Mississippi Today
Stories of Alleged Brutality by a Mississippi Sheriff’s Department
Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield investigated dozens of arrests made by Rankin County deputies to report this article, which is part of a series by The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship examining the power of sheriffs’ offices in Mississippi.
Last month, The New York Times and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today investigated a series of allegations that, for nearly two decades, Rankin County sheriff’s deputies tortured people suspected of drug use to extract information and confessions.
Reporters examined hundreds of pages of court records and sheriff’s office reports and interviewed more than 50 people who say they witnessed or experienced these events. What emerged was a pattern of violence that was neither confined to a small group of deputies nor hidden from department leaders.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey declined to comment on specific allegations against his deputies, but in a brief phone interview in November, he told reporters “I have 240 employees, there’s no way I can be with them each and every day.” The department also announced that it had updated its internal policies and that deputies would receive training on federal civil rights laws.
These are portraits of some of the cases the investigation uncovered:
Christopher Hillhouse, 19
October 2009, Pearl, Miss.
Rankin County deputies arranged for a confidential informant to give marked money to Christopher Hillhouse to purchase drugs, according to department records. Mr. Hillhouse told reporters that he knew the informant was trying to set him up, so he spent the money at Dollar General and a gas station — stores deputies watched Mr. Hillhouse enter while tailing him, according to an incident report by Brett McAlpin, an investigator with the sheriff’s department. Later, deputies confronted Mr. Hillhouse at his family’s home. He and his mother said the deputies entered their house without permission or showing a warrant. Department officials told reporters they could not find a copy of a search warrant. Deputies demanded to know where the money was, the family said, before placing Mr. Hillhouse in handcuffs, punching him in the stomach and knocking his tooth out with a flashlight. Mr. Hillhouse said he was put in a van where a deputy continued to beat him for nearly half an hour. He was never prosecuted for a crime.
Dustin Hale, 17
November 2010, Florence, Miss.
Dustin Hale was at a friend’s house when he got into a fight that spilled out into the yard. Rankin County deputies arrived and handcuffed the teenager and then began searching for a gun deputies believed he had stashed. When Mr. Hale failed to present a weapon, the deputies shocked him with their Tasers and beat him, according to Mr. Hale and his girlfriend at the time. Mr. Hale was taken to an interrogation room at the jail where deputies placed a cardboard crown from Burger King on his head to humiliate him and shocked him until he urinated on himself, according to Mr. Hale’s former girlfriend, who said she witnessed the incident while waiting to be booked. Mr. Hale was charged with disorderly conduct, failure to comply and possession of alcohol. He was fined $507.
Gary Frith, 37
September 2012, unknown location
Gary Frith drove off when Rankin County deputies tried to pull him over, according to department records. Eventually he stopped his vehicle and, according to a lawsuit he filed, exited with his hands over his head showing no resistance. Deputies describe no violence from Mr. Frith in their reports. Mr. Frith said deputies beat and stomped on him until he was bloodied. He was then taken to a squad car where one deputy choked and repeatedly hit him and another told him to leave the county or they would murder him, according to Mr. Frith’s lawsuit. A sheriff’s office incident report provides no explanation for the large bandage over Mr. Frith’s eyebrow in his jail mug shot. Mr. Frith pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Ronald Shinstock, 41, and John Burrell, 40
March 2015, Brandon, Miss.
Deputies raided Ronald Shinstock’s home after a confidential informant set him up, according to court records. Deputies held Mr. Shinstock’s wife, their children and their friends at gunpoint while searching the house without presenting a search warrant, Mr. Shinstock and witnesses said. Department officials told reporters they could not find a copy of a warrant. Deputies took Mr. Shinstock and John Burrell, his friend, outside, where Mr. Burrell said a deputy hit him until his ears bled while demanding he tell them where the drugs were. Mr. Shinstock said deputies slapped him, made him strip naked and threatened to hit his groin with a flashlight.
Mr. Burrell pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was fined $7,541. Mr. Shinstock was convicted of selling methamphetamine. He appealed his case to the Mississippi Supreme Court, arguing deputies violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they raided his home without a warrant. The court denied his appeal because he failed to introduce the issue in his original criminal trial. He is currently imprisoned, facing a 40-year sentence because the sale occurred less than 1,500 feet from a church.
Samuel Carter, 64, and Christopher Holloway, 26
June 2016, Pelahatchie, Miss.
