A dispute between the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Lincoln County continues after nearly 10 years.

     A 2.2 mile stretch of Old Highway 84 in the southwestern part of the county is in question, with state officials saying they turned it over to the county in 2003 and county officials saying they never formally approved the transaction and were never given accurate boundaries of what they were supposed to take.

     District Four Supervisor Eddie Brown, whose district the road falls into, said the additional roadway is not something he needs at all.

     “The department of transportation has much more money, men and equipment to take care of the roads than the county does,” he said. “This would just be more of a burden on the taxpayers of Lincoln County.”

     Since this past January, Brown said the state has been persistent that the county take over the road.

     Bobby Wells, assistant district engineer over maintenance for MDOT, said the agency turned the roadway over to the county in 2003.

     “I just know that we turned it back to them in 2003 …,” he said. “When (Highway) 84 was built, that part was given back to the county.”

     Wells said state maintenance workers were unaware the road had been turned over to the county and they continued to work on the road until early this year. The section of road in question was part of Highway 84 before the highway was redone and made into a four-lane road.

     Brown said the state is telling citizens who live on the road the county is responsible for it, while the county is telling citizens to contact the state.

     “They’re saying they’re not going to bush hog it or anything, and we don’t get any extra money to take care of new roads,” he said.

     Brown said Lincoln County Board of Supervisors Attorney Bob Allen told him not to do anything to the road unless the state can produce further documentation, which they have not.

     Allen said no agreement has been made between the county and the state on the road. The state has attempted to turn the road over to the county several times, but the county has not accepted it.

     “The question is can they turn over the road to us without our approval,” said Allen. “They say they can, but we disagree.”

     Allen said the matter could end up in litigation at some point in the future, but the county aims to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

     The last correspondence between Lincoln County officials and MDOT was on Dec. 17, 2003, when Allen wrote them asking for clearer boundaries and concluded by saying the county would not take over the road until that was cleared up.

     Brown said the road has several problems that would cost his department a great deal of time and money to address.

     “Dirt in one section of the road is sliding off,” he said. “The grass needs to be mowed, trees need to be cut back, there are multiple trees that look like they’ll fall on the road soon and a large amount of litter.”

     Charlotte Laird lives on Old Highway 84 and says she’s contacted the state multiple times about the road.

     “Nobody wants to take care of it,” she said. “The county says it’s not theirs. The state says they have given it to the county.”

     Laird said the state did come out a few weeks ago and cut a limb that was hanging on a power line and she was told the state would take care of it until it was resolved. Since then, however, she said state grass-cutting tractors passed through the area and skipped over the road.

     “I hate to stir up a hornet’s nest, but the truth is the truth,” said Laird. “It has to belong to someone.”

     Brown said he already has enough to worry about in his district.

     “I have 230 miles of roads in my district already,” he said. “I don’t need 2.2 more without any additional funding.”