BROOKHAVEN &045; Lincoln County Circuit Judge Mike Smith said he will rule by April 29 on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by citizens disputing the city’s rehiring of former police Officer Willie B. Jones.

On Tuesday Lee McCoy, one of two attorneys for Mayor Phillip West and aldermen, and Natchez lawyer and co-plaintiff Kevin Colbert, presented arguments for and against the motion in a hearing before Smith.

Aldermen voted 4-3 in October, with Mayor Phillip West breaking the tie, to rehire Jones at his former rank of patrolman.

City Attorney Walter Brown had told the board that under state law, the authority to rehire a police officer or firefighter rests with the Civil Service Commission, not aldermen.

Natchez residents Courtney Aldridge and Colbert then filed a complaint for writ of mandamus against West and all six aldermen in Circuit Court to reverse to decision to rehire Jones.

In their motion to dismiss that complaint, the city’s attorney stated that the board took its vote Oct. 22 but that the plaintiffs filed their complaint Nov. 22.

They said state law requires an appeal of such a vote to be filed within 10 days of such a meeting, a point McCoy reiterated during Tuesday’s hearing.

Colbert said unlike an appeal, a complaint for writ of mandamus isn’t subject to the 10-day deadline, according to state law.

But Colbert said he and Aldridge couldn’t file an appeal anyway. &uot;To appeal, we would have to show (such an action) impacted us and no other citizens, which is not the case,&uot; Colbert said.

In such cases, the law provides that any citizen can file a complaint for writ of mandamus, provided that the action of the public officials in question isn’t a discretionary action, he said.

&uot;This involves a nondiscretionary duty,&uot; Colbert said. &uot;They don’t have a choice of whether to follow the law or not.&uot;

McCoy rebutted, saying a complaint for writ of mandamus should legally be brought by the state’s attorney &uot;or an interested party.&uot;

In addition, he disputed Colbert and Aldridge’s claim that West directed that Jones be paid despite a Board of Aldermen vote to the contrary.

&uot;The defendants deny Mayor West ever directed&uot; that Jones be paid, McCoy said.

Smith said he wants to review a few issues, including the right of a private citizen to file such a complaint, before rendering his decision.

The road to this point has been a long one.

In 1997, Jones allegedly offered a fellow officer $260 not to pursue a drug charge against a relative of Jones’ then-fiance.

Jones resigned before an investigation into the matter was finished and was later arrested in the case. Jones was charged with felony obstruction of justice but pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

The charge was expunged, or wiped from his record, late last year.

But a person who been out of law enforcement for two years or more must be approved by the State Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Board to attend a refresher course prior to being re-certified.