Adams County supervisors reject taking land dispute to court

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors were divided Monday in voting down legal action to force state Rep. Robert Johnson to open up his family’s property to ensure public access on Carthage Point Road.

Supervisors Warren Gaines, Ricky Gray and Angela Hutchins rejected a motion by supervisors Wes Middleton and Kevin Wilson to get a judge to order unlocking the gate to the Johnson family’s property located on the rural south Adams County road.

Middleton and Wilson said the county has a legal right of way to the property. However, the other supervisors questioned whether public access is actually being denied or if court action is needed.

Carthage Point Road — which extends past the old International Paper mill site and runs along the Mississippi River — is prone to flooding and erosion. Part of it has collapsed, but county workers are doing the dirtwork needed to rebuild it. While there are no residences along the road, it has oil wells and hunting camps that are currently unreachable.

Johnson – who met earlier this month with supervisors and other stakeholders concerned about the closed road— said his family has owned the Carthage Point property for about 35 years.

Access through the Johnson property is needed as a bypass for the road’s closed section, Wilson said. He said the county was granted a right of way to the land in 1983. “It’s a deeded right of way, and we don’t need to lose it,” Wilson said.