Case 3:25-cv-00632-HTW-LGI Document 1 Filed 08/21/25 Page 1 of 38

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
NORTHERN DIVISION

DORIS GLASPER,
NSOMBI LAMBRIGHT and
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED
PEOPLES (NAACP)-JACKSON BRANCH

Plaintiffs

v.
Civil Action NO.: 3:25-cv-632-HTW-LGI
CHRIS WELLS,
Executive Director of Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality
in his official capacity

LIZ WELCH,
Executive Director of Mississippi
Department of Finance and Administration
in her official capacity

DAVID MCRAE,
Mississippi State Treasurer
in his official capacity

Defendants.

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Plaintiffs Doris Glasper, Nsombi Lambright and National Association For The

Advancement Of Colored Peoples (“NAACP”)-Jackson Branch bring this action under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, stating as follows:

INTRODUCTION

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1. Defendants have intentionally deprived residents of the City of Jackson of access

to federal relief funds currently in the Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund of the State

Treasury— via a state pass-through grant program of American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) funds

—which were promised to Jackson in order to address the water infrastructure crisis. Plaintiffs

seek declaratory judgment that Defendants’ law withholding ARPA funds from Jackson—2022

Senate Bill 2822 (“S.B. 2822”)—is both facially discriminatory and the result of discriminatory

purpose. Plaintiffs ask this court to enjoin Defendants from permanently diverting those funds

away from Jackson’s ongoing water crisis.

2. Jackson’s water crisis is a public health emergency in and around Jackson,

Mississippi, beginning in the 1990s and reaching a tipping point on August 22, 2022, when the

Pearl River overwhelmed the City’s primary water treatment plant and caused the system to fail.

The water crisis has been marked by decades of underfunded infrastructure, unreliable water

pressure, unpotable drinking water, and unaffordable water bills. During the same period, the

population in Jackson decreased sharply and shifted from having a slight white majority to being

predominantly black. Meanwhile, the poverty rate in Jackson grew by roughly 50% and poverty

among black residents grew to triple that of non-black residents, leaving black residents

experiencing poverty to shoulder the burden of the Jackson water crisis.

3. Defendants, keeping with decades of refusal to provide the residents of Jackson,

Mississippi with funds for its water infrastructure, have knowingly and intentionally enacted and

administered procedures to keep federal relief funds out of Jackson’s reach. Their actions have

denied equal protection under the law to the majority- black residents of Jackson, in violation of

the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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4. When Mississippi received millions of ARPA funds in May 2021, the State of

Mississippi sat idly for over a year while the City of Jackson inched closer to its entirely avoidable

water system failure. Defendant Chris Wells then created and implemented a grant competition

which was biased against Jackson from the outset. Defendants’ grant program and application

process discounted Jackson’s exigency and intentionally disadvantaged the 122,000 black

residents who would be most impacted by the law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

5. Shortly after Defendant Wells awarded Jackson $35.6 million in matching funds,

he and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ”) amended the grant

program to waive the matching requirement for future applicants. Acting under color of law,

Defendant Wells fully funded all subsequent applications without any matching requirement—

exacerbating the already unlawful burden on the black Jacksonians who would be most impacted

and again denying Jackson’s black residents Equal Protection under the law.

6. With discriminatory purpose, the State of Mississippi enacted a law that facially

discriminated against the City of Jackson by requiring that funds awarded to Jackson and only

Jackson were to be held by the Mississippi Treasury in a Capital City Water/ Sewer Projects Fund.

S.B. 2822 provided no clear guidance as to what Jackson would have to do to receive those monies.

No other municipality was singled out in this way or had its ARPA award withheld. Three years

later, as Jackson continues to wait for the awarded ARPA funds and hundreds of low-income black

renters in Jackson face forced relocation due to water shutoffs, the disproportionate harm caused

by S.B. 2822 is neither happenstance nor unforeseeable accident. Rather, Defendants are engaging

in calculated disregard for the lives and welfare of low-income black residents of Jackson, in

violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment.

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7. Any funds the City of Jackson is unable to access as a result of the hurdles

Defendants imposed and enforced under color of law will revert to the State’s General Fund or be

returned to the U.S. Treasury. Per S.B. 2822’s companion bill, 2022 H.B. 1031, any funds

appropriated to Jackson and placed in the Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund would revert to

the State’s General Fund if not used by January 1, 2027, indicating the State’s intent to permanently

deprive Jackson of its access to these funds and to deprive Jackson’s black residents of equal access

to funding, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment.

8. Meanwhile, rather than offer meaningful assistance to the black residents of

Jackson, the State of Mississippi has joined a federal lawsuit against the City of Jackson for

violations of clean drinking water regulations. The lawsuit has resulted in an Interim Third Party

Manager (“ITPM”) being placed over the City’s water system, now operating under the name JXN

Water. The ITPM, Edward “Ted” Henefin is seeking rate increases and shutting off water for

multi-family housing/apartment complexes in an attempt to address revenue shortfalls. Again, the

class of people intentionally most impacted by the foreseeable consequences of Defendants’

actions are black residents of Jackson.

9. To date, Jackson still has not received the $35.6 million in ARPA funds, which the

Defendants received over four years ago and promised Jackson almost three years ago.

10. Plaintiffs are individuals and organizations who were harmed in August 2022 by

S.B. 2822 and Defendants’ refusals to provide the assistance necessary to prevent and mitigate

Jackson’s water crisis. In 2025, Plaintiffs continue to experience physical, emotional and financial

injury–including displacement from their homes and places of business—which could be remedied

if Defendants Welch and Wells were to disburse funds in the Capital City Water/ Sewer Projects

Fund for ARPA eligible uses. ARPA eligible uses include investments in water, sewer and
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broadband infrastructure; responses to public health and negative economic impacts of the

pandemic; and Title 1 projects that are eligible activities under the CDBG and ICDBG programs,

as listed in section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Plaintiffs

are at risk of the same physical and financial harm in the future if Defendants are not forced to end

their unconstitutional withholding of ARPA funds and instead use the funds for these eligible uses

that will redress their harm.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

11. This court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to 28

U.S.C. § 1343(a)(3), as this action seeks redress of a deprivation, under color of State law, of a

protected right or privilege secured by the Constitution, and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, as this action arises

under the laws and Constitution of the United States; pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1983; and pursuant

to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, as an actual controversy exists within this Court’s jurisdiction. This Court is

authorized to grant declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202.

12. Venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391, because at least one Defendant

resides in this District and all Defendants reside in this State, and because a substantial part of the

events or omissions giving rise to the claims set forth in this Complaint occurred within this

District.

PARTIES

A. Plaintiffs

13. Plaintiff NAACP is a local Jackson-based Branch of a 501(c)(4) nonprofit

organization working to build black political, social, and economic power to end racial injustice.

