After receiving an opinion letter from Attorney General Jim Hood, Warren County District Attorney Gil Martin said Friday he will ask for a criminal investigation into two Vicksburg police officers accused of having sex with a 17-year-old high school student.

Martin announced his plans hours after receiving the three-and-a-half-page opinion stating that a police officer working as a school resource officer is in a position of trust over minor students as specified in the state’s sexual battery statute.

The assistant attorney general also wrote that any officer, including those not specifically assigned to a setting such as a school, could be considered in a position of trust or authority over any citizen, including students.

“The opinion is pretty clear that the resource officer is in a position of trust,” Martin said.

Martin had requested the state’s chief legal officer weigh in on the matter after a 28-year-old police officer assigned to Vicksburg High School was suspended for 20 days for having consensual sex with a student who has since graduated.

Municipal authorities have not identified the officer, who filed no protest of the suspension and will not be reassigned to the school in the fall.

State law sets the age of consent at 16, but a separate statute says that a person of trust can be convicted of sexual battery for having sex with someone younger than 18, even if the person is old enough to give legal consent.

Martin asked for the opinion because that law lists 14 specific positions of trust, including ministers and teachers, but does not list law enforcement officers.

Although there was a community uproar when the case became public, Police Chief Tommy Moffett said the department’s personnel policies did not allow for any more severe administrative punishment.

In the opinion, Assistant Attorney General Heather Wagner writes that the position of a school resource officer is the type envisioned by the statute.

“There can be no doubt that these duties involve at a minimum the power to exercise authority over students in the school,” Wagner wrote.

Written opinions provided to government agencies are not binding, but are advisory in helping a district attorney decide whether to present the matter to a grand jury.

However, grand juries hear evidence in potentially criminal cases, and because there has been no criminal investigation into the school-sex case, Martin will ask for the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol to look into the case.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said the city is also asking the Legislature to reword the statute to include police officers, although any new wording could not be applied to the two officers here.

Leyens, who said he had wanted the officers fired, was pleased to hear about the letter. “We’re expecting the prosecutor to prosecute this officer and the other officer if he can,” Leyens said.

The second police officer also reported to have had a sexual relationship with the same teenager, but because that officer was not assigned to the schools the city took no administrative action.

The relationships are reported to have occurred in the fall and spring.

Martin said he will request the Criminal Investigation Division of the MHSP take over the investigation as soon as possible. He said the only investigation so far was by the Vicksburg Police Department Internal Affairs Division and its findings cannot be used in a criminal case.

He said if the investigation shows a crime was committed, the next step would be a preliminary hearing before a circuit court judge. The case or cases would then go to a grand jury. Remaining grand jury sessions are scheduled for July and October this year.

Sexual battery carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.