OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – In a newly filed court action against the publisher of GC Wire, City Attorney David Harris is asking a Jackson County judge to keep his résumé and qualifications secret from the public — and to grant him sweeping secrecy powers over nearly everything he has said or done while acting as the city’s lawyer.
The filing stems from a November public records request in which GC Wire asked for the applications submitted by the six law firms vying for the permanent City Attorney job. We requested the applications so we could compare them side-by-side and show readers how the Board of Aldermen made its decision. Harris’s court filing is an attempt to ensure that never happens.
Five Firms Released Their Resumes — One Ran to Court
A Mississippi statute allows third-party applicants for public contracts to ask a court to protect portions of their submissions that contain trade secrets or financial information. Five of the six firms allowed their applications to be released in full.
Only David Harris sought a protective order to keep his entire résumé and submission from public view.
But that is not all he asked for.
In his petition against this reporter, Harris also asks the judge to issue a sweeping order declaring every document, memo, email, and statement between him and the city to be permanently attorney-client privileged — a ruling that would effectively place his entire tenure behind a wall of secrecy.
There Are Multiple Problems With This Ask
In our legal response, GC Wire intends to show the court a basic legal truth: attorney-client privilege belongs to the client — not the attorney.
In this case, the client is the City of Ocean Springs. Only the city can choose to assert or waive its privilege. Only the city can raise the issue in court.
Yet Harris filed this case with himself and his law firm listed as the plaintiffs. The defendant is this reporter. The city is not a party, even though Harris is asking the court to hand the city a new blanket secrecy rule.
GC Wire’s response will also explain that using a lawsuit against a reporter to redefine privilege law is futile. This reporter has no authority to assert or waive privilege for the city. If Harris or the city wish to change how privilege applies to municipal records, the proper legal adversary would be the State of Mississippi — not a journalist with no control over city decisions.
What Attorney–Client Privilege Actually Covers — and Who Controls It
Attorney–client privilege is generally understood to protect legal advice — conversations where a lawyer advises a client about their rights, obligations, or a legal matter. It also protects work product, such as notes or materials an attorney prepares specifically for litigation.
But the privilege has limits. It does not cover political strategy, public-relations talking points, staffing issues, routine city business, vendor vetting, or discussions in public meetings. It also does not turn every memo or email involving an attorney into a secret document.
Just as important, the privilege belongs to the client — not the attorney.
Only the city’s governing body can decide when privilege applies or when it should be waived. An attorney cannot unilaterally declare all of their communications confidential, nor can they ask a court to expand those rules without the client’s authorization.
Multiple aldermen have confirmed to GC Wire that Harris acted without authorization in asking a court to rule on a privilege the Board itself controls.
That’s why Harris’s attempt to secure a sweeping secrecy order — in a case where the city isn’t even a party — raises serious legal and ethical concerns, according to GC Wire’s legal filings.
A Pattern in Ocean Springs: Misusing Privilege to Hide Information
Harris’s request is not an isolated incident. Attorneys representing Ocean Springs have repeatedly used “attorney-client privilege” as a blanket excuse to block the release of public records over the last six months.
GC Wire saw this firsthand last October when we requested emails sent to city officials by former City Attorney Robert Wilkinson related to Securix, the controversial private traffic-ticket operation that drew outrage across the Coast.
The city denied the request, claiming the records were privileged. But there was a serious problem:
- Wilkinson had publicly recused himself from all Securix matters.
- He was acting as Securix’s attorney, not the city’s.
- He was no different than any other private vendor.
Despite that, the city’s counsel still claimed attorney-client privilege, even though Wilkinson was not the city’s lawyer for those communications. He was working for the company that stood to profit.
Ocean Springs appears to be using “attorney-client privilege” the way some people use the word “classified” — a magic stamp they hope will make public records disappear.
GC Wire has appealed several denials to the Mississippi Ethics Commission. The city responded by calling the appeals “an attack” and urging the Commission to “warn” this reporter against seeking their opinions in the future. The Commission’s final opinion is still pending.
A Ruling Will Come Soon
GC Wire has asked the court to strike the overreaching portions of Harris’s petition. If Harris wants his résumé sealed, we do not object. If he wants a judge to declare all communications between himself and the city permanently secret, we absolutely do.
