A Harrison County judge has ruled that a parcel of land in Biloxi is owned by a casino, not the state of Mississippi.
Chancery judge Jim Persons ruled on May 8 that The Grand, which has rebranded to Harrah’s Gulf Coast, is the sole owner of a piece of land off U.S. 90, just west of Oak Street. The court ruling was a blow to efforts by Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson in attempting to classify properties like this one as public tidelands.
Persons predicated his decision on a similar decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Last year, the state’s high court sided with a local family, the Aldrichs, over the secretary of state in an ownership dispute over property where the defunct Lady Luck Casino used to reside.
In the most recent case, the local judge acknowledged that The Grand’s property was part of a 1784 Spanish land grant that existed prior to Mississippi gaining statehood.
The ruling marks the fifth tidelands dispute loss for the secretary of state since taking on these cases. Watson and company remain in litigation over two pieces of property in Biloxi — the old Tivoli Hotel site and the Tullis-Toledano Manor development. Plans for the Tullis-Toledano Manor have been approved by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, while the Tivoli Hotel’s plans have been delayed for legal reasons.
In the meantime, a litany of local officials along the Gulf Coast have supported businesses in their cases against the secretary of state. The courts have also consistently maintained that local governments are responsible for leasing out waterfront properties and that it is not the state’s jurisdiction.
