Lawsuit Targets City Wards
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Federal Court Asked to Order New Alderman Election
WATER VALLEY – A Water Valley city employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming its four aldermanic wards are unconstitutionally divided and asking a judge to order new ward boundaries and an immediate election for the city’s four ward aldermen.
Deborah Jackson, an employee of the Water Valley Police Department, filed the lawsuit Oct. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Oxford Division.
The filing comes on the heels of a difficult municipal budget cycle in which city officials struggled to balance revenues and expenses, with no pay raises included for city employees.
Jackson’s complaint centers on allegations that the city has failed to reapportion its voting wards to reflect population changes documented by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Contacted by the Herald, Jackson declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying she was following the advice of her attorney.
The lawsuit claims Water Valley has failed to redraw its ward boundaries following each decennial census since 1980, resulting in substantial population differences among the four wards.
According to figures cited in the complaint, Water Valley had a population of 3,380 residents in the 2020 census.
The lawsuit lists population deviations of 56.69 percent in Ward 1, 26.27 percent in Ward 2, negative 11.61 percent in Ward 3 and negative 16.8 percent in Ward 4.
Those figures indicate that some wards contain substantially more residents than others, raising questions about whether voters have equal representation on the Board of Aldermen.
Under the city’s form of government, four aldermen are elected from individual wards, while a fifth alderman is elected at-large.
The current ward representatives are Joe Magnuson in Ward 1, Demetrius Ingram in Ward 2, Grant Thompson in Ward 3 and Nicole Folson in Ward 4.
The lawsuit seeks a new election for the four ward aldermen, but does not seek new elections for Mayor Tommy Reynolds or Alderman-at-Large Herbie Rogers. Both positions are elected by voters throughout the city rather than from individual wards and are not affected by the population disparities challenged in the lawsuit.
Jackson’s complaint argues that the population differences violate the constitutional principle of one person, one vote, which requires voting districts to provide substantially equal representation.
The lawsuit cites the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, along with federal civil rights laws.
The U.S. Supreme Court has established that local governing bodies exercising general governmental powers must comply with constitutional requirements for substantially equal representation.
In a 1968 decision, Avery v. Midland County, the Supreme Court applied the one-person, one-vote principle to local governing bodies.
Subsequent decisions have established that population deviations exceeding 10 percent between the largest and smallest districts generally create a presumption of unconstitutional apportionment that the government must justify.
Based on the percentages cited in Jackson’s complaint, the difference between Water Valley’s largest and smallest wards is 73.49 percentage points, substantially exceeding that threshold.
The complaint also contends that redrawing the city’s wards would increase opportunities for minority voters to elect candidates of their choice.
Jackson alleges that the city’s failure to adjust the boundaries threatens the constitutional voting rights of residents.
The lawsuit seeks an immediate court order requiring Water Valley to reapportion its four aldermanic wards based on the 2020 census.
It also asks the court to order an immediate election following reapportionment.
In addition, Jackson requests a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction prohibiting the city from conducting future ward elections until constitutionally acceptable boundaries are established.
The complaint specifically references the city’s next municipal election in 2029, arguing that allowing another election under the existing boundaries would perpetuate the alleged constitutional violations.
Jackson also asks the court to declare the current ward boundaries unconstitutional and require the city to pay reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, litigation expenses and expert fees.
Jackson is represented by John R. “Johnny” Reeves, a Jackson attorney and former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Reeves served 24 years in the Legislature, from 1984 through 2008, representing portions of Hinds and Rankin counties. The city is the sole defendant in the lawsuit. The summons identifies Reynolds or newly hired Municipal Clerk Joy Welch as officials authorized to receive legal service on behalf of the municipality.
The summons gives the city 21 days after service to file an answer or appropriate motion in federal court.
The filing of the lawsuit does not establish that the city has violated federal law. Those allegations must be resolved through the judicial process.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, with Magistrate Judge Roy Percy also assigned.
The case is identified as Deborah Jackson v. City of Water Valley, Mississippi, Civil Action No. 3:26-cv-00325-SA-RP.
