NATCHEZ — A contract a collections agency claims to have with the City of Natchez may not officially exist or even be legal.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen heard a presentation from Deborah Sivira of American Municipal Services (AMS) of Carrollton, Texas, at its last board meeting.

Sivira claimed AMS and the city have an agreement, signed in 2011, that authorizes AMS to collect delinquent municipal court fines. AMS would add 25 percent of each fine to the total cost for the defendant, remit payment to the city and keep the 25 percent as the company’s fee.

Sivira told the board AMS was unable to collect fines for the city because of a lack of cooperation by Natchez Municipal Court Judge Jim Blough.

A copy of the city’s reported agreement with the city from the city clerk’s office shows the agreement signed by former Mayor Jake Middleton and signed the agreement on Feb. 28, 2011.

The clerk’s staff, however, has been unable to locate a mention of the agreement or the board of aldermen’s approval or denial of the agreement in the aldermen meeting minute books. To enter into a contract with the city, the board must approve the contract and authorize the mayor to sign it.

City staff says Sivira’s notes on the issue indicate the board approved the agreement on Feb. 15, 2011. The 2011 minutes book does not show an aldermen meeting happened on that date.

Without the contract’s approval recorded in the city’s official record, it essentially never happened, City Attorney Hyde Carby said.

Middleton, who left the mayor’s office in July 2012, said he remembers discussion of the AMS contract, but cannot recall if the board approved it.

“If it was something of that magnitude, I would not have (signed) the agreement without presenting it to the board.”

Ward 2 Alderman Rickey Gray originally brought the idea of using AMS to the board.

“I can’t recall voting on it, but I do recall bringing it to the mayor and board because I was the one who did it.”

Sivira is scheduled to appear before the board of aldermen again on Nov. 24 to request approval of a new agreement.

Blough said Friday he raised concerns in 2011 about the use of a fine collection agency such as AMS, and he still has those same concerns now.

In 2011, Blough said he consulted with the state auditor’s office about the manner in which payments would be collection by a debt collection agency.

The AMS agreement states the company would collect the fines and remit payment to the city less the company’s percentage.

According to Mississippi code 21-17-1 (6), “the entire amount of all delinquent payments collected shall be remitted to the municipality and shall not be reduced by any collection costs or fees.”

A 2011 email from the state auditor’s office to city municipal court staff cited the above law and states that the board of aldermen is prohibited from entering into a contract that allows a collection agency to withhold its compensation for the collection service.

“This type of agreement could result in the liability of the board members voting for the contract,” the email states.

The email states that a collection agency is like any other company providing a service in that before the agency may be paid, a claim must be submitted and approved by the board, rather than the company withholding its fee in its payment of collections to the city.

Carby said he would review the legality of any new agreement. Carby was not city attorney at the time the AMS agreement was reportedly signed.

Additionally, Blough said he has issues with turning over defendants’ personal information, including Social Security numbers and addresses, to an outside company,

“I’m not just going to turn that over to some company from Carrollton, Texas,” he said. “Now, if the board of aldermen directs me to do it, that’s another matter.”

Blough is concerned also with tacking on additional fees on top of fines defendants likely already cannot pay.

“In my opinion, if a defendant cannot pay his $400 fine, he surely cannot pay an increased fine of $500,” Blough said.