to do her a courtroom like she is asking?" McIntosh queried. When that was affirmed, McIntosh then iterated, "I think you messed up. I just think you needed a little bit more information before making a motion."
Donald assured that he had not messed up and referred to Bell's earlier appearance before the board and said that they should not begrudge her the adequate space, to which McIntosh denied any begrudgery.
Rice then asked McWilliams if he now understood the motion in order to formulate the board order and McWilliams responded, "I doubt it, I have no idea." He maintained that he heard it one way at first, but the final was different.
They will recess until September 15 at 9:00 a.m.
