City of Vicksburg files to permanently close Jacques’

On Friday, Apr. 22, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. filed a petition against Jean-Jacques Parmegiani, Kara Parmegiani and Refined South Restaurant Group, LLC requesting the Warren County Chancery Court to revoke or suspend any business licenses related to Jacques’ Bar and close the business.

“The Defendants have been permitting and encouraging improper illegal activity to occur on said property,” the petition states. “The nuisance conditions of said property substantially and unreasonably injures the health and safety of patrons of the establishment and interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property of the residents of the City of Vicksburg and Warren County, Mississippi.”

The City asserts that Jacques’ has failed to operate within the terms set forth in the most recent Memorandum of Understanding.  When violent illegal activity occurs at any business, the city orders the business to temporarily close until such time that the owner or operator of the business meets with City officials to implement a plan to prevent future incidents.  The agreed upon plan is outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding.

Issued on June 10, 2020, the most recent memorandum stipulates that all patrons must be at least 21 years old, identification must be checked at the door for admission, security cameras must be operational inside the premises and a minimum of five security guards must be stationed inside and outside the bar when open for business or private parties. This memorandum was signed following an altercation at the establishment in which a patron ejected from the bar for fighting went to his car, got a gun and started firing shots and trying to re-enter the business.

Previous to this, Jacques’ was operating under a previously signed Memorandum of Understanding with the City, issued in December of 2018 after another altercation at the bar led to an exchange of gunfire outside.

“There are frequent and repeated incidents involving firing of weapons, fights, two recent aggravated assaults involving the use of a weapon and other disorderly conduct,” the petition states. “The Defendants owe the public a duty to prevent and/or stop offensive, dangerous and illegal activity on and in their property, and by failing to act in a manner that would stop and/or prevent said activity, Defendants are putting the public in danger.”

Along with the petition, the City included police reports of 158 incidents that have occurred at Jacques’ since the original Memorandum of Understanding was signed in December of 2018.

Click here to view the petition and memorandums or here to view the incident reports.