At all times relevant to this complaint, Plaintiff NAACP has operated out of Jackson, Mississippi,

and is an organization eligible for relocation payments and assistance for displaced individuals,
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families, businesses, organizations, and farm operations, under the U.S. Treasury’s Final Rule (31

CFR Part 35) and 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. To accomplish

its mission, the NAACP relies upon members to serve as local volunteers, organize marches and

rallies, participate in get out the vote campaigns, and more. Since August 2022, Plaintiff NAACP

has suffered loss of meeting space, loss of fundraising and loss of membership which have

inhibited its ability to carry out its work. Plaintiff NAACP has offered U.S. Congress testimony

on Jackson’s water crisis and Defendants’ history of disinvestment, as well as testimony before

this Court regarding the impact of the Jackson water crisis. Plaintiff NAACP has been deprived

of equal protection of law and equal access to funding in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights

Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution due to the

Defendants’ action under the color of Mississippi State law.

14. Plaintiff NAACP also represents a membership of just over 300 black Jacksonians.

As an association, Plaintiff NAACP’s members have experienced water shutoffs and shortages for

years. Many are at risk of being displaced from their homes due to water shutoffs beyond their

control, flooding, or other consequences of Jackson’s water crisis. Members have spent thousands

of dollars on potable water, even while their employers have closed and/or relocated their

businesses due to lack of water. Plaintiff NAACP’s members have been deprived of equal

protection of law and equal access to funding in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of

1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution due to the Defendants’

action under the color of Mississippi State law. NAACP’s members would otherwise have

standing to sue in their own right; (b) the interests it seeks to protect are germane to the

organization's purpose; and (c) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the

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participation of individual members in this lawsuit. Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advert.

Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 343 (1977).

15. Plaintiff Nsombi Lambright is a Jackson, Mississippi native and current resident.

She is a mother of one son, who also lives in Jacksoni in a property owned by Plaintiff

Lambright. She and her family have lived in Jackson at all times relevant to this Complaint.

Plaintiff Lambright went without potable water for a month when Jackson’s water system failed

in August 2022 and over 6 weeks without drinking water. While spending thousands of dollars

on water on safe water over the last 3 years, Plaintiff Lambright has also suffered a loss of rental

income due to Jackson’s water crisis. She fears flooding in her neighborhood will add to the

harms she has experienced by leaving her displaced from her home. Plaintiff Lambright-- one of

the black Jacksonians whom Defendants aimed to disadvantage in multiple aspects of S.B.

2822—has been deprived of equal protection of law and equal access to funding in violation of

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States

Constitution due to the Defendants’ action under the color of Mississippi State law. The harm to

Plaintiff Lambright, her family, and other black residents of Jackson could be mitigated if the

Defendants were ordered to end the unlawful withholding of ARPA funds.

16. Plaintiff Doris Glasper is a 70-year-old Jackson, Mississippi native and current

resident. She and her family have lived in Jackson at all times relevant to this Complaint and her

family is eligible for relocation payments and assistance for displaced individuals, families,

businesses, organizations, and farm operations, under the 31 CFR Part 35 and 105(a) of the

Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. She, along with her daughter, granddaughters

and 3-year-old great grandson lived in a Blossom Apartments unit for four years. She and her

family were without water for nearly a month, in July and August 2025. Plaintiff Glasper has lived
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through multiple water shutoffs now, as a result of the Jackson water crisis. Plaintiff Glasper has

been deprived of equal protection under the law and equal access to funding in violation of Title

VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution due

to the Defendant’s action under the color of Mississippi State law. Indeed, she is one of the 122,000

low-income black Jacksonians whom Defendants aimed to disadvantage in multiple aspects of

S.B. 2822. The harm to Plaintiff Glasper, her family, and other black residents of Jackson could

be mitigated if the Defendants were ordered to end the unlawful withholding of ARPA funds.

17. Plaintiffs have a private right of action for intentional discrimination under Title

VI of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to enforce their Fourteenth Amendment Equal

Protection rights. Barnes v. Gorman, 536 U.S. 181, 185 (2002) (quoting Alexander v. Sandoval,

532 U.S. 275, 280 (2001)); Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U.S. 273, 290 (2002).

B. Defendants

18. Defendant Chris Wells is the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of

Environmental Quality (MDEQ). S.B. 2822 authorized MDEQ to administer the Mississippi

Municipality & County Water Infrastructure (MCWI) Grant Program, which allocated $450

million in matching funds, from ARPA, in order to make necessary investments in water and

sewer infrastructure. Defendant Wells is statutorily tasked with enforcing S.B. 2822, including

MDEQ’s award of funds using a discriminatory matching grant programming. He is a state actor

acting under color of state law.

19. Defendant Liz Welch is Executive Director of Mississippi’s Department of

Finance and Administration, which monitors the Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund into

which Jackson’s MCWI award was deposited. Governor Tate Reeves has publicly stated that in

order to receive the ARPA funds awarded by MDEQ in November 2022, Jackson must submit a
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plan and application to the Department of Finance and Administration. Defendant Welch is

tasked with enforcing S.B. 2822’s discriminatory withholding of grant funds from the City of

Jackson. She is a state actor acting under color of law.

20. Defendant David McRae is the State Treasurer. S.B. 2822 instructed Defendant

McRae to deposit Jackson’s MCWI into the Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund created by

H.B. 1031. The Mississippi Treasury will dissolve the Fund on January 1, 2027, either reverting

all funds to the State General Fund per H.B.1031 or returning excess funds to the U.S. Treasury,

per federal regulations, at that time. Defendant McRae is statutorily tasked with enforcing S.B.

2822 and H.B. 1031, including measures which singled out Jackson and withheld grant funds

awarded to the City of Jackson. He is a state actor acting under color of state law.

21. Defendants are not entitled to sovereign immunity because they are being sued in

their official capacities in order for Plaintiff(s) to “seek prospective relief to redress an ongoing

violation of federal law.” Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, (1908); (a “state official is not the State

for sovereign-immunity purposes when a federal court commands [him or her] to do nothing more

than refrain from violating federal law.”) Williams On Behalf of J.E. v. Reeves, 954 F.3d 729, 736

(5th Cir. 2020) (internal citations omitted).

STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. History of the Jackson Water Crisis and Jackson’s Requests for Assistance from the

State of Mississippi

22. Jackson, Mississippi is the state’s largest city—twice as large as any other city in

Mississippi.

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23. Between 1990 and 2020, following the election of the first black City Council

member and first black mayor in 1985 and 1997 respectively, the City’s population declined

sharply and shifted from having a slim majority of white residents to being majority black.

24. Today, 81.8% of Jackson’s population is black.

25. The median family income is $43,238, and 26.83% of Jackson’s population lives

in poverty.

26. 51% of Jackson’s housing units are renter occupied.

