Under state law, the executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau must be &#8220a natural person” rather than a corporation or other entity, according to an opinion issued Friday by the state attorney general’s office.

The opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Heather Wagner, brings into question the board’s vote to hire Compass Facility Management to manage local tourism development efforts.

A temporary contract with Compass had been approved by a 6-2 vote in a special meeting Tuesday, with members Bobbie Morrow and Bobby Doyle dissenting. Members Tim Darden, Patty Cappaert, Lamar Roberts, Bill Collins, Bobby Bailess and David Maggio voted in favor.

Absent from that vote were members Jessica Williams, Jo Wilson and Omar Nelson, all of whom have voted against or questioned striking a deal with Compass in December.

A letter appealing to the board’s decision was sent to Attorney General Jim Hood by state Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, who questioned the legality of &#8220a management company or other entity” in the role of executive director.

&#8220Everything (the board) has done in relation with Compass is in violation of state law,” said Flaggs after receiving the opinion letter Friday. He said it’s the board’s decision whether to hire a consulting or management company, but they need to follow the founding legislation.

The VCVB was created by state law in 1972, and that law empowers the appointive board to employ an &#8220executive director.” Through April 2005, all directors have been individuals.

Opinions of the attorney general are advisory only, but are considered neutral interpretations of state law.

The statute creating the VCVB does not define &#8220executive director,” the attorney general’s opinion said, and therefore the term &#8220must be interpreted in accordance with its common and ordinary meaning.” The letter then said that those common meanings, pulled from dictionary definitions, &#8220imply that such terms refer to a natural person, and not an artificial person.”

While local governments may hire private companies for such oversight roles, as Vicksburg has done with Compass on the city’s two meeting venues, Flaggs said a board or committee like the VCVB, established by the state, must follow a different process called &#8220RFP” or request for proposals. The board had been advertising for a director without specifying a management company might be an option.

The 45-day contract agreed upon Tuesday states that a review to be conducted by Compass, including critiques of administrative, financial, operations and marketing functions of the VCVB, will last until March 1, said Larry Gawronski, who heads the Vicksburg Convention Center and Vicksburg Auditorium for the Iowa-based company. After the 45-day review period, the company is to present a management plan to the board, which was to be followed by a vote on a proposed two-year deal with Compass in a leadership role. The company was to be paid only reimbursement for travel, lodging and supply expenses.

&#8220Everything stays the same in my estimation,” said Gawronski, who said he didn’t think the ruling affected the 45-day contract. &#8220Compass is acting in the role of a consulting service during the 45-day period…We’re not in charge.”

Board member Bobbie Morrow, however, said the VCVB should consider the contract null and void. The board had already eliminated Compass as a candidate for the executive director position at an earlier meeting, she said, and she considered it unfair to allow the company back into the running when other eliminated candidates weren’t given the same opportunity.

&#8220I have always questioned whether a consulting group could come in and be over government employees. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around,” said Morrow. &#8220I work for the federal government, and that’s not how things work around here. We don’t have contractors who are over us.”

Gawronski said his &#8220crystal ball is broken” in terms of whether Compass would continue to play a role with the VCVB. The board will have to reevaluate its options at its next meeting on Jan. 26, said member Bobby Bailess, but will likely heed the attorney general’s ruling.

&#8220If that’s what the attorney general says, I don’t think there’s going to be a fight about it,” said Bailess, who voted in favor of Compass. &#8220I’m not going to speculate on what the board’s going to do because I’m only one vote, but I wouldn’t think we’d start over and I wouldn’t think we’d take too long. This has already taken way too long.”

The VCVB is funded by a 1 percent sales tax on motel rooms, restaurant and bar bills.

Compass is in the last year of a five-year contract with the city to operate the convention center and auditorium.