Vicksburg officials have tapped a local lawyer to take on the role as part-time assistant city prosecutor, a position created to fill a void left after changes were made to the municipal court system last month.

Julianne Decker will step in to perform legal duties and present cases when full-time city prosecutor Bobby Robinson is not available, Mayor Laurence Leyens said in a Friday meeting at which Decker was formally appointed.

Decker, who has lived in Vicksburg for about two years and runs a private law practice on Grove Street, will dedicate one day a week at $100 an hour, an agreement made through a contract with the city, said City Attorney Nancy Thomas.

“We needed somebody to help out, and she came to my attention through another attorney in town,” she said. “We felt like she could add a lot to municipal court.”

On April 25, Walterine Langford, who dealt with personnel and civil service litigations, as well as fine collections, partial-pay agreements and forfeitures for the legal department, was transferred to head the city’s court services as the court’s full-time judge.

In her new role, Langford is charged with making changes to the way the city court, which deals mainly with traffic violations and other misdemeanor charges, is run. She will receive a pay increase of $10,000 for the additional duties from $94,113.80 to $104,113.80, said Lamar Horton, director of human services for the city. While she will continue some of her previous tasks in the judiciary role, Thomas said she hopes Robinson will be able to spend more time with the “day-to-day” — especially with Decker available to help.

“She has time available to give, which is also good for us,” Thomas said.

Decker, who is 51, graduated from Mississippi College Law School in 2002. Before attending law school, she was a school teacher for 16 years in Pensacola, Fla. She worked for 3 1/2 years as an attorney for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. For six months, she was the group’s first full-time prosecutor. She said she looks forward to helping the city.

“I’m kind of new,” she said. “I am happy to be able to work with the city and get my name out there.”

Changes with municipal court await an assessment from Langford, who is expected to report back to the board in the coming weeks. Before she stepped in as the full-time judge, cases were presented before two judges, Allen Derivaux and Lewis Burke. Leyens said Friday that Derivaux will stay on board, while Burke will be a back-up judge for the system.

In a separate matter at Friday’s meeting, the board decided to allow Robert Johnson, owner of Highway 27 Motors, to store wrecked vehicles at his property at 1801 Poplar St., if he meets all of the area’s zoning requirements. Before operating his business, officials said Johnson must repair and complete fencing around his property, remove a deteriorated building and a broken 18-wheeler truck trailer and mow grass and weeds, Leyens said.

The city, in 1998, granted former property owner James Buie, operator of J&B Towing, a special exception to store vehicles on the same property under similar conditions. Johnson, who bought the property from Buie, who was killed in a June robbery, was denied the special exception April 1 by the Zoning Board of Appeals to place the wrecked vehicles on his lot. His appeal was heard in a Monday meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, but city officials tabled a decision on a 2-1 vote to garner more information on Buie’s earlier requests.

“We went back and read the minutes from a 1998 hearing, and it’s very important that government be consistent in its process,” Leyens said. “We’re willing to approve it on the same terms as we did (for Buie).”

On the agendaIn a Friday meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the board:Approved board meeting minutes of April 7, April 10 and an April 10 special called meeting.Swore into office and appointed to the police department Officer Bradley Lyons. Received sealed bids for surplus property on Standard Hill Road from Francis Jackson, who bid $700, and Scotty Beach, who bid $100, and voted to re-advertise for bid for surplus property on Harrison Street.Authorized the city clerk to advertise sealed bids for the stabilization of 707 and 711 Clay St., two properties that collapsed January 2006. A resolution of whether the buildings will be torn down or stabilized is expected to come to a resolution when the city, the owners of the buildings and the insurance and real estate companies go to Warren County Circuit Court June 23-24. The advertising process could take 30 days, and Mayor Laurence Leyens said he wants to be ready to take action as soon as a resolution is made.Authorized the city clerk to re-advertise for sealed bids for pebble lime.Awarded sealed bids for sand, gravel and rock to Miller Material for crushed aggregate at $23 a ton, Delta Stone for riprap 100, 200 and 300 for $27.50 a ton, and Buford Construction for sand at $5.40 a ton and gravel at $6.75 a ton; water treatment chemicals to Harcros Chemicals for sodium silicaflouride at about 47 cents a pound for a 50-pound bag, sodium hypochlorite for $1.65 a gallon for 55 gallons and a bulk load of the same chemical; and pool chemicals to Harcros Chemicals for 100 pounds of granulated chlorine for $1.35 a pound, muriatic acid at $3 a gallon and a 55-gallon drum for 25 cents per pound, pool stabilizer for 95 cents a pound, a case of algicide for $102 and 50 pounds of sodium bicarbonate at 35 cents a pound.Approved a request for a $100 banner for the Social-Physical-Spiritual Community Outreach.Re-approved a request from the BluzCruz for May 17 and gave permission for them to use city property at the north boat ramp at City Front and an adjacent area north of the boat ramp along and inside the floodwall, as well as restrooms at the Art Park at Catfish Row.Tabled a decision to authorize parents of students at Warren Central Intermediate to use City Pavilion May 20 from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m. for an end-of-school celebration.Accepted a donation of 10 cigarette ash receptacles to be placed downtown between 1100 and 1500 Washington Street from Keep Vicksburg-Warren Beautiful Inc.Approved a budget amendment and agreed to transfer $5,000 from administrative services to the Vicksburg Fire Department’s capital to fund a new phone system.Approved a request from the 412th Engineer Command to donate and use a fire hydrant at the 1600 block of Mulberry Street June 5-8 for an annual Warfighter Conference.Approved a contribution of $25,000 to the Vicksburg Municipal Airport board for reimbursement for dirtwork for the T-hangar site.Approved a request from the police department for $500 to provide sports drinks and snacks for this summer’s youth street ball program June 3-July 18.Accepted a transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior for a 1999 Honda FourTrax all-terrain vehicle and agreed to place the vehicle in the police department’s inventory.Approved a request for street closure between Depot and Veto streets May 27-31 for the Mississippi Fire Chiefs and Firefighters’ Convention.Approved a request to design and print 200 T-shirts at a cost of about $1,600 as promotional items to be given in support for the contestants and support staff of the 2008 Miss Mississippi and Miss Teen Mississippi pageants.Approved Richard Williams of the street department to be added to the employee driving list.Approved an addendum to the Main Street May 2008 advertising to include ads for the Vicksburg Farmers Market.Approved a requisition in the amount of $14,821 written to Sansom Equipment Company Inc., for an additional sewer camera.Approved the claims docket.In an executive session, the board discussed 10 pay adjustments – two in the sewer department, and one each in parks and recreation and maintenance, right of way, street, wastewater, water treatment, inspections, purchasing and administration; three employment matters – two in parks and recreation and one in the police department; one resignation in the water treatment plant; two terminations – one in the police department and one in the traffic department; and a personnel matter in the police department.The board will meet at 10 a.m. May 19.