27. On August 29, 2022, floodwaters from the Pearl River overwhelmed the City of

Jackson’s primary water treatment plant, resulting in a systemwide failure. Approximately 150,000

residents were left without safe drinking water, or adequate water pressure to flush toilets or fight

fires. The water pressure was not restored until September 6, 2022.

28. The State imposed a city-wide boil water advisory that remained in place from

September 2022–January 2023. During that time, Plaintiff Lambright was one of many volunteers

who distributed 1,400 pallets of drinking water. This equates to nearly 120,000 cases or roughly

4.2 million bottles of water.

29. However, the water infrastructure crisis in Jackson predates August 29, 2022.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Jackson’s first black mayor, Harvey Johnson, Jr., repeatedly

requested that the State provide the City with a payment in lieu of taxes or make loans available

to repair the City’s aging infrastructure, because Jackson, as Mississippi’s capital city, hosts state

agencies on extensive tax-exempt properties. The State refused, and instead, diverted federal

highway and bridge funds meant for predominantly black Hinds County (in which Jackson is the

county seat) to the surrounding counties of Madison and Rankin, which remain predominantly

white.
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30. Further, Mississippi’s Governors and Legislature have derailed Jackson’s attempts

to fund water infrastructure for years by rejecting Jackson’s proposed sales taxes and by creating

state-run boards to undermine Jackson’s elected officials.

31. In 2012, the City of Jackson was put under a federal consent decree for violations

of the Clean Water Act. The consent decree followed a Complaint filed by the US Attorney

General and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). The State of Mississippi, the

Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, and the MDEQ would later join the Complaint

seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties for the City’s alleged violations of the Mississippi Air

and Water Pollution Control Law.

32. Since that Consent Order, tens of billions of billions of gallons of sewage have

leaked into the Pearl River. The City recorded 3.9 billion gallons of sewage released into the Pearl

River in 2013, 3.4 billion gallons in 2018, and over 3 billion gallons in 2019.

33. Record rainfall in just the first quarter of 2020 “overflowed the City’s sewage

system and dumped nearly a half billion gallons of raw sewage” and 5.7 billion gallons of

minimally treated sewage into the Pearl River.

34. A 2020 EPA report found the “City of Jackson’s Water distribution system

experiences numerous leaks and line breaks, with crews reportedly repairing 5 or 6 of these per

day … Loss of pressure associated with these incidents requires the city to issue ‘Boil Water

Notices’ (BWNs); over 750 BWNs have been issued since 2016.”

35. A winter storm in February 2021 left tens of thousands of residents without running

water for as long as a month. Storms in 2010, 2014 and 2018 had also resulted in water outages.

36. On March 3, 2021—just days after an extensive water service shutdown—Jackson

Mayor Chokwe Lumumba wrote to Mississippi’s Governor and Legislature with a detailed request
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for $47 million in emergency funding to ensure the integrity of the City’s drinking water system.

The State did not provide the requested funds. Instead, the legislature provided only $3 million.

37. On March 12, 2021, Mayor Lumumba similarly wrote to the Lt. Governor, seeking

his support of legislation authorizing a one percent sales tax bill. The letter was followed by an in-

person meeting between the two.

38. On September 23, 2022, Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, wrote

to Governor Reeves and Defendant Wells making the case that the current cap on loan forgiveness

per the State’s Independent Use Plan—$500,000—was too low given the billions of dollars needed

to fix Jackson’s water. Johnson pleaded with the Governor and Defendant Wells to prioritize the

need in places like Jackson, as the EPA urged.

39. Defendants have engaged in a long-standing pattern and practice of systematically

depriving Jackson of the funds that it needs to operate and maintain its water facilities in a safe

and reliable manner.

40. MDEQ received funds from the EPA as part of a “historic opportunity to correct

longstanding environmental and economic injustice”, and despite being aware of Jackson’s severe

needs, distributed to the City only a small fraction and disproportionately low amount. From fiscal

year 2015 through 2022, the EPA awarded MDEQ’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund over

$81 million in capitalization grants and the Mississippi State Department of Health awarded nearly

$265 million in Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loans to all its loan recipients combined;

$51 million in loans were awarded to Jackson from 2016 through 2021.

41. Mississippi has also blocked Jackson’s ability to obtain and generate funds at the

state and local level. Governor Reeves vetoed infrastructure funding legislation, S.B. 2586, in 2020

that was vital to the Jackson water supply’s future. In 2011, the Mississippi Legislature rejected a
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1% sales tax that would have funded repairs to Jackson’s water and sewage system. Governor

Reeves appointed a State Commission that restricts Jackson’s Mayor and City Council in

expending funds, leaving Jackson’s elected officials with a minority representation on the

Commission. And Governor Reeves has refused to compensate Jackson for lost tax revenues from

significant areas of state-owned, tax-exempt real estate, despite proposals for a “Payment in Lieu

of [Property] Taxes” system.

42. The Mississippi Department of Health considers those revenue streams when

considering whether to grant a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan. Thus, when

the state blocks Jackson’s attempts to raise revenue (for instance, Jackson's request for a 1% sales

tax), the State adversely impacts Jackson’s ability to secure a DWSRF loan.

43. Similarly, those revenue streams would increase the amount of money Jackson

could obtain through the MDEQ matching grants, which are the subject of this Complaint.

44. Yet, Lt. Governor and State Senate President Delbert Hosemann has publicly

queried, “You remember during Kane Ditto’s administration, he did repair work on water and

sewer. So what happened since then?”, as if to attribute blame for the water crisis to the inaction

of all seven black mayors since Kane Ditto—the last white mayor of Jackson.

45. In the same legislative session wherein Mississippi’s Legislature passed S.B. 2822,

the Legislature failed to vote on a bill (H.B. 1064), which would have provided Jackson with an

additional $42 million in ARPA funds beyond what would be available via the state’s matching

funds.

46. The people unable to use Jackson’s water while the State has denied the City’s

requests for help are largely low-income black people who cannot afford to purchase safe water or

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move to affordable housing with consistent access to water. Individual residents of Jackson have

reported spending most of their monthly federal SNAP funds on bottled water.

47. Black residents make up 96% of the residents of The Housing Authority of the City

of Jackson (JHA). JHA operates 34 single-family units of low-income Public Housing, 188 Project

Based Vouchers, and 835 Housing Choice Vouchers.

48. On September 8, 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development

(“HUD”)’s Jackson, Mississippi field office conducted site visits to Section 8 and multifamily

public housing complexes and reported their findings to HUD’s Multifamily Southeast Regional

Office. These complexes consisted of family, elderly, and disabled units. Site visits demonstrated

that there was a boil water notice for all 32 complexes visited and all of the residents relied on

bottled water for drinking. Of those 32 complexes, 23 of them did not have potable tap water.

