With thousands in unpaid rent payments, unpaid utility payments and hundreds in late fees piling up, Garfield’s Restaurant and Pub has been evicted from the Vicksburg Mall. But  mall officials have announced that a new eatery will soon take its place.

Recently obtained court documents show that the Vicksburg Mall is suing Garfield’s for back rent and other debts in Warren County Court.

In total, the mall is seeking to recoup a total of $39,019.32 in unpaid debts and fees.

Court papers, filed Feb. 12, break down the debt as $4,548.45 for December’s rent, $11,954.87 in supplemental rent, based on gross sales, $21,816 for utility bills, the oldest of which dates to November 2013, $7,256.92 in loans and advances for equipment, and $700 in late fees.

Mall general manager Mike Carlisle declined to comment on the suit, but did confirm that River City Steakhouse Bar and Grill could replace Garfield’s in the mall by April 1.

“It’s a legal proceeding that I can’t comment on,” Carlisle said, adding he didn’t want to mention principals in the new restaurant, citing an agreement to that effect. He did say the suit meant the end of the regional chain in Vicksburg.

“After the proceeding, Garfield’s will no longer be in Vicksburg,” he said.

Named in the suit are GRP Pemberton Square LLC, and its manager, Mike Denney, of Ozark, Mo. No phone number is listed for a physical address for Denney noted in the lawsuit.

GRP is licensed to use the Garfield’s trade name and is unaffiliated with the chain’s corporate entity, Eateries Inc., said Todd Ross, the larger firm’s director of operations.

Garfield’s, which opened in the mall in the 1990s, was still listed as a mall tenant on Vicksburg Mall’s website Thursday. In 2013, an outdoor dining area was added.

Exhibits filed in the case include notices of overdue rent mailed to Denney in September and October. Other documents spelled out the 4,800 square-foot restaurant’s monthly rent and utilities arrangement. Base rent was 6.5 percent of all gross sales per month plus another 2 percent if annual sales exceeded $1 million. Water and electricity bills were fixed at $3,636 a month and supplemental rent was fixed at $37,500 at monthly rates spelled out in the company’s lease, last renewed in April 2013.

Nineteen bar-and-grill themed restaurants operate in 11 states, according to the company’s website. The first Garfield’s opened in Oklahoma City in 1984.