In reports, deputies said they were responding to a drug overdose at the home of Samuel Carter, an Army veteran, when they found drugs in plain sight. The reports mentioned no use of force during the arrest. Mr. Carter and other witnesses said that no one had overdosed in the home and deputies forced their way inside without permission or presenting a search warrant. Department officials told reporters they could not find a copy of a warrant.
Christopher Holloway, a Black man who was visiting the home, said deputies taunted him with racial slurs and began scouring the house for drugs. Mr. Holloway said he was handcuffed, beaten and repeatedly shocked in the groin and chest with a Taser until he defecated from fear and exhaustion. Taser logs indicate that James Rayborn, a deputy who was present at the arrest according to department records, triggered his Taser six times for 20 seconds during the arrest. Mr. Rayborn did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Mr. Holloway said deputies demanded to know where the drugs were and threatened to throw him into the pool while handcuffed.
Mr. Carter said he was shocked with a Taser and beaten in a separate room. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, but avoided prison time by agreeing to attend rehabilitation. Mr. Holloway was not prosecuted but served about eight months for violating parole.
Garry Curro, 64; Jerry Manning, 39; James Elbert Lynch, 26; and Adam Cody Porter, 27
June 2018, Pearl, Miss.
Rankin County deputies arranged for a confidential informant to buy drugs in the home of Jerry Manning, according to department records. Deputies then burst into his trailer without presenting a search warrant, witnesses said.
When one of Mr. Manning’s guests, Garry Curro, 64, stepped into the living room, deputies threw him to the ground and handcuffed him, Mr. Curro said, before beating him and repeatedly shocking him with a Taser. Taser logs indicate that Deputies James Rayborn, Luke Stickman and Cody Grogan, who were present at the arrest according to department records, fired their Tasers a total of 14 times for 27 seconds. None of the deputies responded to multiple requests for comment. Mr. Curro said that when he told the deputies he had received back surgery, one of them stuck a foot into the middle of his back, grabbed him by the neck and yanked his head backward. In his incident report, Investigator McAlpin does not mention the deputies’ use of force during the arrests.
Mr. Manning said deputies placed his legs under his bed and knocked out the bedposts, pinning him to the floor while they shocked him repeatedly in the genitals and the head. Deputies then wrapped a pair of bluejeans around his face and punched him repeatedly before dragging him into the kitchen, Mr. Manning said, where they then used a blowtorch to melt the handle of a metal nutcracker onto his bare thigh. One deputy drew a swastika on his forehead, Mr. Manning said, which was visible in his mug shot. Deputies leaned Mr. Manning against a chair and strapped a belt around his neck, he said. Then, one deputy stood on the chair and pulled the belt up, allowing him to hang by his own body weight until he thought he would die, Mr. Manning said.
Adam Cody Porter said deputies handcuffed him in another room and asked him where the drugs were. When he said he did not know, they threw him into a glass mirror, kicked him on his sides and used his pocketknife to shred his pants to ribbons, Mr. Porter said.
James Elbert Lynch said he was asleep when deputies grabbed him by his hair, dragged him into the living room and stomped on his face when he asked to see a warrant. Mr. Lynch said that when he told a deputy he did not know where any drugs were, the deputy dragged a blowtorch across the bottoms of his feet.
Mr. Curro pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and was fined $250. Mr. Manning said he entered a drug counseling program to avoid charges. Mr. Porter was not charged. Charges against Mr. Lynch were dropped.
Robert Wayne Jones, 34, and Jeffrey Tyler Mote, 26
June 2018, Pearl, Miss.
While trying to set up Robert Wayne Jones and Jeffrey Tyler Mote in a drug sale, deputies intercepted the men in a trailer park driveway, according to department records. The deputies then beat them and shocked them with Tasers, Mr. Jones said, demanding to know where their drugs were. He said deputies then drove them to a wooded area and beat them again before throwing Mr. Jones into a water-filled ditch and firing a Taser at his chest, above his heart. Mr. Jones said a deputy believed he had swallowed drugs to hide them, so he shoved a stick down Mr. Jones’s throat and twisted it until he vomited blood. In their official report, deputies did not mention using force against the men. A mug shot later taken at the jail shows Mr. Jones’s face swollen and covered in mud.
While in jail, Mr. Jones told his story to a fellow inmate who described the account to reporters. Mr. Mote was convicted of possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle and possession of paraphernalia and was fined $855. Mr. Jones was not charged.
