The Alabama Supreme Court rules against Selma Mayor Darrio Melton Friday in his case against the Selma City Council regarding an ordinance passed last year, which gave the council the power to appoint the city’s tax collector, as well as the chiefs of both the Selma Police Department (SPD) and the Selma Fire Department (SFD).

In its 16-page ruling, the state’s highest court lays out both Melton’s arguments and its decision to side with the council.

After the council passed the ordinance in September 2018 giving itself the authority to appoint certain city position, Melton vetoes the ordinance only to have the council come back and override his veto – a month later, Melton filed suit, naming all nine council members as defendants.

Melton alleged that the ordinance violates a portion of the Alabama Code of 1975, which states that the mayor “shall have the power to appoint all officers…whose appointment is not otherwise provided for by law” and sought a judgment declaring the ordinance unconstitutional, as well as injunctions preventing the ordinance from being implemented.

In response, the council filed a motion to dismiss the suit, asserting that “the complaint failed to allege a claim on which relief may be granted,” according to the court’s ruling, and a trial court entered a judgment siding with the council.

Shortly thereafter, the decision states, Melton filed a motion to stay the trial court’s judgment pending an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, which was denied – the trial court stated in its denial of Melton’s request that the law “is very clear on the issue presented in this case” and that the court found that Melton would “not be successful on the merits of an appeal, unless the Alabama Supreme Court decides to break with years of precedent.”

Melton appealed anyway, despite the fact that, according to the decision, the Alabama Supreme Court found that the trial court “did not err in dismissing the mayor’s action.”

In its decision, the Alabama Supreme Court references a similar dispute in Tuscumbia, where the council adopted an ordinance creating the office of Chief of Police and appointed someone to the position, only to have the mayor refuse to cooperate – the court ruled in the council’s favor in the case.

The decision undermines multiple assertions made by Melton and his legal team related to previous rulings – the Tuscumbia ruling among them, as well as various other cases and the Alabama Code of 1975 – as well as his assertion that trial court’s dismissal was improper.

“The Supreme Court upheld the council’s appointment powers and, hopefully, now we can all move forward,” said Selma City Council President Corey Bowie. “We did the right thing with our ordinance, so now we can move forward providing services to the people of Selma.”

Selma City Councilwoman Miah Jackson struck a similarly celebratory-yet-conciliatory chord in her comments about the decision.

“I don’t feel like this was necessary,” Jackson said of Melton’s suit. “I thought the law was clear. However, since the mayor chose this route, it has now set a precedent for other mayors and councils going forward. I believe we shouldn’t have to go through this matter again and I am hopeful that we can begin working together for the best interest of the city.”