Fifteen of the housing complexes surveyed required bottled water for both drinking and hygiene,

3 used bottled water and tap water for hygiene, and 14 complexes stated “yes” or “good water

pressure” or water system for uses related to hygiene despite many of these same complexes’ tap

water being designated as not potable.

49. Of the approximately 20 tenants who lost water service at Blossom Apartments in

July 2025, 13 relied upon vouchers through HUD or the Jackson Housing Authority.

50. Amid ongoing uncertainty about water quality and safety, water affordability and

water shutoffs took center stage in 2024. JXN Water implemented new charges and fees, including

rate increases, shut-off fees, tamper fees, and a $40 “water availability charge” effective January

1, 2024. JXN Water’s rate increases were accompanied by promises to ramp up shut-offs—all

aimed at addressing the utility’s cash flow challenges and collection rates, which have been

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averaging just above 65%. The rate increases were announced on JXN Water’s website, with an

advisory that drinking JXN Water was still cheaper than buying bottled water.

51. In July 2024, residents of Gardenside Apartments in Jackson lost water service due

to the complex’s overdue bill of more than $148,000. That same month, Blossom Apartments lost

water service for a brief period of time before the owner made a $48,000 payment to have service

reconnected. JXN Water acknowledged that residents who were impacted were not directly

responsible for the nonpayment. Indeed, those residents—largely seniors, veterans and otherwise

disabled individuals— paid their rents, inclusive of utility payments, to the complex’s utility. The

summer water shutoff came at no fault of the low-income, black tenants.

52. In April 2025, Henifin proposed another rate increase—this time of approximately

12% (or $9/month per customer) in order to cover a $30 million deficit in the water system’s

annual operating costs.

53. While testifying in support of this rate increase, Henifin reported that the $35.6

million in ARPA funds has not yet been disbursed to Jackson.

B. 2022 S.B. 2822

54. In March 2021, the United States Congress passed ARPA (House Bill 1319), which

established the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF). Via its administration

of the Fund, the U. S. Treasury was to distribute $350 billion to state, local, and tribal governments

to “respond to acute pandemic-response needs, fill revenue shortfalls among state and local

governments, and support the communities and populations hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis.”

Among the potential uses enumerated by the U.S. Treasury was, “[i]nvest in water, sewer, and

broadband infrastructure, improving access to clean drinking water, supporting vital wastewater

and stormwater infrastructure, and expanding access to broadband internet.” Additionally, funds
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were to be used to “aid the communities and populations hardest hit by the crisis, supporting an

equitable recovery by addressing not only the immediate harms of the pandemic, but its

exacerbation of longstanding public health, economic and educational disparities.”

55. In 2023, an updated Interim Final Rule added to the list of eligible uses: activities

that are eligible under the CDBG and ICDBG programs, as listed in section 105(a) of the Housing

and Community Development Act of 1974. Section 105(a) includes Section “relocation payments

and assistance for displaced individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and farm operations,

when determined by the grantee to be appropriate”, and housing services such as housing

counseling.

56. Mississippi was to receive $1.8 billion of the $350 billion. Separately, Jackson

received $42 million in ARPA Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds directly from the federal

government.

57. Mississippi received the first half of its total SLFRF allocation in May of 2021.

That money was not appropriated until 2022. Following a 2020 dispute between Governor Reeves

and Legislature over Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds, the

Legislature passed Mississippi H.B. 109 requiring such federal assistance funds be appropriated

or otherwise made available by the Legislature. Thus, ARPA funds remained in the Mississippi

Treasury fund for nearly a year, until the 2022 Legislature allocated $1.5 billion of the funds for

the Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023.

58. For Fiscal Year 2022 (July 1 through June 30), the Mississippi Legislature allocated

$450 million to MDEQ, with $400 million going towards water and sewer projects in cities and

counties and $50 million to match assistance for cities that received under $1 million Coronavirus

Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

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59. On April 26, 2022, Governor Reeves signed into law Mississippi Senate Bill 2822

to administer a state pass-through grant program, the MCWI Grant Program, to disburse the $450

million of ARPA funds allocated to the State of Mississippi’s water projects.

C. MCWI’s Discriminatory Design and Operation

60. Senate Bill 2822 enacted a discriminatory grant program that codified decades of

discrimination against the City of Jackson and operated to limit Jackson’s access to ARPA funds.

a. Matching Requirement

61. States have wide discretion in how they award ARPA funds and the State of

Mississippi abused that discretion by creating a matching system which preemptively limited

Jackson’s access to much needed financial assistance.

62. S.B. 2822 allowed Mississippi’s larger municipalities and cities like Jackson to

apply for funding for water and sewer projects with a one-to-one match using their own direct

ARPA funds, while smaller municipalities receiving less than $1 million in ARPA funds could

request two-to-one matching.

63. Although applied to all applicants in the first of two rounds of applications, the

matching requirement was subsequently waived for the second round—76% of MCWI applicants.

Recipients of MCWI awards during the first round of applications were not permitted to seek

additional funding in the second round. Consequently, Defendant Wells and MCWI effectively

operated two competitions—one for Jackson, and a separate one for the majority of applicants.

64. Under color of law, Defendant Wells’ matching requirement targeted Jackson and

its 120,000 black residents, including Plaintiffs.

65. At the time the matching requirement was created in the 2022 legislative session,

the State of Mississippi knew exactly how much direct federal ARPA money Jackson received in
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2021. Defendants were aware Jackson received far more than the $1 million dollar ceiling it created

for eligibility for a two-to-one match.

66. Other states have awarded all federal funds without requiring matching from local

grant recipients.

67. Louisiana provided for a waiver of the matching requirement or decreased match

where the local governing authority or water system is unable to provide a match.

68. Alabama allocated $225 million of ARPA funds for water and sewer projects--

$120 million of which would go to previously identified emergency or high need projects without

a local match; $100 million of which would require a local match based on ability to pay; and $5

million of which would go to longstanding problems in the Black Belt region of the state.

b. Scoring System

69. Mississippi’s S.B. 2822 established and funded the MCWI Grant Program, to be

administered by Defendant Wells and MDEQ. Defendant Wells produced Rules and Regulations

as to the administration of the program, determined eligibility based on submission of applications

for match funds, developed a scoring system, ranked eligible applications, awarded funding, and

monitored the funded programs to assure compliance with federal and state laws, rules and

regulations.

70. Defendant Wells and the MCWI Grant Program have published three versions of

its scoring system. The version in place at the time of Jackson’s application awarded nearly 1/4 of

its points by considering the median income and unemployment rates of residents in an applicant’s

service area.

71. As a result, MCWI’s scoring system may award projects in other parts of the state

twice as many points under the “disadvantaged and overburdened communities” category if the
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area median income is slightly lower than that of Jackson’s, even if these other areas already have

access to clean and reliable drinking water. Jackson’s need was far more complex than a question

of median income.

