Insurance Disputed on Burned Webster Courthouse

ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) — A dispute over how much an insurance company owes Webster County for its burned courthouse in Walthall has moved into federal court.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors and Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co. have sued each other, with two separate cases now pending in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen.

The insurer has paid Webster County $2.32 million for damage to the structure and contents, which burned in January 2013. But Webster County has hired an independent adjuster who says Atlantic should pay Webster County the limits of its insurance policy – $8.17 million

The two-story 1915 courthouse, in the hamlet of Walthall, was one of the first Mississippi buildings designed by Jackson architect N.W. Overstreet.

Officials have said an electrical short sparked the fire that burned it to the walls.