CME Church, trustees, file reverter claim
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and its board of trustees have filed a claim in Marshall County Chancery Court to recover the Holly Springs Municipal School District property - formerly Sims School - located at 210 W. Valley Avenue in Holly Springs.
The deed, that transferred the property to the Holly Springs School District March 31, 1958, contains a reverter clause requiring the deed go back to the CME Church if it is no longer used for school purposes as outlined in the original transfer deed.
The defendants in the claim filed May 28, 2024, are the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Industrial College, the Institute of Community Services (ICS Head Start), the Holly Springs Municipal School District, the City of Holly Springs and ABC individuals and XYZ entities.
The board of trustees of Mississippi Industrial College is now believed to be defunct with no registered agent to accept service, the plaintiffs said.
ICS, a nonprofit corporation, that has a principal place of business within the property, was served a summons.
The Holly Springs School District was also served as was the City of Holly Springs.
The plaintiff listed individuals and corporations and entities “whose wrongful conduct contributed to the injuries and damages to the Plaintiff and/or vicariously (is) liable for the acts of one or more of the unknown, unnamed defendants.
The plaintiff’s request for relief included:
• a court order to enforce the reverter clause in the deed.
• a court order to transfer the property back to the plaintiffs – CME Church.
• an acknowledgment of the unique circumstances of the property’s original transfer to the school district.
The CME Church and Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Industrial College sold the property to the Holly Springs School District for $3,804.50. The school district held classes for grades 1-8 at the Sims School and then became an Intermediate School Campus before the school district transferred the property to the City of Holly Springs after building a new Intermediate School on Maury Street behind the Holly Springs Primary School.
The property was used buy various City Departments during the Kelvin Buck administration and later ICS moved into buildings Frazier I, II, and III to use for administrative offices.
ICS filed an answer and five Affirmative defenses June, 22, 2024, which included answers to nine paragraphs in the complaint and asked that the complaint be dismissed as pertaining to ICS with all cost assessed to the plaintiffs.
Holly Springs School District filed its answer and affirmative defenses to the CME Church’s complaint in brief:
• CME lacks standing to bring action.
• not all necessary and indispensable parties may have been joined in the complaint, leaving the school district subject to double, multiple or inconsistent obligations.
• CME fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted against the school district.
• CME comes before court with unclean hands and is not entitled to relief whatsoever.
• School District acted in good faith.
• School District asserts every affirmative action set forth in Rule 8(c) of Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
• School District asserts and incorporates all defenses set forth in Rule 12 (b).
• CME has not suffered alleged damages.
• there is no legal or equitable basis for an injunction of any kind.
• CME’s actions and conduct preclude the Church from recovering legal or any other interest or attorney’s fees or penalties.
• any and all allegations are denied.
• School District reserves right to adopt any applicable defenses asserted by any other defendant in the claim.
• School District asserts any and all other applicable defenses.
• CME is not entitled to
injunctive relief because it did not suffer irreparable harm and is not likely to succeed on the merits of the claims and has adequate remedy by law.
• School District requests the complaint be dismissed with prejudice and CME pay all costs of attorney’s fees.
The City of Holly Springs’ answer to enforce the reverter clause by CME filed the following: • City does not admit or deny the averment in Paragraph 1, neither admits or denies paragraph 2.
• ICS is an organization that is widely recognized for early education of children and City believes the majority of ICS’s business in Holly Springs and North Mississippi is educational.
• City admits Dr. Irene Walton Turnage is the superintendent of the Holly Springs School District, but does not admit or deny the remaining averments of the paragraph.
• City admits it is a municipality organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi.
• City neither admits or denies property was transferred to the school district around March 31, 1958.
• City denies reverter clause has been triggered.
• City demands strict proof it failed to comply with conditions specified in the reverter clause.
• City asks the court to find the reverter clause has not been triggered and that relief requested be denied.
The Holly Springs Board of Aldermen, at its June 18 meeting, approved a motion to authorize the City to respond to a summons to the above case – Case: 47CHi:24-CV-OOO47-W.