The NAACP is suing Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) after he signed two bills opposed by Jackson lawmakers and residents that give state officials more control over law enforcement in the state’s capital.

The legislation grants the state-controlled Capitol Police, which has shot four people — one fatally — since it began operating in 2022, full jurisdiction to cover Jackson, a predominantly Black city. It would also create a new unelected court system run by judges and prosecutors appointed by state-level officials, who would handle cases brought to them by the Capitol Police. Reeves called the legislation a necessary move to stop crime in the city.

“This legislation won’t solve the entire problem, but if we can stop one shooting, if we can respond to one more 911 call — then we’re one step closer to a better Jackson,” Reeves said in a news release Friday.

The NAACP, the NAACP Mississippi State Conference and the Jackson branch of the NAACP, called the legislation a “state takeover of Jackson,” and filed a federal lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and CEO, said the lawsuit was Jackson residents’ last recourse to challenge the constitutionality of the laws after Reeves signed both bills earlier that day.