By DAVID A. FARRELL
CARRIERE — The Pearl River County school board on Tuesday, Dec. 8, terminated the services of Nathan Farmer as county school board attorney.
Farmer on Monday would only acknowledge that he was terminated by a vote of the board, and added, “No comment,” when asked to explain what happened.
It ends his nine-year stint as attorney for the PRC board. Farmer also is attorney for the Picayune City Council and practices law out of offices in Picayune.
The school board also named the law firm of Adams & Reese LLP of Jackson as an interim replacement until a new board attorney is named.
The school board, on the same night, asked school superintendent Dennis E. Penton for his resignation and then later terminated Farmer. Penton, after the motion asking him to resign was passed, told the board he would not resign.
In addition on Monday, Penton would not comment on the what happened in relation to Farmer. He would only say, “The board told me to advertise for another board attorney, and that is what I am doing.”
A public notice requesting applications for the position is currently running in the Picayune Item.
It reads, “Public Notice: Pearl River County School District is currently accepting proposals for legal services (Board Attorney). Any interested parties may submit a full proposal and resume to the Superintendent of Education’s Office, 7441 Hwy. 121, Carriere, MS 39426. If you have any further questions please call 601-798-7744.”
The public notice is scheduled to run through Sunday.
District One board member Sherwin Taylor on Tuesday said that the board came out of executive session and voted to “seek new legal council.” He would not term it a firing or termination. He said the board minutes would reflect what happened.
A school official said the board minutes are currently being prepared at the school. At the next board meeting on Jan. 7, they will be presented to the school board for approval, and then will become a public record.
Taylor said the vote was 3-2, with he, District Two board member Bonnie Sanders and District Three school board member Michelle Boyd voting for the attorney change, and board vice president and District Four member Jeff Jones and District 5 board lame-duck member Margie Creel, voting against the change.
Asked the reason for seeking another board attorney, Taylor said, “A majority of the board just felt we needed a change.”
Sanders said that the board took three votes after the executive session: one to discontinue Farmer’s services, a second vote to name Adams & Reese to represent the board on an interim basis until a new attorney for the board can be named, and a third vote to direct Penton to advertise for a new board attorney.
She said that the reason for seeking another board attorney was that “we just felt like we needed a new change. The board is changing, and we just felt like we needed change.”
Jones, contacted on Wednesday, said he had “no comment” on the matter.
The Item has attempted to get in touch with each board member for a comment, but as of press time has only been able to reach Taylor, Sanders and Jones.
The action came in the Dec. 8 meeting that was full of unexpected moves by the board.
Prior to going into executive session, the board forced a matter onto the agenda to consider what it termed “the superintendent issue.” After getting the matter on the agenda, Taylor motioned that Penton be asked to resign based on what he termed “personnel and accountability issues.”
Before the vote on Penton, Jones asked Farmer for some legal advice, and Farmer told the board that any vote to remove Penton or to ask him to resign would not be legally binding on him because Penton is an elected official, just as are the board members.
Farmer also said that the vote would be more like a “vote of no confidence,” or a “resolution,” or a sense of the board but would not carry any binding legal authority on Penton.
After the vote on Penton was taken, asked if he would resign, Penton said, “No.”
Asked if Farmer’s opinion to the board on the matter had any bearing on the decision to seek another attorney, Taylor said it did not, that he felt Farmer’s advice was accurate and sound legal opinion.
The motion asking for Penton’s resignation passed on a 3-2 vote, the same as thevote on Farmer, with Sanders, Boyd and Taylor voting for the Penton resignation request and Creel and Jones voting against the request for Penton to resign.
The board is scheduled to meet again on Jan. 7.
