BROOKHAVEN — Court documents indicate Lincoln County vs Arrow Disposal Services Inc. will be heard in the US Southern District Court of Mississippi. Federal judge David Bramlette III will preside over the case. 

Lincoln County Board Attorney Greg Malta had originally filed a claim against Arrow Disposal Services Inc. in the Lincoln County Circuit Clerk. Due to ADSI being based out of a different state, the lawsuit was moved to the US Southern District Court of Mississippi. ADSI filed a counterclaim on February 28, 2025. 

In the counterclaim, ADSI asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and demands Lincoln County pay court costs, administrative fees, legal fees and damages for when the county did not pay their entire invoice to ADSI. 

Under the contract, Lincoln County had the ability to withhold three times the cost for picking up garbage when the contractor failed to do so. Lincoln County sent ADSI a letter stating they would withhold $119,656.20 from the final invoice under the contract terms. 

ADSI demands Lincoln County pay $119,656.20 as the final invoice was not paid in full. In the counterclaim, ADSI alleged Lincoln County did not make an effort to provide written notice of issues nor did the county give an opportunity for the company to cure the issue. 

History of the case

ADSI served Lincoln County until Sept. 2024. Supervisors voted to award the garbage collection bid to Waste Management after service issues with ADSI which the County’s complaint argues particularly began in 2023 with “missed service, incomplete service and poor service proliferating.” According to the complaint, ADSI’s customer service telephone call-in system was ineffective for the citizens. 

Richard Urrutia, then CEO of ADSI, appeared before the board and apologized for the service and discussed ways the company would correct it in December 2023. 

Malta alleged the company walked off the job in the last three weeks of its contract, breaching the contract in the county’s complaint.

Malta stated the company additionally breached its contract when it sold to Meridian Waste without allowing the Board of Supervisors to approve the sale. This sale occurred before the contract expired. ADSI alleges in its complaint the sale was only a stock sale and was not a breach of contract. 

Lincoln County voted to withhold $119,000 from ADSI for having to pick up trash at a tripled rate per the contract last year. Lawyers representing Meridian Waste and ADSI appeared at a board meeting on Jan. 22 requesting the county to pay the $119,000. 

As a result of the breach of contract, the County’s claim states Lincoln County is entitled to recovering the actual costs of remediating ADSI’s non-performance, actual costs of collecting, transporting and disposing of solid waste from residential collection points from Nov. 1, 2023 to Oct. 30, 2024. Additionally, the suit states the county is entitled to recovering the actual costs of collecting and disposing of equipment left behind by ADSI on the roadways of Lincoln County, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and any and all other damages the plaintiff may be entitled to. 

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