Vicksburg attorney and part-time city judge J. Allen Derivaux Jr. has been disbarred indefinitely in Mississippi for professional ethics violations tied to collecting premiums for fraudulent title insurance policies from clients and others, according to a decision letter from a three-person tribunal appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Derivaux, 56, a municipal judge pro tem for the City of Vicksburg, improperly conducted loan closings that required title insurance after an agreement with Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Investors Title Insurance Company to conduct closings that had been terminated in January 2009, said the judgment brief filed Friday by the tribunal, appointed in June 2010 after The Mississippi Bar filed a complaint against Derivaux the same month.

After the agreement ended, he “continued to hold himself out” to lenders and third parties as an approved title agent for the company, it states.

“Under this scheme, Mr. Derivaux altered forms used in previous transactions by ‘cutting and pasting’ new information in such a manner that the old forms appeared to be genuine,” the judgment said. Derivaux “knowingly and intentionally” collected premiums for “fraudulent title insurance policies” from clients and third parties and the money went to his lawyer trust account — where the money remains, the judgment said. At present, it said, it is impossible to determine the rightful owners of the premiums.

The panel agreed with the bar association that Derivaux’s actions violated rules on professional conduct and those concerning notifications of clients and third parties of money received where either has an interest.

“By misrepresenting himself to clients and third parties as an agent of Investors Title when he knew he was not and by collecting premiums for nonexistent policies, Mr. Derivaux engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the judgment said.

Derivaux must turn over $7,884 in premiums collected from 20 policies handled after January 2009, plus an additional $1,000 to cover the bar association’s costs related to the inquiry.

The judgment says he had faced a Nov. 1 deadline to pay, though it’s been relaxed since the opinion was written in October but was not filed with the Clerk of Appellate Courts until Friday, said Adam Kilgore, general counsel with the bar association.

“We will revisit it in December,” he said Tuesday.

Derivaux is banned from practicing law or “holding himself out as a lawyer” until he is reinstated by the state’s high court. Derivaux did not reply to a message left with a secretary at his Jackson Street law office Tuesday.

Derivaux was licensed to practice in May 1980 and served several administrations as municipal court judge before Walterine Langford was moved to head judge post from the city’s legal department in 2008. In 2009, Derivaux was considered briefly for the lead post by newly elected Mayor Paul Winfield before current judge and former city attorney Nancy Thomas was appointed to the city bench and Derivaux and Lewis Burke were kept as pro tem judges.

No decision on a replacement was expected today by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Winfield said.

“We keep Judge Derivaux and his family in our prayers,” Winfield said, adding the board “may huddle up next week” to decide whether to appoint a new pro tem or maintain the court system with Thomas and Burke.

“Nothing’s pressing right now,” he said.