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Jackson City Council approves $125,000 appropriation toward settlement of former police major’s lawsuits
Summary
After attorneys described consolidated lawsuits and mediated terms, Jackson City Council approved a budget amendment to appropriate $125,000 for a settlement tied to former Major Philip Kemper; the city's insurer is expected to pay a matching $125,000, bringing the settlement to $250,000. The appropriation passed 7–1 with one abstention.
Jackson City Council voted Oct. 14 to appropriate $125,000 as part of a negotiated settlement in lawsuits filed by former Major Philip Kemper, a former Jackson Police Department commander.
At a council meeting, attorney Jeffrey Lindley said a judge consolidated remaining claims from Kemper’s earlier and later suits and ordered mediation. Lindley said the consolidated case is scheduled for a jury trial starting Aug. 17, 2026, unless the parties resolve the dispute. "We agreed on what we believe is a fair settlement for the city," Lindley said, and explained that Major Kemper would dismiss his lawsuits with prejudice and accept that his employment with the city is irrevocably severed.
Lindley told the council that the city's insurer, Public Entity Partners, would pay $125,000 and the city would pay $125,000, for a total settlement the attorney described as $250,000. Lindley said a portion of the payment is characterized as back pay, but the transcript did not preserve a clear numeric breakdown of that back-pay portion.
Council members pressed staff on fiscal implications. A finance official said the budget amendment before the council includes a draw on fund balance and that, depending on year-end revenues and expenditures, the appropriation would either reduce fund balance or be covered by excess revenue. The official noted an estimated fund-balance decrease as of June 30, 2025, of about $1,700,000 and cited existing terminal-leave balances and recent terminal-leave expenditures as context for fiscal planning.
The appropriation motion was recorded as passing with seven votes in favor, one opposed and one abstention. Council directed staff to proceed with the settlement payment and related bookkeeping; attorneys said the agreement would result in dismissal of the suits and avoid the uncertainty of a jury trial.
The council's action was narrowly focused on the appropriation; the settlement itself, including the final execution and any payment schedule, is subject to the parties formalizing the mediated agreement and to insurance processing.