72. Of 100 points available in the MCWI scoring system, only 15 points at most could

be awarded based on the lack of clean water that complies with primary drinking water standards.

The dire, longstanding deficiency in Jackson’s water infrastructure would easily be outweighed by

consideration of the project(s)’s timeline for completion. The scoring system awarded up to 24

points for projects which could be completed by December 31, 2026, and were already underway

or ready to begin in 6 months.

73. Jackson’s water crisis could be outweighed by superficial considerations of median

income, unemployment rates, and the number of political subdivisions served. While appearing to

consider the needs of disadvantaged and overburdened communities, MCWI’s scoring system

turned a blind eye to the well-documented water crisis brewing in Mississippi’s largest,

predominantly black city.

74. In addition to the matching requirements, Defendant Wells employed a scoring

system which failed to appropriately weigh the mitigation risk and need despite their knowledge

of the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. On November 4, 2022, Defendant Wells and MDEQ

awarded Jackson with $35.6 million in SLFRF monies to match Jackson’s local SLFRF monies,

for a total of $71 million in SLFRF for water projects.

75. Subsequently, in April 2023, the Mississippi Legislature passed Senate Bill 2444,

which removed from the MCWI program the scoring requirements under which Jackson’s request

was evaluated.

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76. S.B. 2444 went on to provide an additional $41 million to fully fund all applications

submitted during the second and final round of applications. However, Jackson and the

municipalities who were awarded funding during the first round were precluded from applying for

additional funds. In the end, less than 24% of MCWI funded projects were scored as Jackson was

scored.

77. Removing the scoring system from subsequent awards while prohibiting the City

of Jackson from obtaining additional funds in the second round of awards has perpetuated the

burden and harm on black residents of Jackson.

78. Defendant Wells and MCWI scored the City of Jackson’s round of applications by

placing significant weight on a statistic – median income—that does not tell the whole story, rather

than considering which systems are at risk of becoming distressed or are already distressed because

of an amalgamation of factors including but not limited to poverty rates.

79. As applied during the first round of MCWI grant applications and at the time of

Jackson’s November 4, 2022, award, the MCWI matching requirement and scoring system’s

oversights disproportionately affected black residents of Jackson like the Plaintiffs.

80. As applied during the first round of MCWI grant applications and at the time of

Jackson’s November 4, 2022, award, the MCWI matching requirement and scoring system ensured

Defendants could continue Mississippi’s decades-long history of refusing to turn over hundreds of

millions of dollars to a predominantly black city in a water crisis.

81. In May of 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency responded to a 2022

Administrative Complaint filed against MDEQ and Defendant Wells with a recommendation that

MDEQ ensure funding is allocated to communities with the greatest need and assess the terms of

its funding programs on large communities like Jackson: “Assess loan terms to ensure meaningful
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access to funding for communities in greatest need over time and develop and, if within MDEQ’s

authority, implement alternative approaches, to include: Limits on SRF forgiveness parameters

such as the amount, caps, and size of community eligible to receive loan forgiveness, all of which

uniquely affect a large system such as Jackson’s”.

82. Defendant Wells has ignored recommendations from the EPA that MDEQ ensure

that funding is allocated to communities most in-need - regardless of race.

83. Under color of state law, Defendant Wells has operated a grant program, which

purported to have the express purpose of allocating ARPA water and sewer infrastructure funds,

to discriminate against the predominantly black city of Jackson which, due to decades of pleas for

financial assistance from City leadership, Defendant knew had an exigent need for such water and

sewer infrastructure funds.

84. Defendant Wells engaged in a consistent pattern of decision making that prevented

critical mitigation resources from reaching the City that needed it most. Jackson is the only

Mississippi city or municipality with such a significant, long-standing need. No other Mississippi

water system requires billions of dollars of repairs. Moreover, Defendant Wells knew this decision

making would most disadvantage black residents, as 81.8% of Jackson’s residents are black.

D. Withholding and Reversion of Funds Awarded to the City of Jackson

85. By enacting and effectuating S.B. 2822, Defendants required Jackson to deposit

any ARPA funds it receives via the MCWI grant program “in the Capital City Water/Sewer

Projects Fund of the State Treasury.”

86. No other jurisdiction is required to turn over its grant funds to the State, and S. B.

2822 did not specify under what circumstances Defendants Welch and McRae will disburse

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Jackson’s grant monies beyond a requirement that Jackson submit a plan outlining the use of the

funds for approval.

87. Defendants’ requirement that Jackson submit a plan for using the ARPA funds is a

pretext for the State’s discriminatory purpose because Defendants know Jackson has already

created, and repeatedly updated, a plan for using the funds it has repeatedly requested from the

State. Jackson’s Water Master Plan was prepared in 1985 and updated in 1997 and 2012.

88. This requirement has slowed Jackson’s access to the funds it so desperately needs

and allowed Defendants to continue blocking Jackson’s access to funding, paving the way for an

attempted forced takeover of Jackson’s water facilities.

89. Additionally, any funds not used by January 1, 2027, revert back to the State’s

general fund or to the U.S. Treasury, permanently stripping Jackson of those funds.

E. Discriminatory Intent

90. While defending another bill impacting the City of Jackson, Mississippi State

Representative Trey Lamar very plainly stated: “We're not going to turn over hundreds of millions

of dollars to a city government over the last several years that's theme is this: no water, no sewer,

no garbage collection, no attempt to collect the necessary fees that operate those systems.”

91. Legislators’ words and actions indicate the State, and by extension the Defendants

as state actors, have no intention of complying with U.S. Treasury’s directive that ARPA funds be

used to “aid the communities and populations hardest hit by the crisis, supporting an equitable

recovery by addressing not only the immediate harms of the pandemic, but its exacerbation of

longstanding public health, economic and educational disparities.”

92. On October 17, 2022, U. S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12) and

Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02) sent a 7-page letter to Governor Reeves citing the conditions of
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Jackson residents, as well as President Biden’s Emergency Declaration. The letter stated, “the

Jackson Water Crisis was a disaster waiting to happen, and it will not be resolved unless we address

generational disinvestment in majority black cities.”

93. The Representatives’ letter specifically requested the status of ARPA funding that

could be used to assist the residents of Jackson. Representatives Maloney and Thompson directly

questioned the impact of S.B. 2822:

• We are also troubled by the Mississippi Legislature’s decision to allocate federal

funding from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program on a matching basis
with municipalities, which risks further perpetuating underinvestment in Jackson. The
cost of necessary maintenance to Jackson’s water distribution systems is forecasted to
be as high as $1 billion. Under the matching formula. Mississippi adopted for American
Rescue Plan Act funds, Jackson would directly receive, at most, $84 million for water
projects—assuming the city is able to use its entire allocation for these projects.
Although the Legislature established a dedicated fund for capital area water and sewage
projects, it chose to impose special burdens on Jackson’s ability to obtain funding for
projects not shared by other municipalities. Further, as part of this formula, any funds
left unused on January 1, 2027, revert to the State’s general fund, stripping Jackson of
those funds.

