Last week’s moves by Warren County to replace a member of the Vicksburg Bridge Commission and take back a vote in December concerning the Warren County Port Commission have no legal standing and could expose the county to lawsuits, the board’s new attorney said Monday.

No statutory provision will back up the 4-1 vote to replace Tom Hill with Wesley B. Jones as the District 1 appointee on the bridge panel and the 3-2 decision to reconsider Johnny Moss as the port board chairman, board counsel Marcie Southerland told supervisors in a work session.

“Once an appointment is made, appointed, they shall be entitled to fulfill their term unless, for some reason, malfeasance is determined through due process by the board,” she said. She recommended the board back up and rescind the Jan. 3 votes on both five-member boards.

The board’s next official meeting is a week from today.

Vacancies through resignation and terms expiring may also prompt replacements. Terms on the port commission run concurrently with the Board of Supervisors, though two of its members are appointed by the City of Vicksburg and one by the governor. Members of the bridge commission are appointed solely by the county and serve staggered, five-year terms.

District 1 Supervisor John Arnold nominated Jones, his stepson, to fill the spot held by Hill, the district’s member on the bridge oversight commission since 2005. Hill’s term is set to expire in 2015. A motion to reappoint Moss after the board voted to reconsider the post died without a second.

Arnold said he had sought legal advice before his motion last week. In December, before taking office, Arnold had spoken out against the outgoing board’s decision to keep Moss and appoint developer Robert Morrison III to the port commission. On Jan. 3, Morrison was retained, with Arnold’s backing.

Attorney general’s opinions back up questions to statutes that govern the membership of each board. The county last visited a similar issue in 2006, when an AG’s opinion stated appointments to the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau needed a majority vote of the board and not a single-line vote from an individual district’s supervisor.

Southerland said both Morrison and Hill plan to attend their next respective board meetings, based on conversations with board attorneys for each commission.