Ike Brown Can Stay on Party Committee

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – State party officials say three Democratic Party officials convicted of felonies can remain on county executive committees, despite a new Mississippi law meant to prohibit felons from holding such offices.

In August, a Mississippi Democratic Party committee sent a letter to Ike Brown of Macon, Louis Armstrong of Jackson, and William Catledge of Houston terminating them from their county Democratic executive committees.

But The Clarion-Ledger reports that the state party’s executive committee now says proper procedure wasn’t followed.

State party Chairman Rickey Cole says the state party can only remove county committee members if they are challenged, and no challenges have been filed.

Attorney General Jim Hood’s office says in a June opinion that state law now bars a convicted felon from serving on a county party committee.