The letter then concluded with a request for a breakdown of the localities who received state

ARPA funds (including amount, racial demographics, and population size), as well as a detailed

description of the additional layer of review for applications from the City of Jackson and the basis

for it.

94. Governor Reeves responded on October 31, 2022, largely hiding behind the fact

that awards of ARPA funds had not yet been announced and no funds had been deposited into the

Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund yet. Despite the fact Jackson has already drafted and twice

updated a 20-year Water Master Plan, Reeves suggested, “it must establish a plan for the project

or projects for which the governing authorities desire assistance and submit the plan and

application for assistance to the Department of Finance and Administration.” Reeves quoted an

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inflated estimate of $148 million in funding earmarked for Jackson without acknowledging

Jackson’s need for $2 billion to address its longstanding water infrastructure woes. Similarly,

Reeves emphasized that Jackson has only applied for funds from the DWSRF three 3 times,

without acknowledging that Jackson’s limited revenue prevents it from requesting and repaying

the significant amount of money needed.

F. Third Party Manager and Funding

95. On September 26, 2022, a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of

the EPA, notified the City of Jackson of the government’s intent to file an action against the City

under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

96. The letter requested the City immediately enter into negotiations with the DOJ

regarding the recent drinking water crisis.

97. On November 29, 2022, the U.S. DOJ, on behalf of the EPA, moved forward with

filing a Complaint against the City of Jackson, alleging failure to comply with the Safe Drinking

Water Act. Attorney General Merrick Garland advised the Complaint was filed to allow the City

and the DOJ to reach an agreement that could be judicially enforced.

98. The agreement/order authorized Henifin, as ITPM, to: Operate and maintain the

city’s public drinking water system in compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act, the Mississippi

Safe Drinking Water Act, and related regulations; Take charge of the Water Sewer Business

Administration, the arm of the City responsible for billing water users; Implement capital

improvements to the City’s public drinking water system, in particular, a set of priority projects

meant to improve the system’s near-term stability, including a winterization project meant to make

the system less vulnerable to winter storms; and correct conditions within the City’s public

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drinking water system that present, or may present, an imminent and substantial endangerment to

the health of the City’s residents.

99. However, 2 years later, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued a report

finding that “layers of inadequate oversight and enforcement” by state and federal agencies

contributed to the water crisis. In particular, MSDH did not notify City officials about significant

problems after sanitary surveys and annual inspections from 2015 through 2021.

100. Under Henifin, improvements to Jackson’s water system have been funded by: An

EPA award of over $148 million in funding to address the City’s drinking water emergency with

its emergency grant authority; MSDH approved use of nearly $300 million in DWSRF; A

congressional directed community grant of $1.5 million, and payment of bills for water and sewer

service by individual and commercial customers.

101. The City of Jackson did not receive any ARPA funds from the Capital City

Water/Sewer Projects Fund of the Mississippi Treasury until November 2023.

102. Defendant McRae reports only $3.8 of the $35.6 million awarded to the City of

Jackson by the MCWI have been disbursed to JXN Water as of August 18, 2022.

103. Henifin testified, on June 16, 2025, that he was “holding out hope that we see that

$36 million come our way”.

104. Within days of the Court denying Henifin’s proposed rate increase, Henifin and

JXN Water indicated that water shutoffs would begin for a list of up to 15 apartment buildings that

owe the utility hundreds of thousands of dollars in past due bills.

105. Henifin’s 4 year contract expires in 2026, and he has stated he plans to leave

Jackson in September or October 2027.

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G. Ongoing Attempts to Undermine Jackson’s Self-Governance

106. Rather than simply provide Jackson resources to address perceived deficiencies, the

State of Mississippi has a pattern of using federal resources to fund the political and economic

disenfranchisement of black Jacksonians. S.B. 2822 is just one of many ways the State of

Mississippi has acted upon its discriminatory purpose.

107. Defendants Wells and Welch’s retention of ARPA funds intended for Jackson is

complementary to the State’s ongoing attempts to take over Jackson’s water system.

108. Mississippi’s Senate, with the support of Henifin, has pushed for the creation of a

Capitol Region Utility Authority which would strip Jackson of control over its water system and

give control to a State Board.

109. The efforts to create a Capitol Region Utility Authority, though unsuccessful to

date, build upon the State’s successful takeover of Jackson’s courts and police via 2023 H.B. 1020

and S.B. 2343 respectively. Lt. Governor Hosemann acknowledged Hinds County, the county

where Jackson is located, is the only county where the State paid hundreds of thousands of dollars

to overlay an additional judicial system. Defendant Welch was tasked with the administration of

both H.B. 1020 and S.B. 2343.

110. When Jackson’s schools needed help in 2017, Mississippi’s previous governor

considered a state takeover instead.

111. Similarly, the State of Mississippi has continued to pursue Mississippi’s takeover

of Jackson’s airport per a 2016 law passed to create a State controlled airport Board.

112. Also in 2016, State Representative Mark Barker stated he would consider drafting

legislation to install a conservator over Jackson because of budget woes.

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113. Finally, when the state did allow Jackson to instate a 1% sales tax for infrastructure,

the tax legislation was held hostage until Jackson’s mayor agreed to allow a State-appointed

commission to oversee the disbursement of approximately $15 million in annual revenue.

114. For 30 years, the State of Mississippi, with help from Defendants, has built upon,

rather than correct, its disinvestment in black residents of Jackson.

115. The State’s resolve to take as many resources as possible from the black Residents

of Jackson and place control of Jackson in the hands of white state officials smacks of apartheid.

The Defendants’ actions in support of the State’s multi-decade efforts to nullify Jackson’s self-

governance are intentionally discriminatory.

H. Harm to Plaintiffs

116. Plaintiff NAACP holds its banner annual fundraiser in late summer/early fall with

the aim of raising $20,000 for Jackson Public School students’ scholarships and books. The annual

event takes place in person at a Masonic Lodge. That fundraiser could not take place in 2022 due

to Jackson water system’s failure. Plaintiff NAACP was unable to make up those funds and did

not give out its usual scholarships.

117. Plaintiff NAACP has generally held in-person meetings for its membership at Cade

Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson. Plaintiff NAACP was unable to hold in-person

meetings for approximately six months following the August 2022 water system failure due to the

lack of water.

118. Following and as a result of the water crisis issues, Plaintiff NAACP has seen its

members move out of the City of Jackson due to the lack of water. Plaintiff NAACP’s membership

has decreased from 500 members to approximately 330 in the last 3 years.

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119. Plaintiff NAACP’s members, particularly those residing in South Jackson near

Forest Hills, have complained of water shortages and shutoffs for days at a time as recently as

2024.

