Exactly when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will issue a ruling on the lawsuit that would do away with the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority and replace it with a regional board remains to be seen.
Matt Steffey, professor of law at Mississippi College School of Law, expects a ruling by summer at the latest, although a court can take all the time it needs. “There are internal guidelines or standards for appellate cases, but they can be extended as necessary,” he said.
It appeared that the ruling could be soon, given that 17 judges for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments from both sides during what’s known as an en banc review earlier this year, but nothing has been issued so far.
The lawsuit dates to 2016 when former Gov. Phil Bryant, signed Senate Bill 2162. The law amended the Mississippi Code to abolish the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA), which operates the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, and replace it with a regional board known as the Jackson Metropolitan Area Airport Authority.
JMAA filed a lawsuit against lawmakers for passing legislation that would take control of the airport from the majority-black city of Jackson and give it to a commission with members appointed by mostly white statewide leaders. The authority’s lawyers accuse the legislators who wrote the bill with racial discrimination and want electronic conversations from them to prove it. Whether those discussions are privileged and can’t be released is a matter for the Fifth Circuit to determine.
Proving racial discrimination is difficult, Steffey said. “The law requires proof that the takeover was done with a racially discriminatory purpose, that is, the subjective purpose was, at least in part, to discriminate on the basis of race, what the law calls ‘racial animus’ or discriminatory intent,” he said.
“It’s not enough that the lawmakers knew it would have a racially discriminatory impact, unless they took the action ‘because of’ the racial impact, not ‘in spite of’ it.”
Josh Harkins, a Republican senator who represents District 20 who was among authors of Senate Bill 2162, said he thought the bill was a good idea in 2016 and he still thinks it’s a good idea. “I felt like the makeup of the board (JMAA) wasn’t indicative of what it needed to be,” said Harkins, who wrote the bill along with Dean Kirby (R-District 30), Philip Moran (R-District 46), Chris Caughman (R-District 35) and former Sen. Nickey Browning (R-District 3).
Harkins believes the airport authority has not done enough in “making the airport what it could be” and in attracting new airlines.
Like many travelers Harkins said he had both good experiences at the airport and also experienced delays but wants the airport to be successful.
Jason Watkins, a Jackson resident and developer, said he flies in and out of the Jackson airport about 10 times a year. “It’s what you would expect of a small city airport,” he said.
Watkins said he was OK with the federal government stepping in to provide financial assistance to improve the city’s failing water system and with the city’s water and sewer systems being run by a third-party manager, but he’s not sure about doing that with the Jackson airport.
The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority operates both the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport and Hawkins Field Airport. The Jackson airport is one of the busiest in Mississippi, has service to several of the world’s busiest global hubs and is home to the Mississippi Air National Guard 172nd Airlift Wing. Hawkins Field Airport is a general aviation airport that houses two emergency response medical air transporters and the Civil Air Patrol and is home to the Mississippi Army National Guard 185th Aviation Brigade.
In 2023, the airport welcomed nearly 1.29 million passengers, marking the highest numbers seen in over a decade. The number of passengers rose 5.1 percent over the previous year.
Members of the Jackson legislative delegation tried to stop the state’s attempted takeover with legislation. Bills to repeal Senate Bill 2162 were filed in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Senate also filed a repeal bill in 2019. Each of the measures failed to make it out of committees. The fifth circuit heard oral arguments in January 2022 centered around whether members of the airport authority have standing to file suit.
The Jackson airport sits in the middle of Rankin County, is important to the entire metro area and should have more representatives than just those determined by the city of Jackson, Harkins said.
The airport is governed by the airport authority, a five-member panel with all members appointed by the Jackson mayor. That panel would change to include nine members, with two individuals appointed by the governor and one member each appointed by the Jackson mayor, the Jackson city council, the Madison County board of supervisors, the lieutenant governor, the adjutant of the Mississippi Army National Guard and the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority.
Both governor’s appointees must have a “valid pilot’s license or certification issued by the (FAA),” the law states. Other commissioners must have experience in other fields, including accounting, financial analysis, executive management in business, experience in aviation, economic development, commercial, construction or aviation law, engineering or in dealing with public financing transactions.
Harkins believes individuals named to the airport authority should not be political appointees but have credentials that would be helpful in making decisions to ensure the airport succeeds.
By contrast, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority board members must simply live in the capital city, be named by the mayor and approved by the city council. The commissioners oversee the finances and operations of the airport, define its strategic goals, and appoint its chief executive officer, who is responsible for implementing the board’s plans.
Attorneys claim that the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority board members are public employees under state law, and that abolishing the board violates those employees’ rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Members of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority are Warren T. Herring, chairman; Sharon F. Bridges, vice chairwoman; Rickey D. Jones and Rica Lewis-Payton. There is one open seat on the board.
Rosa M. Beckett is the CEO.
A similar lawsuit was filed in Nashville in June 2023, but a three-judge panel ruled in October 2023 that the state lawmakers’ attempt to create a new board governing the international airport was unconstitutional.
Leaders filed a lawsuit on June 12 over a new Tennessee law that lets state leaders pick the majority of the board members for the city’s international airport, according to the Associated Press.
The city’s lawsuit argued that the overhaul of Nashville International Airport board violates the Tennessee Constitution’s home rule and equal protection clauses by giving six combined appointments on an eight-member panel to the governor and House and Senate speakers. Nashville’s mayor appoints the final two people to the board.
Before the new law, the mayor of Nashville selected each member of the seven-person Metro Nashville Airport Authority, and metro council members confirmed them.
