Jeff Turnage announced this week he will leave the Mitchell McNutt law firm and become in-house counsel for the city.
The city council voted in executive session July 1 to hire Turnage in that role, after he has served nearly 20 years as the city’s contracted general counsel.
Turnage’s salary will be $145,000, with his city employment effective no later than Aug. 31, he said. He will keep an office on the first floor of City Hall.
“He’s one of the top lawyers in the state of Mississippi with municipal experience,” Mayor Stephen Jones told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “Hopefully, this will be one of the best decisions we make (as a mayor and council).”
Turnage, 64, has worked 33 years for Mitchell McNutt, 29 of those as a shareholder.
Under the firm’s banner, he became the contracted general counsel for the city in 2005, then landed a second contract in 2015 as counsel for Columbus Redevelopment Authority.
As in-house counsel for the city, his salary will include representing CRA, Turnage said, and he will forgo the 1% commission he collected as a firm member on bonds either the city or CRA issues.
Both Turnage and Jones believe the move could save the city money over time.
“Especially having four new councilmen and a new mayor, we are probably going to be calling on him more to make sure we’re legal on things,” Jones said.
“The last thing I want to do is go to jail,” he added, laughing.
So far this fiscal year, Turnage – whose contract carried an hourly rate of $165 – has billed the city roughly $110,000 and CRA another $25,000. His work cost the city about $137,000 in FY 2024 and $172,000 in FY 2023, according to Chief Financial Officer Jim Brigham, not counting what he billed the redevelopment authority.
Turnage said he’s leaving Mitchell McNutt on good terms, but he is looking forward to narrowing his focus to work for the city full-time.
“I have to keep up with my time by the minute over here, reduce my minutes to a bill, get bills out, get collections in,” he said. “I had multiple clients, (was) spinning a lot of plates at the same time, and I’m at the point in my life that I just don’t want to do that.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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