The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors will begin its search for a new board attorney at its meeting on Monday.
The board attorney position became vacant after the death of longtime board attorney Jack Brown last weekend.
President of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors Orlando Trainer said anyone who is interested in the position should submit their credentials and letter with their desire to serve.
He said as of right now, there is not a specific time frame for filling the position, but he would like for the position to be filled quickly.
"I don't think it would be wise for us to be without legal consultation in an extreme long period of time," Trainer said. "You want to make sure that you have another set of eyes or second opinion from a legal perspective on anything you do."
Trainer said the board can still function by approving or denying routine business, but it is not ideal for the board to make more in-depth decisions without legal counsel.
One example Trainer gave was at the last Supervisors meeting, when the board discussed the bid proposals for its potential new waste management services. The board did not take action due to Brown being absent.
"What the attorney tries to do is keep the board out of any type of legal grey areas," Trainer said. "Therefore you want to make sure as you're walking through that particular maze of decisions, that you have good legal guidance."
The position for Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors attorney is a one year appointed position and pays the same as the supervisor position.
Trainer said anyone who is applying would need to not have inappropriate connections with the county and is a licensed and practicing attorney.
"There's no need to get down into a knock down and drag out about it," Trainer said. "However, that one person will probably have more impact than any two supervisors."
As of right now, Trainer said the board does not have a person of interest they are looking at for the position.
Trainer said he doesn't expect the decision to be made at the board meeting on Monday since both him and District 4 Supervisor will not be able to attend due to a prior engagement of a conference in Washington D.C.
He said he does expect the discussions to begin, though.
"You can bet your bottom dollar that the next meeting we have a full board it will probably be up for discussion again,” Trainer said. "In the past, our board has been very cautious about moving forward without a full board even if there is one member missing."
The board will have a quorum at their next meeting to conduct routine county business. He said it is also possible the board could set an adjourned meeting for later in the week where all members will be able to attend.