(1) There is hereby created and established a corporation known as the Metro Jackson Water Authority for public purposes and charged with the duties and having the powers provided in this chapter. The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a public benefit corporation. The authority will be composed of geographic areas receiving water and wastewater services from the city as of January 1, 2026, for the planning, acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation and coordination of water and wastewater systems in order to ensure the delivery of water and wastewater services to citizens. Such authority is created solely to accomplish the purposes under this chapter, and the exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be deemed and held to be the performance of an essential public function promoting the health, welfare and prosperity of the general public. It is the intent of the Legislature that the authority shall be accountable to ratepayers within the systems through the audits, reports and disclosures required by this chapter.
(2) The existence of the public benefit corporation, which shall be domiciled in the state, shall begin upon the appointment of a majority of its board as provided in Section 51-10-9.
(3) The transfer by lease of the water and wastewater system to the authority from the city shall be accomplished as provided in Section 51-10-11.
(4) The authority shall assume management and control over the water and wastewater systems on the date of termination of the interim third-party managership by the court, or with respect to any specific functions on an earlier date as ordered by the court. If the termination date is not the same for all systems or functions, the authority shall assume management and control over the system or functions for which the interim third-party managership is terminated on the termination date for that system or function.
(5) In the event of any action or matter against the authority, the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shall select an appropriate circuit or chancery court, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. Solely for purposes of court costs, the authority shall be deemed to constitute a private corporation.
(6) All funds provided by the federal government in H.R. 2617, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, and any other funds provided by the state or federal government in response to the water crisis detailed by the court in Case No. 3:22-cv-00686, United States v. City of Jackson, shall be spent according to the direction of the ITPM until the authority assumes management and control of the water and wastewater systems or certain functions thereof and in accordance with federal law.