MELTON MUST TAKE SALARY FROM STATE DRUG AGENCY

Ex-FBI Agent Must Also Be Added To Payroll

JACKSON (AP) - Frank Melton can't legally refuse his $60,000 annual salary
as head of the state Bureau of Narcotics but can donate his check back to
the agency after making mandatory deductions, the state attorney general says.

Melton, former chief executive officer of WLBT-Channel 3 in Jackson, had
wanted to forgo his pay as a way to boost the salaries of his drug agents.

Based on the Jan. 3 opinion by Attorney General Mike Moore, Melton has now
put his name on the payroll list, said J.K. "Hoopy" Stringer, director of
the state Personnel Board.

The Clarion-Ledger reported Friday that former FBI agent Joe J. Jackson
Jr., had been identified in a memo as the agency's deputy director but also
had not been listed on the state payroll.

The newspaper said it had obtained a copy of a Jan. 16 memo from Robin
Layton, administrative assistant in Melton's office, which showed the
59-year-old Jackson was serving as second in command.

"He is not a state or contractual employee," Stringer said.

Jackson previously worked for Melton at the television station. If he was
functioning as the MBN deputy director, he apparently would be in violation
of state law.

Melton and Jackson had no immediate comment on the report.

However, the bureau issued a statement Friday saying Jackson had been
informed that he is required to take a salary and was in the process of
complying with the law.

"Mr. Jackson's sole purpose for returning to public service is to use his
extensive law enforcement experience to address the drug problem in his
adopted state," the agency statement said.

It said he had originally entered into a contract Dec. 9 to perform his
duties without compensation after learning of the "agency's widely reported
budget shortfall."

All others listed in Layton's memo as members of the MBN executive staff
are on the state payroll.

Melton was appointed to head the drug agency by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on
Dec. 4. Melton, 52, must be confirmed by the Senate. His nomination has
been referred to the Judiciary Committee.