120. Plaintiff NAACP’s members still complain of water that does not appear clean or

safe, prompting the organization to continue distributing bottled water.

121. Plaintiff NAACP’s members include disabled and elderly residents of assisted

living and senior living communities. Plaintiff NAACP’s members are at risk of experiencing

water shutoffs and sudden displacement at no fault of their own.

122. Plaintiff NAACP’s members live in South Jackson neighborhoods where flooding

is a concern. They also fear sudden displacement from their homes as a result of Jackon’s ongoing

water infrastructure crisis.

123. Plaintiff Lambright owns two homes within Jackson city limits. She and her

husband live in one while her son lives in the other. She and her family were without potable

water for a month after Jackson’s water system failed on August 22, 2022. They were without

safe drinking water for weeks longer.

124. Plaintiff Lambright’s residence is in a South Jackson neighborhood where flooding

threatens to displace her and her husband. Recent storms have caused the water to rise noticeably

in her garage.

125. In 2024, six houses on Plaintiff Lambright’s Street were flooded. Those families

were displaced from their homes for six months.

126. Plaintiff Lambright and her husband go through two cases of water per week, to

cook and brush their teeth. They have spent thousands of dollars purchasing potable water since

August 2022.
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127. Plaintiff Lambright’ son resides in her North Jackson property. Plaintiff Lambright

had intended to use the home as a rental property but is not able to do so due to Jackson’s ongoing

water crisis and lack of clean water.

128. On August 7, 2025, after weeks without water service, Plaintiff Glasper was

advised to leave her home within 5 days, per a relocation order from the Mississippi Home

Corporation advising all tenants of Blossom Apartments citing safety violations and health

concerns.

129. Plaintiff Glasper paid $900 per month to Blossom Apartments which was to cover

rent and include all utilities. There was no specified amount for water. Plaintiff Glasper received

$888 in social security retirement income and her granddaughter received $967 in social security

disability.

130. Plaintiff Glasper’s water was also shutoff in 2024, due to Blossom Apartments’

failure to pay the water bill.

131. Without water, Plaintiff Glasper boiled water every morning to cook and do sponge

baths. Plaintiff Glasper’s daughter left to go to a hotel to take a hot bath. Plaintiff Glasper has

been unable to clean like she wants and relies on water brought by firemen to keep the toilet

flushed.

132. Water donations do not ease Plaintiff Glasper’s concerns that she does not have the

resources to find affordable housing with consistent, running water. She and her daughter have

spent every day on the phone to find a new apartment. Plaintiff Glasper saved money from her

August 2025 social security check and her granddaughter’s disability checks for application fees,

but has had to pass on apartments where she cannot afford the rent of $1400. She is struggling to

find adequate housing she can afford and that has access to water. Plaintiff Glasper has told her
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granddaughters to stop shopping and spending money on apps on their phones, because they need

to save every single penny for rental applications and moving expenses.

133. Plaintiff Glasper is planning to put her belongings in storage if she is not able to

find an apartment soon. She worries about finding adequate housing before the weather gets cold.

134. Blossom Apartments’ residents have struggled to identify units they can afford to

apply and qualify for, and which are not on the list of apartment complexes JXN Water may shut

off next.

135. Plaintiff Glasper is feeling the economic, emotional and mental burden of having

to find new housing on a short timeline, amid an influx of other residents doing the same thing.

136. Stewpot Community Services “Stewpot”—a Mississippi nonprofit using a federal

emergency housing grant to assist Blossom Apartments’ residents—has offered to provide

application fees and security deposits. Stewpot has indicated it can provide more limited assistance

for the first month’s rent, depending on applicants’ income.

137. JXN Water also terminated water service to Chapel Ridge Apartments, in Jackson,

on August 1, 2025 and has not yet restored water service to those apartments.

138. Residents of Chapel Ridge have not been able to access services from Stewpot.

Stewpot does not have unlimited resources to provide counseling services to all of the potentially

affected complexes at this moment.

139. JXN Water has not publicly announced which other complexes will be shut off next

but has indicated that the Blossom and Chapel Ridge shutoffs may be “practice runs” for future

apartment complex shutoffs.

140. Residents of Tracewood Apartments may be next, and hundreds more Jacksonians

could be displaced from their homes if the shutoffs continue to follow in the same manner as the
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Blossom Apartments shutoffs and subsequent relocation orders. See Case No. 3:25-cv-00606-HTW-

LGI

141. The harm to Plaintiffs could be remedied if Defendants Welch, and McRae released

Jackson’s ARPA funds for use in community-centered activities that are eligible under the CDBG

and ICDBG programs, as listed in section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development

Act of 1974. Plaintiffs will be adversely affected if Defendants continue to withhold federal relief

funds which Defendants have possessed since before the August 2022 failure of Jackson’s water

system.

142. Harms similar to Plaintiffs’ may be felt by thousands of Jacksonians if Defendants

discrimination is not enjoined by this Court.

143. Plaintiffs have no plain, adequate, or complete remedy at law to redress the wrongs

described herein.

144. Plaintiffs are still residents of Jackson, serviced by JXN Water, such that they are

susceptible to future harm as a result of Defendants’ ongoing discrimination.

CLAIMS

COUNT ONE

Race Based Discrimination in Funding Competition Under Color of Law

Violation of the Equal Protection Clause of Fourteenth Amendment to the United

States Constitution, Brought Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,

(by all Plaintiffs against Defendant Wells)

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145. Plaintiffs incorporate herein and re-allege, as if fully set forth herein, all factual

allegations of paragraphs 1–145.

146. Plaintiffs are black residents of Jackson, Mississippi. They are members of the

protected class most impacted by S.B. 2822, which intentionally singled out and disadvantaged

the largest pre-dominantly black city in Mississippi. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan

Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

147. The near-collapse of Jackson’s water system in 2022 and subsequent forced

displacement of Jackson residents was both the obviously foreseeable outcome and intended

purpose of Defendants’ continued and systemic withholding of relief funds requested by Jackson’s

black leadership. Reno v. Bossier Par. Sch. Bd., 520 U.S. 471, 487 (1997); Veasey v. Abbott, 830

F.3d 216, 230 (5th Cir. 2016). See also Columbus Bd. of Educ. v. Penick, 443 U.S. 449, 465, (1979)

148. The Plaintiffs’ financial harm—including money spent on bottled water and

relocation -- was both the obviously foreseeable outcome and intended purpose of Defendants’

continued and systematic withholding of relief funds requested by Jackson’s black leadership.

Reno v. Bossier Par. Sch. Bd., 520 U.S. 471, 487 (1997); Veasey v. Abbott, 830 F.3d 216, 230 (5th

Cir. 2016). See also Columbus Bd. of Educ. v. Penick, 443 U.S. 449, 465, (1979)

149. The historical background behind the enactment of S.B. 2822 includes a 30 year

history of disinvestment in Jackson while both its leadership and population became increasingly

black. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S.

