United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 14, 2023 No. 22-60457 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Pieter Teeuwissen; Anthony R. Simon; Simon & Teeuwissen, P.L.L.C.,

Plaintiffs—Appellants,

versus

Hinds County, Mississippi, by and through its Board of Supervisors; David Archie, individually and in his official capacity; Credell Calhoun, individually and in his official capacity; Robert Graham, individually and in his official capacity; John Does I-V, each individually and in his official capacity; Mississippi Association of Supervisors Insurance Trust,

Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:22-CV-9 ______________________________

Before Smith, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Don R. Willett, Circuit Judge: Mississippi common law generally forbids local-government officers from using contracts to bind their successors-in-office. As a result, newly elected officers typically have unilateral authority to void any contracts that they find in effect upon taking office. But the Mississippi Supreme Court also Case: 22-60457 Document: 00516856733 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/14/2023

No. 22-60457

recognizes an exception to the general rule. If the prior officers had “express statutory authority” to bind their successors, then the successors must honor any contracts that their predecessors agreed to using that authority. A Mississippi statute empowers boards of supervisors to contract “by the year” for legal counsel. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors hired Pieter Teeuwissen and his law firm to perform legal work for the County. Teeuwissen’s contracts with the County were each for a one-year term. But before the year was up, an election flipped the board’s composition, and the new board terminated both contracts. Teeuwissen sued, arguing that the con- tracts required the County to pay him a fixed sum for the full year—even if the County no longer wanted his legal services. The district court granted the County’s motion to dismiss, reasoning that no statute expressly authorized the old board to bind the new one. On appeal, Teeuwissen argues that the statutory phrase “by the year” gave the old board “express authority” to bind the new board. We agree, and we therefore REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I Pieter Teeuwissen and Anthony R. Simon are members of the law firm Simon & Teeuwissen (together, “Teeuwissen”). The Board of Supervisors for Hinds County, Mississippi entered into two “employment contracts” with Teeuwissen in the fall of 2019. The first contract named Pieter Teeuwissen as the Board Attorney for the Board of Supervisors, while the second designated the law firm as Special Counsel for the County. Each contract began on October 1 and terminated one year later. And each contract contained a clause requiring the County to pay Teeuwissen for a full year’s worth of work even if the board terminated the