The passage of the ordinance by the Marshall City Council was to keep the town’s mayor from again raising the Confederate flag on the city’s flag pole.
Mayor Jim Smithson flew the Confederate flag above City Hall January 14-18, including the Jan. 17 federal holiday marking Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. (The holiday is also designated in Arkansas as the birthday of General Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Smithson said the Confederate flag above city hall was in observance of Lee’s birthday.
A $1,000 fine for a first-offense conviction is provided for in the new ordinance.
