The City of Clarksdale will begin the search for a new city attorney after Margarette Meeks submitted her resignation on Wednesday, Aug. 8.
Meeks’ final day will be Oct. 26. She was hired as the city attorney on Aug. 28, 2017, soon after Mayor Chuck Espy took office the first week of July 2017. She was the first female city attorney to serve in Clarksdale.
Meeks declined to disclose her future plans Thursday as she said the move is “a redirection.”
While she said her time here was been “so intense,” Meeks said her resignation “has nothing to do with any ongoing litigation that the city has.”
Earlier this month, the City of Clarksdale became involved in a personnel dispute at Clarksdale Public Utilities that resulted in the city-owned utility filing a lawsuit in federal court, seeking an injunction and $500,000 in damages from the city. Last week, the city announced that it had reached a settlement in that case in which CPU commissioners were expected to rescind the lawsuit.
Other recent legal proceedings involving the city have included a civil lawsuit filed in federal court by three former top employees, including former City Attorney Curtis Boschert. The trio, who are all Caucasian males, claim they were fired because of their race.
In addition, the Mississippi Court of Appeals is expected to rule soon on an annexation lawsuit involving the city and earlier this summer the city contacted the State Auditor’s Office to determine if Commissioner Bo Plunk had threatened a fellow commissioner and city department heads.
Espy is pleased with the work that’s been done by Meeks.
“She did a phenomenal job, and she’s doing a phenomenal job,” the mayor said. “This was the year of a tsunami (in legal work) that occurred and she stood up to that tsunami and cranked out more work in that time that any other attorney I’ve been around. She’s definitely a workhorse.”
Espy said the city has started putting out feelers in the “legal arena” for a replacement. He said it is the city’s hope to close out the process and hire someone within the next 30 to 45 days, which would give the new hire a two- to three-week transition period with Meeks.
Espy was especially proud of the workload that Meeks shouldered during her year here.
“She didn’t buckle under the pressure and stood up to it, and actually handled everything that we handed to her,” the mayor said.
Meeks, who has practiced law for more than 10 years, said she considers it an honor to do public service in her position as city attorney.
“It has been my honor, and will continue to be my honor, to serve the citizens of Clarksdale until I leave,” she said. “I’m not new to public service. I enjoy public service.”
Prior to coming to Clarksdale, Meeks served as a special assistant attorney general in the Opinions and Local Government Division of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. She had also opened her own law firm and provided legal services in family law, election law, Social Security and disability claims, wills and probate, and administrative law.
Meeks earned her law degree from Mississippi College’s School of Law and master of agriculture and bachelor of science degrees from Mississippi State University.
“Being a product of the Mississippi Delta, it’s been an honor to come here and labor. But sometimes things develop that prompt you for redirection. And that’s what’s occurred,” she said.
