Warnock denied $109K in invoices

Warnock denied $109K in invoices

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CANTON — Former City Engineer Rudy Warnock will not be paid over $109,000 in outstanding invoices he says he was owed because he never had a contract, the state Court of Appeals has affirmed. 

Warnock, who was also previously the engineer for Madison County, sued the city of Canton back in 2017 seeking payment for outstanding invoices totaling $109,145.70. Warnock lost in circuit court and later appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

In 2017, Canton aldermen removed Warnock & Associates LLC as the city engineer and refused to pay certain invoices totaling $109,145.70 that Warnock submitted for services he said he rendered before he was removed. 

Aldermen initially voted to approve the invoices, but Mayor Dr. William Truly vetoed the action. The board later approved an amended claims docket without Warnock’s invoices. He sued the city of Canton for breach of contract.

The city argued that Warnock’s contract was never approved and entered into the city’s minutes. The Mississippi Supreme Court has affirmed on multiple times that governmental bodies speak through their minutes. The Madison County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the city.

Chief Judge Donna M. Barnes, Presiding Judge Virginia C. Carlton, Judge Jim M. Greenlee, Judge Latrice A. Westbrooks, Judge Deborah McDonald, Judge Anthony N. Lawrence III, Judge Joel Smith concurred in the majority opinion on Sept. 28 affirming the circuit court decision. 

Judge David Neil McCarty concurred in part but did not write a separate opinion. Former Madison County Circuit Judge John H. Emfinger, now an Appeals Court judge, did not participate.

“The circuit court properly denied Warnock’s motion for summary judgment and granted the City’s motion for summary judgment because the undisputed facts show that Warnock never had an enforceable contract with the city,” the majority opinion states. 






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