Fredrick Trimble, 38
July 2018, Flowood, Miss.
Deputies arrested Fredrick Trimble during a sting initiated by a confidential informant, according to department records. Mr. Trimble, who said he thought the informant was trying to rob him, fled in his car and struck a pedestrian. The deputies caught Mr. Trimble, beat him and shocked him with their Tasers multiple times in the groin and torso while he was handcuffed, Mr. Trimble said. He said one of the deputies put a gun in his mouth, threatened to kill him and then pistol-whipped him. In their reports, deputies wrote that Mr. Trimble had attacked them. He was charged with assault and fleeing police officers and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Jeremy Travis Paige, 41
August 2018, Pearl, Miss.
Rankin County deputies arrested Jeremy Travis Paige after getting a confidential informant to try to set him up in a drug sale, according to department records. Mr. Paige said that after he tried to flee in his car, deputies beat him unconscious in the street. In their reports, deputies wrote that he resisted arrest and tried to kick them.
When Mr. Paige came to, he had been handcuffed and deputies were dragging him into his home, Mr. Paige said. He was then brutally beaten for nearly an hour, until his eyes were swollen shut and his tooth fell out, he and a witness said. Mr. Paige also said deputies waterboarded him, burned him with a cigarette and shocked him with a Taser. Department Taser logs indicate that at least one deputy at the scene fired a Taser. Mr. Paige’s booking photo, taken at the Rankin County jail, shows his battered face after the encounter.
According to Mr. Paige, deputies hid evidence of the violence by using Tasers that were not issued by the department and removing blood-soaked bed linens from the house. After Mr. Paige was arrested, his roommate came home and took pictures of the mattress stripped bare and blood spattered on the wall. Mr. Paige, who was sentenced to five years on drug charges, filed a lawsuit, which was dismissed after he missed court deadlines.
Mitchell Hobson, 38, and Roy Clell “Rick” Loveday, 47
October 2018, Brandon, Miss.
Rick Loveday said he woke up when deputies barged into his trailer home seeking drugs. Mr. Loveday, who was a deputy in Hinds County at the time, said deputies dragged him half-naked into his kitchen, where they poured spices on him, smashed a chocolate cake into his face and jabbed his buttocks threateningly with a flashlight before beating him.
Mitchell Hobson, a guest in Mr. Loveday’s home, said deputies tortured him for more than an hour, waterboarding him, beating his bare feet with batons, shocking him with Tasers, choking him with a lamp cable, sticking a Taser into his mouth and punching him in the face and body while demanding he lead them to a drug stash.
Andrea Dettore, another guest in Mr. Loveday’s home, said she witnessed Mr. Loveday’s beating and heard Mr. Hobson being beaten in the other room. Mr. Loveday said he also heard Mr. Hobson being beaten. The confidential informant who set the men up told reporters that Mr. Loveday spoke to him in court a few days later about being beaten by the deputies.
Mr. Loveday said deputies stole guns and other items from his home. He was charged with possession of paraphernalia. Mr. Hobson was charged with selling methamphetamine. All charges were set aside or dropped.
Carvis Johnson, 34
February 2019, Flowood, Miss.
Rankin County deputies pulled over Carvis Johnson after a confidential informant bought drugs from him, according to department records. Mr. Johnson claimed in a federal lawsuit that after he was handcuffed, Deputy Jamie Perry placed a gun in his mouth and threatened to kill him if he did not say where his drugs were located. Mr. Johnson said deputies beat him when he told them he had no drugs and said if he brought drugs into Rankin County, he would be killed.
Mr. Johnson’s lawsuit states that deputies threw him into a truck bed and took turns beating his back and buttocks with a crowbar. (In an interview, Mr. Johnson clarified that they used a car jack handle). Investigator McAlpin wrote in his incident report that Mr. Johnson tried to “obtain or conceal” a gun, but he made no mention of violence during the arrest. Mr. Johnson’s booking photo shows his face swollen and bandaged.
Mr. Johnson pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine with a firearm and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. His lawsuit was resolved in a settlement for $2,000.
Maurice Porter, 28
March 2019, Florence, Miss.
Deputies stopped Maurice Porter in his car because they suspected him of selling drugs and driving without a license, according to Investigator McAlpin’s incident report. Mr. Porter said that he ran when a deputy referred to him using a racial slur and threatened to shock him in his groin with a Taser. After tackling him, the deputies shocked him, punched him and kicked him, Mr. Porter said. A confidential informant who said he witnessed the arrest told reporters that Mr. Porter was brutally beaten.
