JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Oral arguments were heard on Thursday, July 6 in the Mississippi Supreme Court regarding the judicial appointment provision in House Bill 1020.

Jackson residents appealed the Chancery Court ruling that found HB 1020 not in violation of the Mississippi Constitution.

Counsel representing the Jackson residents believe strongly in their position in what is now the last legal avenue for an appeal of the controversial law.

“Our position is that the people of Mississippi must elect these judges that are being added to courts here in Hinds County and beyond. We believe the Constitution requires it. We’ve elected our judges for more than a hundred years in Mississippi, and we think that if the state’s position is adopted, that will constitute a tremendous transfer of power from the people to the legislature,” said Cliff Johnson with the MacArthur Justice Center.

Solicitor General Scott G. Stewart of the Mississippi attorney general’s office said legislators acted properly when they created a new court with one appointed judge in part of Jackson, and in requiring that four appointed judges will work temporarily alongside the four elected judges in Hinds County, where Jackson is located.

“No elected judge is being knocked out of their position,” Stewart said.

The law stipulates that all five of the judicial appointments would be made by Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph. The three Jackson residents sued Randolph and two other officials, and Randolph recused himself from hearing arguments Thursday.

Although race has been a big part of legislative and public debate about the law, it was not a central issue during the courtroom arguments Thursday.

Legislators voted this year to expand the territory of the state-run Capitol Police department in Jackson, to create the new court and to authorize the appointed circuit judges in Hinds County. Supporters said they were trying to improve safety in the city of about 150,000 residents, which has had more than 100 homicides in each of the past three years.

Opponents of the new law said the majority-white and Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves were usurping local autonomy in Jackson and Hinds County, which are both majority-Black and governed by Democrats.

In response to justices’ questions about a crowded court docket delaying trials in Hinds County, Johnson said legislators could create new positions for elected judges.

“We recognize the problems that arise when cases don’t move, particularly criminal cases and the human cost of having people sit in jail waiting for their case to go to trial,” Johnson said.

The Mississippi Constitution allows legislators to create “inferior” courts with fewer powers than a circuit court. During Thursday’s hearing, Justice Jim Kitchens pushed back on lawmakers’ assertion that the new court in the Capitol Complex Improvement District is an inferior court with powers equivalent to a municipal court.

Most misdemeanor cases are handled in municipal courts, and people convicted there are sentenced to city or county jail. The new law specifies that the judge in the Capitol Complex Improvement District court would sentence people to a state prison for a misdemeanor conviction.

“There is not a municipal court in Mississippi that can put somebody in a state prison for a misdemeanor, is there, sir?” Kitchens asked.

Stewart replied: “Until this point, your honor.”

In May, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas dismissed the Jackson residents’ lawsuit days after he removed Randolph as a defendant. Thomas wrote that appointing judges does not violate the Mississippi Constitution.

A separate lawsuit filed by the NAACP challenges the appointment of judges and the expansion of the state police role in Jackson, arguing that the law creates “separate and unequal policing” for the city compared to other parts of Mississippi. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate has temporarily put the law on hold, and he also removed Randolph as a defendant.

Last week, Wingate blocked a related law that would require people to receive permission from state public safety officials before holding protests near the Capitol or other state government buildings in Jackson. Wingate wrote the law is vague and could have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights, particularly for people demonstrating against government actions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.