Records show Ocean Springs had no lawful City Attorney since 2018, raising major legal and financial risks for taxpayers and residents.
(Updated April 27, 2025 to include input from former Mayor Shea Dobson.)
OCEAN SPRINGS, MS — Records obtained by GC Wire show City Attorney Robert Wilkinson’s firm has not been authorized to represent the City of Ocean Springs since 2018. This revelation could have drastic and costly repercussions for the city, its taxpayers, and residents affected by decisions based on unauthorized legal advice.
Earlier this year, the Board of Aldermen voted to replace Wilkinson after allegations surfaced that he had personally benefited from a conflict of interest involving the city’s controversial Securix ticketing program. The Board’s decision was framed as a response to ethical concerns.
However, newly uncovered records suggest the effort to replace Wilkinson may have been a moot point — because he had no lawful authority to serve as City Attorney in the first place.
No Contract. No Vote. No Authority.
A public records request filed by GC Wire in February 2025 produced only an unsigned, partially filled contract from 2013 — a contract that expired in 2016.
Meeting minutes show the Board extended Wilkinson’s appointment for one year in 2016 and again in 2017, but the trail ends there. By the city’s own admission, no contract, reappointment, or Board approval exists beyond September 30, 2018.
Former Mayor Shea Dobson, who served from 2017 to 2021, confirmed in a discussion with GC Wire that the Board did not put a long-term agreement in place for transparency purposes. “The Board wanted to review things annually, so a long term agreement was never put in place,” Dobson said, adding that doing so “would be good for transparency.”
Despite that intended practice, no approvals or renewals have been produced beyond 2017, and no signed or updated contract has been provided by the city. The City Clerk’s office twice closed the matter, stating, “This correspondence will serve to close this matter,” indicating no additional documentation exists.
In short: Robert Wilkinson has been operating without legal authority for nearly seven years — and the city kept paying him anyway.
Officials Were Warned — and Ignored It
Based on the available records, the lack of renewed authorization could have been an administrative or clerical oversight, rather than an intentional omission. But the issue was not hidden from city officials.
It was raised publicly during the March 4, 2025 Board of Aldermen meeting, when concerns about the missing authorization for Wilkinson were laid out in detail.
At that meeting, Attorney Will Norman, who works for Wilkinson, responded by stating he would provide the meeting minutes that proved the Wilkinson firm’s continuing authorization. However, the minutes subsequently provided — by both Norman and the City Clerk’s office — did not show reappointment after 2017. Instead, they confirmed that Wilkinson’s authority expired in 2018.
Despite having direct knowledge through both the public records process and public meetings, the city continued making payments to Wilkinson’s law firm without addressing the lapse or taking corrective action.
Each check approved after being placed on notice further increases the potential financial liability for the officials involved.
Every Decision Since 2018 Is Now at Risk
The impact of this revelation is not theoretical — it touches nearly every part of Ocean Springs government.
- Zoning decisions based on unauthorized legal advice could be challenged.
- Permit denials and code enforcement actions could be overturned.
- Contracts, settlements, and grant negotiations could be declared invalid.
- Public records denials could lead to lawsuits and penalties.
Residents who lost appeals, businesses fined by the city, and taxpayers who funded legal battles are all now exposed to the consequences of years of unlawful actions.
Every ordinance reviewed, every lawsuit filed, every enforcement letter sent under Wilkinson’s advice carries a new risk: legal invalidation and financial liability.
Thomas Stennis, a longtime Ocean Springs attorney who served as the city’s mayor from 1973 to 1977, said the city’s legal failures are serious. “It certainly appears that the city has opened itself to liability in so many areas,” Stennis said after reviewing GC Wire’s research.
“Moving forward, I would hope the city would hire competent legal counsel that would represent the city and not their special interests or the special interests of elected officials,” Stennis added.
Mississippi Law Leaves No Doubt
State law requires municipalities to operate with formal, properly recorded authority.
- Miss. Code Ann. § 21-15-25 mandates that a City Attorney must be formally appointed by the Board of Aldermen.
- Miss. Code Ann. § 21-39-1 requires that public contracts must be formally authorized and recorded.
There is no recognized doctrine of “implied renewal” for public contracts in Mississippi. Without formal Board action and proper recordkeeping, no legal authority exists.
In 1987, the Mississippi Supreme Court solidified this, holding that:
“No valid contract exists unless the governing authority acts in conformity with statutory requirements. Customary practice, no matter how long established, cannot substitute for formal compliance with the law.”
In that case, public officials were held liable for spending taxpayer money without proper authorization — even though the spending had become routine.
Ocean Springs now faces the same legal reality.
What If Records Exist But Were Not Produced?
It is theoretically possible that the Board of Aldermen took action to reappoint Wilkinson after 2018 but failed to properly record or maintain the documentation. If that is the case, it presents a second, equally serious problem.
Under Mississippi law, municipalities are required to keep accurate public records and provide them upon request. If the City Clerk’s office failed to preserve or produce records confirming Wilkinson’s authority, the city remains legally exposed — and every action based on his advice remains vulnerable to challenge.
In the eyes of the law, if the city cannot prove an appointment occurred, it did not occur.
The Possible Financial Disaster Ahead
The cost of inaction could be staggering:
- Millions of dollars in lawsuits over invalidated city decisions.
- Legal fees to renegotiate contracts and defend against challenges.
- Potential clawback demands from the Mississippi State Auditor for unauthorized expenditures.
- Personal repayment demands against city officials responsible for improper payments.
In the worst-case scenario, Ocean Springs taxpayers could be saddled with court-ordered damages for years to come.
Governance Crisis in Ocean Springs
What Ocean Springs now faces is the small-town equivalent of a constitutional crisis: a governance collapse where city officials continued exercising power long after their legal authority had expired.
Without formal reappointment, the city’s legal operations have been operating without legitimacy for nearly seven years — and the consequences are only beginning to emerge.
De Facto Officer vs. Ultra Vires: The Legal Collision Ahead
While courts sometimes uphold government actions under the de facto officer doctrine to protect the public from disruption, that protection does not extend to illegal or unauthorized expenditures of public funds. Payments made without proper legal authority are considered ultra vires — beyond the city’s lawful powers — and can be subject to recovery actions by the State Auditor or the courts.
In short, Ocean Springs may avoid chaos — but it may not avoid consequences.
What Residents Can Do Now
Residents and taxpayers still have options:
- Challenge city actions made against them if based on unauthorized legal advice.
- Demand reversals of unfair permit denials, code violations, or public records denials.
- File complaints with the Mississippi State Auditor demanding investigation and recovery of funds.
- Hold officials accountable at the ballot box or in court if necessary.
The Bottom Line
Ocean Springs has operated without a legally authorized City Attorney for nearly seven years.
City officials were warned, were shown evidence, and had every opportunity to act — but continued spending public money without proper authorization, possibly unlawfully.
Now, the legal risks — and the very real potential for financial fallout — belong to every taxpayer in Ocean Springs.