The deputies took Mr. Porter back to their vehicles but refused to let him stand, Mr. Porter said, hurling racial slurs at him as they dragged him by his hair and his shoulders. When they got him to the car, Mr. Porter said, Investigator McAlpin slammed a nightstick into his legs repeatedly knocking him to the ground. The deputies shoved him into a squad car, where he vomited, Mr. Porter said.
When Mr. Porter’s mother, Catherine, arrived, deputies would not let her speak to her son and told her they were going to search her house, Mr. Porter and his mother said. Ms. Porter said she did not grant deputies permission to search her home; department officials told reporters they could not find a copy of a search warrant. During the search, deputies took two guns and then took a security camera and the memory device that stored video footage, Ms. Porter said.
Mr. Porter was charged with resisting arrest and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. He was fined more than $1,000 and spent five months in jail.
Joshua Rushing, 32
January 2020, Pearl, Miss.
Rankin County deputies arranged a controlled drug sale between a confidential informant and Joshua Rushing, according to department records. In his report, Investigator Christian Dedmon wrote that Mr. Rushing rammed a patrol vehicle with his car and then ran from deputies and fought with them as they subdued him. Mr. Dedmon wrote that he shocked Mr. Rushing with his Taser and punched him until other deputies helped place him in handcuffs.
Mr. Rushing and his girlfriend, Nicole Brock, who witnessed the arrest, denied these claims. Mr. Rushing said he was pulling over when the deputies rammed his vehicle and they began to shock him with their Tasers while he was still in the driver’s seat. He said he was in handcuffs when Mr. Dedmon placed a pistol in his mouth and radioed that an armed man was fleeing. Mr. Dedmon then pistol-whipped him in the head, Mr. Rushing said. His mug shot shows a large bleeding wound on his forehead, where Mr. Rushing said he was struck. Mr. Dedmon, who pleaded guilty this summer to federal and state charges related to the torture of three men, did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment left with his attorney.
Before taking him to jail, deputies placed him in the bed of their truck and drove to a nearby service road, Mr. Rushing said, where they told him he had made a mistake coming to their county and shocked him repeatedly with a Taser. Taser logs from the sheriff’s department show that Mr. Dedmon triggered his Taser six times for a total of 19 seconds during the arrest. After being taken to jail, Mr. Rushing described the encounter to another inmate, who confirmed his account.
Mr. Rushing said he complained to the department, detailing the abuse; a lawyer for the department declined to provide copies, claiming they were personnel records. Mr. Rushing spent eight months in jail, but charges stemming from the incident were eventually dropped. Ms. Brock was charged with disorderly conduct and failure to comply and was fined $697.
Dwayne Kaiser, 59
February 2020, Pearl, Miss.
Dwayne Kaiser was set up by a confidential informant in a $100 methamphetamine deal, according to department records. Rankin County deputies then raided Mr. Kaiser’s home without presenting a search warrant, Mr. Kaiser said. Department officials told reporters they could not find a copy of a search warrant. Deputies brought Mr. Kaiser into his bedroom, he said, where they demanded to know where the $100 was and punched him repeatedly. Mr. Kaiser said that one deputy shocked him in the leg with his Taser, which is supported by department Taser logs. No use of force is mentioned in the deputies’ reports. Deputies then punched him until he told them where to find the money, Mr. Kaiser said.
Mr. Kaiser pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine and was sentenced to five years of probation.
Barry Tatum Yawn, 40
June 2022, Florence, Miss.
When Rankin County deputies came to investigate a fight between Barry Tatum Yawn and his son, they shocked him with their Tasers numerous times, Mr. Yawn said. Then, they held him upside down by his legs, slammed his head into the floor and punched him until his jaw broke, he said. Department Taser logs indicate that several deputies fired their Tasers seven times during the time of the incident.
At the urging of a fire department medic, deputies took him to a hospital, Mr. Yawn said. Medical records show that doctors treated him for head injuries and a broken jaw, which the records say occurred during the fight between Mr. Yawn and his son. The medical records also state that doctors had to remove Taser prongs from Mr. Yawn’s shoulder. There is no mention of Taser use or any use of force in the deputies’ reports. Mr. Yawn was not arrested or charged in the incident.
