JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill that gives suburbs and the state some control over the Jackson airport.
The law replaces the five-member Jackson Municipal Airport Authority appointed by Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber with a nine-member board mostly appointed by state officials.
The law gives Yarber and the Jackson City Council one appointment each. Bryant picks two members, and suburban Rankin and Madison counties name one each.
Also getting one appointment each is the lieutenant governor, the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority and the adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard.
The bill has been a source of racially charged debate with opponents saying white suburbs are trying to unlawfully take control of an asset controlled by the majority-black capital city.
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