Controversial Appointment of Okolona Judge

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OKOLONA, Miss. (WCBI) – The Board of Aldermen and the Mayor of Okolona can’t agree on who the city’s municipal judge should be.

Okolona’s Board of Alderman voted 5 to 1 to appoint Attorney Sumeka Thomas to position of municipal judge.

Mayor Louise Cole vetoed the decision on July 2 and named herself as the interim judge.

Thomas was the city’s public defender and would have replaced long-time judge Kenneth Mayfield.

Cole said she researched her authority prior to vetoing the decision and appoint herself. She says she would not have made the decision had there been anything legal preventing it.

City Attorney Gene Barton was asked by four of the city’s alderman to seek the opinion of the Attorney General Jim Hood on Cole’s authority to veto the decision.

Barton points out that the mayor’s veto could be over-ridden by a 4 to 2 vote by the alderman.