Hosemann, Coast lawmakers tangle over tidelands

Hosemann, Coast lawmakers tangle over tidelands

Some Coast lawmakers are trying to clip Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann’s power to make residents pay leases to build piers over state tidelands, and cities pay leases for their small-craft harbors.

Hosemann said Coast tidelands along the beach, bays and rivers belong to the entire state, not just locals and cities, and he’s trying to be a good steward of Mississippi’s resources.

Lawmakers pushing the legislation say Hosemann is being heavy-handed and breaking with decades — or even centuries — of practice and law that give Coast property owners and cities water rights.

Sun Herald
2/29/12