W.Bailey - August 22, 2022 - Authority to Assign Parking Spaces on Premises Around the Courthouse

550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 August 22, 2022 Willie L. Bailey, Esq. Attorney, Humphreys County Board of Supervisors Post Office Box 189 Greenville, Mississippi 38702-0189 Re: Authority to Assign Parking Spaces on Premises Around the Courthouse Dear Mr. Bailey: The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion. Question Presented Does the Sheriff or Board of Supervisors have the authority to assign parking spaces on the premises around the courthouse? Brief Response Pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 19-7-33, the Board of Supervisors has the authority to regulate parking on the premises around the courthouse. Applicable Law and Discussion Section 19-7-33 provides, “[t]he board of supervisors of any county is hereby authorized and empowered to regulate the parking of motor vehicles on county public lands on which the courthouse and other county buildings are located, or any other lands under the control and jurisdiction of the county.” Accordingly, we have previously opined that the board of supervisors, not the sheriff, has the authority to make and adopt regulations concerning the parking of vehicles on the public lands upon which the courthouse and other county buildings are located. MS AG Op., Harper at *1 (Nov. 20, 1986). It is our opinion that the board’s authority to regulate parking on county public lands includes the authority to assign parking spaces on the premises around the courthouse. Willie L. Bailey, Esq. August 22, 2022 Page 2 550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL By: /s/ Abigail C. Overby Abigail C. Overby Special Assistant Attorney General