A chancery judge issued an order late Wednesday to keep the state Department of Human Services open indefinitely, avoiding the loss of food stamps and other services to thousands of Mississippians.

Attorney General Jim Hood sought the order from Hinds County Chancellor William Singletary to keep DHS in business when the new state budget year starts Thursday.

&uot;(Singletary) came down at 9 o’clock at night and kept the state running,&uot; Hood said late Wednesday. &uot;I’m proud that we have a branch of government that keeps us afloat when the other branches should.&uot;

The move to get a court order came after legislators met in a brief special session and adjourned without agreeing on a bill to reauthorize DHS, which handles everything from food stamps to child support for thousands of Mississippians.

Gov. Haley Barbour also issued an executive order he said would keep DHS running, although Hood said the governor’s order carries no legal weight. Hood said in a nonbinding opinion weeks ago that the governor can’t run DHS by executive order.

&uot;You can be assured I’m not going to let 650,000 needy, vulnerable people get cut off at Human Services,&uot; said Barbour, a Republican.

Hood, a Democrat, said: &uot;I’m tired of having to be a referee in the feud between the Legislature and the governor. They need to negotiate like grown-ups and act on these very important issues.&uot;

DHS executive director Don Taylor had said Tuesday that his agency would send termination letters to 649,329 clients if lawmakers didn’t vote to keep the agency alive. Taylor had said DHS’ 3,400 employees shouldn’t report to work.

But, Hood said the chancery court order would keep the agency running indefinitely, and Barbour said DHS employees should go to work as usual.

DHS handles a host of social services for the poor, including distribution of foster-care payments. It also runs training schools for juveniles and has services for the elderly, including in-home meal delivery.

State Sen. Bob Dearing of Natchez was one of the 21 senators who offered the amendment to add Medicaid to the DHS bill.

&uot;The pro tem ruled it not germane,&uot; Dearing said after adjournment, but before the judge’s ruling. &uot;So the Senate passed a bill and the House passed a bill. As a result, nothing was accomplished.&uot;

Openly distressed about the legislature’s failure to act on Wednesday, Dearing said he pleaded with Little to re-think the position of the Senate.

&uot;It’s awful. Folks are going to be upset and they should be. I think the governor will call us back into session.&uot;

Dearing said partisan politics is playing a major part in the failure to resolve the issues of DHS and Medicaid.

&uot;It’s hard for any elected official to own up to a mistake. The governor should admit he made a mistake. At midnight tonight, they are out of service at DHS,&uot; Dearing said.

Adams County Youth Court Judge John Hudson, whose office uses some DHS services, was stunned earlier Wednesday that lawmakers came to no agreement.

&uot;That’s amazing to me that that’s what’s happened,&uot; he said. &uot;If that’s so, it’s an awful thing. A lot of critical services are going to be cut off.&uot;

His office has three youth counselors who are DHS employees.