Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 08, 2005: AGO 000016713 (August 8, 2005)

AGO 000016713.

Dear Alderman Scallorn:

Attorney General Jim Hood has received your letter of request and assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

On July 8, 2003 the Sardis Board of Alderman and the Mayor adopted an ordinance for annexation of several tracts of land. The proposed annexation has been approved by the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Panola County, Mississippi on November 2, 2004. An appeal by the objectors was perfected within ten (10) days of said ruling and is awaiting final adjudication. The current Board of Aldermen, as well as the current Mayor, no longer want to annex the tracts of land in question. What actions by the Sardis Board of Aldermen or any interested party, are necessary to reverse course and maintain the original boundaries that existed prior to the annexation ordinance passed by the Board of Aldermen and the subsequent litigation it spawned?

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 7-5-25 (Revised 2002) specifically prohibits the issuance of an Attorney General's opinion on a question if suit is filed or prosecution begun on that question. Therefore, we cannot comment on the pending appeal before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Should the ruling of the Chancery Court be affirmed by the Supreme Court the annexation would become effective, except that the annexation must receive approval pursuant to Section 5 of the Federal Voting Rights Act before the residents of the annexed area may vote in municipal elections. If the ruling is affirmed and the municipal governing authorities determine that said annexation is not in the best interests of the municipality, a petition to contract the boundaries by excluding the newly annexed territory pursuant to Section 21-1-27 could be filed.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter Special Assistant Attorney General