Barron said he was rudely confronted at a meeting in Stevenson on Thursday by members of Jackson County Ethics Committee, which paid for the ad in Thursday's edition of the North Jackson Progress. Barron said Jackson County deputies had to step in when members of the group approached and cursed at him.

The committee claims in the ad that the county's new flood ordinance prohibits people from building anything on their land without permission.

Dr. John M. Holder, a Stevenson optometrist and member of the group, said people were upset with Barron because they believed he and other lawmakers were taking away their property rights.

Thursday's meeting was to discuss the flooding ordinance and why it had not been discussed first at a public hearing, Holder said. "That's a huge problem." Barron said he made the trip from Montgomery to Stevenson to help explain the matter, but the crowd would not let him talk.

In the ad, there's a drawing of a man running with bags of money and the statement: "This time it was in secret ... your property rights were taken without a public hearing."

It also says that more property rights will be eliminated through a junk ordinance.

Two years ago, a proposed junk ordinance failed to pass the Jackson County Commission although its citizens had approved it in a referendum in the June 2006 primary.

Barron sponsored the statewide bill that gave commissions this authority only after holding referendums and a series of public hearings. But it did not include a flood ordinance.

The Jackson County Commission adopted a flood ordinance a few weeks ago under a federal mandate and a national insurance program designed for those who live in a 100-year flood plain.

"This didn't take away (landowners') rights," Barron said. "This gave them rights to continue getting loans to build or buy a home on their land."