An on-again, off-again legal battle over the Kings Point Ferry’s operating hours is apparently on again, as Warren County supervisors are being taken to court by a landowning group, attorney Randy Sherard said Monday.

M&M Property has rekindled a suit in chancery court claiming the county hasn’t honored terms of a 1997 court order that stipulated the vessel be open 15 hours daily. The two sides settled a case in 2008 when the landowning group asked the county be found in contempt of the order for running it only 12 hours daily.

Sherard updated supervisors Monday on the latest filing in a 30-minute closed session following the board’s regular meeting.

Sparking the recent round of court action was a return to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours much of the past year because the Road Department has employed two U.S. Coast Guard-certified pilots. The barge and push boat were closed about two months during the spring and early summer due to flooding on the Mississippi River.

Hunting and tree farming dominate activity on the island, which was cut off from the mainland of Warren County when the Yazoo Diversion Canal was dug in 1903. The island is highly prone to flooding during high river stages.

One alternative to continuing ferry service — a raised levee with a road atop it — has not gained traction due to funding. A study in 2001 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pegged the cost at $8 million. A multifaceted bond issue passed by state lawmakers last year included money for Warren County to restart the study.

Annual maintenance costs have run between $300,000 and $400,000, including fuel.