NATCHEZ &045; Two Natchez residents have amended a complaint against the mayor and board of aldermen to charge that Mayor Phillip West is guilty of malfeasance in paying police officer Willie B. Jones.

In November 2004, Courtney Aldridge and Kevin Colbert filed a complaint seeking to reverse the city’s decision to rehire Jones. Although advised by City Attorney Walter Brown that hiring a police officer was the responsibility of the Civil Service Commission, aldermen voted &045; on a tie vote broken by West &045; to rehire Jones.

Their amendment filed Friday states West should be liable for punitive damages because, Aldridge and Colbert claim, it was on his orders that Jones be paid.

The board of aldermen voted Nov. 9 not to include a line item on the docket to pay Jones. With one alderman absent and one abstaining, the mayor was not involved in the 3-2 vote. In subsequent meetings, aldermen Jake Middleton, Bob Pollard and David Massey have objected to Jones’ pay but have not voted against the docket.

West had no comment on the amended complaint Friday evening, noting he has not seen it.

&uot;The mayor, from what we’ve been told, ordered that (Jones) be paid,&uot; Colbert said Friday. &uot;We have been told by reliable sources, and we have some documentation.&uot;

The controversy surrounding Jones’ October hiring stems from the city attorney’s admonition that only the Civil Service Commission can hire police officers, not the board of aldermen.

Jones was rehired two weeks after the aldermen amended the city’s personnel policy so that former employees terminated or resigning pending disciplinary action can be eligible for reemployment after five years.

That applied to Jones, who resigned in April 1997 while under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice. Jones later entered a no contest plea on the charge, which was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. His record was expunged before he was rehired.

&uot;We’re asking that the (mayor and aldermen) remove him from patrolman,&uot; Aldridge said, &uot;and to adhere to the Civil Service Commission, which they’ve continued not to do.&uot;

Jones currently has a hearing pending before the State Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Board.

The hearing on whether to allow Jones to attend &uot;refresher school&uot; to renew his certification as a law enforcement officer is scheduled for March 10.

A person who has been out of law enforcement for two years or more must be approved by the State Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Board to attend a refresher course prior to being re-certified.

If a certified officer leaves the police department, his certificate becomes inactive once he has been out of law enforcement for two years.

Officers can be rehired prior to certification, but they must work under the direct supervision of a certified officer &045; something Jones has not been doing.

The mayor and aldermen &045; who are cited in their individual capacities in the complaint &045; have until March 17 to respond to the amended lawsuit.

Colbert said he and Aldridge have been meeting with the mayor and aldermen’s attorneys on a possible settlement, but none has been reached yet.

Colbert and Aldridge filed the lawsuit as private citizens, which they are allowed to do.