Truth Lounge to remain closed as appeal of city decision moves forward

NATCHEZ—Adams County Sixth Circuit District Court Judge Carmen Drake told an attorney representing the Truth Lounge that the law does not allow for injunctive relief in its case.

Jackson attorney Jeffrey Graves filed for a preliminary injunction against the City of Natchez, which, if granted, would allow the Truth Lounge to reopen while his clients, Truth Lounge owners Rickey Banks and David Haywood, appeal the city’s decision to keep the lounge closed.

Drake said the remedy available to the Truth Lounge is to appeal the city’s decision, which has already been filed.

Graves said he asked for the preliminary injunction because the city has “dragged its feet” on providing the records of the hearings to date, which he said is in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. The act requires minutes to be published and available to the public within 30 days of a municipal meeting.

“We made the emergency request because of the lack of cooperation by the city,” Graves said.

Drake said the city has 30 days from the date the appeal is filed to produce those minutes. The Truth Lounge’s appeal was filed on June 28, which gives the city until Monday, June 29, to deliver the information. She asked city attorney Jack Lazarus if the city would meet its July 29 deadline. He said it would.

“I understand that every day the Truth Lounge is closed is a financial loss,” Drake said.

The city hired Hattiesburg attorney L. Clark Hicks Jr. to work with Lazarus on the case. He suggested the court set dates for briefs involved in the appeal.

Drake set Aug. 13 for the plaintiff to file its brief with the court and Aug. 28 for the city to file its response. Should Drake choose to move the Truth Lounge appeal forward after reading those briefs, she will then set a date for oral arguments.

Until then, the Truth Lounge will remain closed.

The Truth Lounge has been closed since April 25, when the city’s planning commission voted 4 to 3 to revoke the special exception that allowed it to operate in the city’s historic district.

Owners Rickey Banks and David Haywood appealed that decision to the city’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen on June 18. However, after a public hearing at that meeting, aldermen voted 3 to 2 to deny the request. Ward 5 Aldermen Ben Davis did not attend the June 18 meeting because he was out of town, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson.

The city’s planning commission, by unanimous vote, granted Banks and Haywood a special exception to open Truth Lounge at 719-½ Franklin St. on March 16, 2023.

Truth Lounge and its owners have been under scrutiny from the city and county law enforcement and city officials almost since it opened.

At a special meeting in October 2023, the mayor and three aldermen voted to close the lounge after a fight inside it took law officers 20 minutes to quell. Sixth Circuit District Judge Debra Blackwell then signed an agreement between the city and Truth Lounge attorneys that paved the way for it to reopen but with restricted hours. Since that time, the city and Truth Lounge attorneys came to an agreement that allowed it to reopen with no restrictions, as long as it agreed to provide security in its building and to keep the sidewalk clear in front of the building at 719-1/2 Franklin St.

As a result, Truth Lounge owners dropped a lawsuit it had filed against the city. However, the lounge’s attorneys said a lawsuit filed by Truth Lounge against Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and 15 as-yet-unnamed defendants is still active.

On April 25, the Natchez Planning Commission members voted 4-3 to revoke the special exemption permit after more than an hour of discussion and 20 minutes of public comment. The review came after a shooting on Easter Sunday near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Main streets. Video captured on a security camera across the street from Truth Lounge shows a crowd arguing outside the business. Then, gunshots can be heard on the video, which shows the crowd running from the scene.

On June 18, Truth Lounge owners appealed the planning commission’s decision to the Natchez Mayor and Board of Aldermen, but that was denied in a 3-2 vote.

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