The Warren County Board of Supervisors have had their eye on relocating the Mississippi Highway Patrol driver’s license office to the former Lauderdale State Farm Insurance building on the corner of Belmont and Drummond streets for months after MHP officials informed the board late last year of their safety concerns at the current facility on Grove Street.

But who among the supervisors really thought buying or leasing the Lauderdale State Farm Insurance building was a good idea?

According to property tax records, the building is currently owned and being offered for sale by Ada Lauderdale, the wife of former Warren County Board of Supervisor Bill Lauderdale.

With all the available property in Warren County, choosing the Lauderdale building represents a clear conflict and should never have been a prospect for this use.

The possibility of the MHP relocating their Vicksburg driver’s license office in the vacant building is unlikely due to the legitimate concerns of parents and the owners of two daycare centers within the vicinity. They rightfully fear registered sex offenders, who must, by law, use the facility to maintain their registration.

A petition and phone call campaign directed at MHP officials and the supervisors will likely cause the board to vote against the chosen site during their Monday morning meeting in the Warren County courthouse. Not to mention, the supervisors have yet to receive a commitment letter from MHP officials, which is necessary before the board will actually purchase a building to keep the MHP from making good on their threat of relocating the driver’s license office to another county.

The supervisors claim they were unaware of the state law regarding sex offenders registering at the MHP office, and that may be true, but certainly they knew this building was owned by one of their former longtime members.

It may not be illegal, but it is certainly borders on unethical and this location should not have been considered in the first place.