Wingate said he is still finalizing a written opinion explaining his reasoning and expects to issue one later this week that will address the remaining dismissal arguments as well.

The state had argued the plaintiffs could not directly connect their alleged harms — including boil water notices, low pressure and prolonged water outages — to Mississippi’s handling of ARPA funds. Instead, state attorneys argued those problems stemmed from Jackson’s longstanding water system failures themselves.

The plaintiffs, meanwhile, argued Mississippi created additional barriers specifically for Jackson after lawmakers approved Senate Bill 2822 in 2022, including requiring Jackson’s award money to flow through a separate state-controlled Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund. Jackson was the only municipality to have a separate fund.

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Attorneys for the plaintiffs also argued that while Jackson was publicly awarded roughly $35.6 million in ARPA funding, much of the money never actually reached the city.

Monday’s hearing focused narrowly on the legal question of whether the NAACP and the two residents had the right to sue in the first place.

Wingate summarized the plaintiffs’ claims in court, saying they alleged Mississippi’s actions “prevented the disbursement of federal funds that had been directed at and allocated to the City of Jackson” and that those delays prolonged residents’ suffering tied to the city’s water problems.

Wingate also noted the NAACP argued its Jackson membership had dropped from roughly 500 members to around 300 members because of the city’s ongoing water problems, which the organization cited as part of its standing argument.

After announcing his ruling on standing, Wingate immediately moved the hearing into arguments over the state’s statute of limitations defense. The hearing recessed for 20 minutes before attorneys resumed arguments on the remaining motions to dismiss.

The next fight: Did the plaintiffs wait too long to sue?

After ruling the plaintiffs had standing, Wingate moved into another major argument from the state: whether the lawsuit was filed too late.

State attorney Lisa Reppeto argued the clock started in April 2022 when the state’s ARPA laws were passed, meaning the lawsuit filed in August 2025 fell outside the three-year statute of limitations.

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The state also argued the lawsuit never identified a specific ARPA funding request that was denied by Mississippi.

But Crystal McElrath, an attorney representing the plaintiffs through the Southern Poverty Law Center, pushed back, arguing the alleged discrimination and harms continued well beyond 2022. They pointed to actions taken by state officials in late 2022 and afterward, along with ongoing water-related problems residents say they continue to experience.