At stake is whether Ocean Springs residents will be allowed to see how their government makes decisions — or whether the city attorney can shut the door on public records with a single court filing.
Wilkinson has never been the Securix attorney. He was at all times, the City Attorney and claimed countless times that the system was legal while Securix said that the way he and his Son, Josh Gregory, Dunston and others with the City operated it was not. Making those illegally-acquired payments available was overdue but Attorney Harris is misleading the City as part of the ongoing Harris-Gregory-Wilkinson coverup and yet again the City’s good name is being used to cover for serious abuse …and with the DPPA violations …massive criminal conduct that carries potential fines of over $100 million.
Wilkinson and his Son Alex, Jossh Gregory, Chief Dunston and the City made the decisions and the City approved and sent all citations. Securix only mailed them for the City. The City was paid from the account it set up, not by Securix. The People of Ocean Springs continue to be misled and now, like Wilkinson in his submission to the Bar and his Father the Judge, (which, if transcripts are ever released will have a very great deal to explain about jailing the innocent who refuse his demands to violate State and Federal Law), has rather than protecting the City, done the opposite. The taxpayers who pay for Attorney Harris’ services should be disgusted.
All that Attorney Harris had to do was just obligate the funds but instead, he made numerous demonstrably false statements further endangering the City to support the coverup. He has failed to share that the facts make the City the legitimate Class Action target, that the Federal Class Action Case was dismissed over a year ago with prejudice and that the Attorney General declared the system legal. Harris’s conduct is yet another insult to the intelligence and integrity of the People of Ocean Springs. He, along with the others misleading and damaging the City for their own selfish purposes should be investigated immediately. Securix records are available including those that prove theft of the State’s money by Josh Gregory, Wilkinson and others. Securix turned these people in to Federal Authorities in August 2024. The People must now demand accountability … and with all due respect should find an attorney that will actually represent their interests since they are the ones paying the bills for all this abuse.
I do not understand why this attorney, David Harris, would want his resume kept hidden. Is there a thread on his resume that shows he is connected to these other alleged criminals (Wilkinson/Gregory/Dunston)? If so, get him the heck out of the Ocean Springs City Attorney career but FAST!
Harris evidentaly has much to hide……. I have said this for a couple of years now, Ocean Springs you deserve much better. The entire town needs to go to the BOA meeting and DEMAND the resignation or the termination of an individual who could potentially cost the city a great deal of money.
Anita:
Let’s go to the next BOMA! I will be there. We need to change these things ourselves because the current leadership is impotent.
-Gregory
All this secrecy is bad optics and a serious distraction. I am beginning to think OS would be better without it all.
It is all connected. Since August 2024, Judge Harris refused to honor the demand of DPS to stop Wilkinson and Josh Gregory from illegally operating the Securix System. These actions were criminal and yet he has continued to support these crimes. He knew that Miller turned Wilkinson and Gregory in to DPS and the US Attorney but the Judge continued to demand Securix violate the law while Wilkinson provided a fake accounting as hundreds of thousands of dollars were diverted/stolen. Judge Harris refused to release transcripts from the QJR case regarding Wilkinson who with Josh Gregory stole $48,000. from Securix Mississippi and gave it to Dunston and also stole $359,100 from State Government. He told Miller that if he spoke again with the FBI he would be jailed. He used a baseless document to sentence an innocent man to jail in order to get these crimes covered-up. Wilkinson and his Son and Josh Gregory violated the privacy of over 20,000 people and sent out illegal demands for payment. Judge Harris through his Son falsely claimed Ocean Springs Property. Judge Harris was challenged, knows the transcripts will be impossible to explain but refused to recuse himself. He has a recording of Wilkinson violating his Order to Seal and also the massive illegal response to the Bar Association both violating his order refused to act regarding his friend Robert Wilkinson whose office is a five-minute walk from his chambers. Wilkinson has stolen the Securix System and used it illegally in other States, (see securix-ms.com). These people are all linked. They should be exposed and held accountable. Miller has offered the proof. Demand to see it all and let’s see who is telling the truth. Either the Harris and Wilkinson are telling the truth or Securix and Miller are. Let’s demand transparency ….. real proof and in the interim get an honest attorney to protect the City… NOT the current two.