252 (1977)

150. The sequence of events leading up to Defendants’ enactment of S.B. 2822

evidences intentional discrimination. The State of Mississippi enacted the matching requirements

and charged Wells with administering the matching grant program in the same legislative session
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the Legislature declined to pass a bill sending unencumbered funds to Jackson. Village of

Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

151. Furthermore, under color of law and in furtherance of a discriminatory purpose,

Defendant Wells awarded Jackson a $35.6 million dollar matching grant on November 4, 2022

just months after the Mississippi Legislature declined to give Jackson $42 million unencumbered

by unnecessary obstacles. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development

Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

152. Demonstrating a deviation from normal procedure and normal criteria intended to

harm black residents who make up the majority of Jackson’s population, Defendant Wells applied

the matching requirement and scoring system ONLY during the first round of MCWI grant

applications when Jackson was expected to apply, but waived the matching for the subsequent and

majority of applicants. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development

Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

153. The legislative history, including remarks by State Senate President Hosemann and

Representative Lamar as well as the Legislature’s refusal to vote on a proposal to send additional

ARPA funds to the City of Jackson—leave no doubt as to discriminatory intent. Village of

Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

154. Defendant’s actions both directly and proximately exacerbated and prolonged the

Jackson water crisis by leaving Plaintiffs and over 122,000 other black residents of Jackson

without overdue relief and ultimately without consistent access to safe, affordable water necessary

for adequate housing.

155. Defendants actions have deprived Plaintiffs of Equal Protection under the law under

the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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156. Defendants’ conduct is neither required nor authorized by any federal law, and

violates 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

157. The balance of hardships and public policy strongly favor the Court entering a

declaratory judgment finding S.B. 2822 unconstitutional.

COUNT TWO

Equal Access to Funding

Violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

(by all Plaintiff against Defendants Welch and McRae)

158. Plaintiffs incorporate herein and re-allege, as if fully set forth herein, all factual

allegations of paragraphs 1–145, and 154-157.

159. The sequence of events leading up to Defendants’ enactment of S.B. 2822

evidences intentional discrimination. The State of Mississippi instructed Defendants McRae and

Welch to withhold ARPA funds from the City of Jackson in the same legislative session the

Legislature declined to pass a bill sending unencumbered funds to Jackson. Village of Arlington

Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

160. Defendants McRea and Welch deviated from normal procedure by depositing and

holding only Jackson’s MWCI award in the Capital City Water/ Sewer Project Funds. S.B. 2822 singled

out Jackson as the only municipality subject to this additional step. Village of Arlington Heights v.

Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

161. Further deviating from normal procedures, Defendants McRae and Welch have

enforced S.B. 2822’s additional ambiguous requirements to delay and obfuscate the City of

Jackson’s ability to draw upon the Fund. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing

Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

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162. The increase in water rates and water shutoffs in Jackson are both the obviously

foreseeable outcomes and intended purpose of Defendants’ continued and systematic withholding

of funds requested by Jackson’s black leadership. Reno v. Bossier Par. Sch. Bd., 520 U.S. 471, 487

(1997); Veasey v. Abbott, 830 F.3d 216, 230 (5th Cir. 2016). See also Columbus Bd. of Educ. v. Penick,

443 U.S. 449, 465, (1979)

163. Defendants’ conduct is likely to continue unless enjoined.

164. The balance of hardships and public policy strongly favor the Court entering a

preliminary injunction and thereafter permanently enjoining Defendants’ unlawful policies and

practices as described herein.

COUNT THREE

Equal Access to Funding

Violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

(by all Plaintiffs against all Defendants)

165. Plaintiffs incorporate herein and reallege, as if fully set forth herein, all factual

allegations of paragraphs 1-164.

166. Defendants’ agencies receive federal funding.

167. Defendants’ agencies have been tasked with the allocation and/or disbursement of

ARPA funding received from the federal government.

168. Plaintiffs have been harmed by Defendants’ actions in administering and operating

programs under S.B. 2822. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development

Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977) and McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792

(1973)

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169. Plaintiffs are all black residents of Jackson and members of a protected class based

on their race. McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)

170. In furtherance of 2822, Defendants created hurdles which would prevent black

Jacksonians from being awarded and actually receiving ARPA funding. McDonnell Douglas

Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)

171. No other municipality has been subjected to matching requirements, scoring

system, and mandatory use of the Capital City Water/ Sewer Projects Fund as Jackson has.

McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)

172. Defendant Wells knowingly and intentionally acted to ensure that Jackson could

request and would receive MCWI funds to cover only 3.5% of its need. The same cannot be said

of any other municipality that would apply for MCWI grant funds. McDonnell Douglas

Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)

173. In furtherance of 2822, Defendants have denied Plaintiffs access to federal funding

without a legitimate non-discriminatory reason. McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green, 411

U.S. 792 (1973)

174. Defendants’ racial discrimination against the black leadership and residents of

Jackson was at least on purpose. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing

Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252 (1977) and McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green,

411 U.S. 792 (1973)

175. Defendants have intentionally denied black residents of Jackson equal opportunity

and equal access to federal funds in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

176. Defendants’ actions have perpetuated and protracted the harms of the Jackson water

crisis including but not limited to the financial harms of displacement due to water shutoffs.
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PRAYER FOR RELIEF

On the basis of the foregoing, Plaintiffs respectfully pray that this Court:

1. Assume jurisdiction over this action;

2. Declare that Defendants violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by implementing and

administering the MCWI grants program and Capital City Water/ Sewer Projects Fund

per the unconstitutional provisions of S.B. 2822 and H.B. 1031;

3. Preliminarily enjoin Defendants’ operation, alteration or expenditure of the Capital City

Water/Sewer Projects Fund containing the City of Jackson’s ARPA funds during the

pendency of this litigation without a Court-approved Consent Decree;

4. Permanently enjoin Defendants from retaining the funds awarded to the City of Jackson on

January 1, 2027 per H.B. 1031;

5. Order Defendants to disburse City of Jackson’s ARPA SRLF relief, for community-

centered and ARPA- eligible uses, including creation of a fund for relocation payments

and assistance for displaced individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and farm

operations;

6. Award costs and reasonable attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and any other

applicable provision of law;

7. Award such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Respectfully submitted this 21st day of August, 2025

s/ Wesley Evans_______________________
Wesley Evans
Mississippi Bar #9956
Jamie Rush*
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Case 3:25-cv-00632-HTW-LGI Document 1 Filed 08/21/25 Page 38 of 38

Georgia Bar 999887

Crystal McElrath*
Georgia Bar 277151
Alabama Bar 4715M00I
Jacqueline Azis*
Florida Bar 101057
THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

* Pro hac vice application forthcoming

Counsel for Plaintiffs

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