A complaint, filed in a federal court almost two years ago naming Panola County Board of Supervisors President Cole Flint (District 5) and Supervisor John Thomas (District 3) as defendants, was settled out of court three weeks ago.

The settlement included a clause that keeps the details secret, and prohibits either party from disclosing the terms of the agreement.

Former Panola Partnership Executive Director Sonny Simmons filed the complaint, alleging the two supervisors had interfered with his First Amendment right of free speech when Flint went to a meeting of the Partnership’s board of directors and persuaded them to fire Simmons for statements he made in a newsletter, and later reported in The Panolian, critical of Thomas in Sept. 2016.

The complaint stated that Flint, acting on behalf of the Board of Supervisors, was responsible for Simmons’ discharge.

“Specifically, plaintiff’s statement to the Executive Board…caused Attorney Ryan Revere to draft an ultimatum stating the plaintiff was voluntarily resigning under onerous and impossible conditions. Plaintiff could not sign this resignation agreement…and was terminated,” the complaint said.

The county’s insurance would not cover such complaints, but then board attorney Bill McKenzie arranged for county-backed counsel to defend Flint and Thomas.

At the time, Thomas was outspoken about the $200,000 the county was giving to Panola Partnership at the time, often questioning what benefits taxpayers were receiving from that entity’s efforts.

Since Simmons was dismissed, his replacement, Joe Azar, has worked closely with the Board of Supervisors as the Partnership pursues economic development advancements for Panola County.

The Partnership serves as the chamber of commerce for Batesville and Panola County, and an overall economic development organization for all of the county. The Partnership’s efforts have paid off in recent weeks with a deal finalized to sell the abandoned Batesville Casket building to Blauer Manufacturing, who will soon move its operations from Oxford to the Harmon Industrial Complex.

Just this week, United Solutions in Sardis announced a major expansion that will increase the company’s manufacturing capacity and add 100 news jobs almost immediately. Panola Partnership headed up those negotiations on behalf of the Board of Supervisors.

Neither Flint, Thomas, nor Simmons could comment about the settlement.