Robert Grozier, 39, and Andrea Dettore, 49
January 2023, Florence, Miss.
Investigator Dedmon set up a drug deal between Robert Grozier and a confidential informant at the home of Andrea Dettore, department records show. According to Mr. Grozier, deputies stormed the property and forced a gun so far down his throat that he started to vomit and then shocked him with their Tasers until he falsely confessed to buying drugs. Ms. Dettore said she could hear Mr. Grozier grunting as if he were being hurt behind the closed bedroom door. Mr. Grozier and Ms. Dettore said that a deputy found a sex toy in the home and shoved it into Mr. Grozier’s mouth while threatening to shock him if he spat it out. Deputies found topless pictures of Ms. Dettore on Mr. Grozier’s phone and showed them to each other, making lewd comments, Mr. Grozier and Ms. Dettore said.
Mr. Grozier pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was fined $250. Ms. Dettore pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and failure to comply and was fined $500.
Jerry Mitchell, Ilyssa Daly, Eric Sagara and Irene Casado Sanchez contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research. This article was reported in partnership with Big Local News at Stanford University and supported in part by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
Indicted Jackson prosecutor’s latest campaign finance report rife with errors
Tangled finances, thousands in personal loans and a political contribution from a supposed investor group made up of undercover FBI informants — this was all contained in a months-late campaign finance report from Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens.
Owens, a second-term Democrat in Mississippi’s capital city region, is fighting federal bribery charges, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. At the same time, his recent campaign finance disclosure reflects a pair of transactions that correspond with key details in the government’s allegation that Owens took money from undercover informants to pay off a local official’s debt.
Regarding payments from Facility Solutions Team — the company name used in the FBI sting — to former Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee, Owens allegedly stated the need to “clean it out,” according to the indictment, which was unsealed in November.
“[L]ike we always do, we’ll put it in a campaign account, or directly wire it,” he said, the indictment claims. “[T]hat’s the only way I want the paper trail to look.”
Agents recorded hundreds of hours of conversations with Owens and other officials, and after his arraignment last year, Owens responded to the charges, saying, “The cherry-picked statements of drunken locker room banter is not a crime.”
Throughout 2024, a non-election year during which federal authorities allege Owens funneled thousands of dollars in bribes to Jackson’s city officials, Owens loaned his campaign more than $20,000, according to his campaign committee’s finance report. He’d won reelection in late 2023.
Owens and his attorneys did not respond to questions about his campaign finance report.
Owens’ report, filed May 30 – months late and riddled with errors – is the latest example of how Mississippi politicians can ignore the state’s campaign finance transparency laws while avoiding meaningful consequences. It’s a lax legal environment that has led to late and illegible reports, untraceable out-of-state money that defied contribution limits, and, according to federal authorities, public corruption with campaign finance accounts serving as piggy banks.
Enforcement duties are divided among many government bodies, including the Mississippi Ethics Commission. The commission’s executive director, Tom Hood, has long complained that the state’s campaign finance laws are confusing and ineffective.
“It’s just a mess,” Hood said.
Owens filed the annual report months past the Jan. 31 deadline, after reporting from The Marshall Project – Jackson revealed he had failed to do so. He paid a $500 fine in April.
He was also late filing in previous years, paying fines in some years and failing to pay the penalties in other years, according to records provided by the Ethics Commission.
The report, which Owens signed, is full of omissions or miscalculations, with no way to tell which is which. The cover sheet of the report provides the total amount of itemized contributions and disbursements for the year — $44,000 in and $36,500 out. But the body of the report lists the line-by-line itemizations for each, and when the Marshall Project – Jackson and Mississippi Today summed the individual itemizations, the totals didn’t match those on the cover sheet.
Based on the itemized spending detailed in the body of the report, Owens’ campaign should have thousands more in cash on hand than reported. In the report’s cover sheet, Owens also reported that he received more in itemized contributions during the year than he received in total contributions, which would be impossible to do.
While the secretary of state receives and maintains campaign finance reports, it has no obligation to review the reports and no authority to investigate their accuracy. Under state law, willfully filing a false campaign finance report is a misdemeanor. Charges, however, are rare.
Owens is the only local official in the federal bribery probe — which is set to go to trial next summer — who remains in office. The government alleged that Owens accepted $125,000 to split between him and two associates in late 2023 from a group of men he believed were vying for a development project in downtown Jackson. Owens accepted several thousand dollars more to funnel to public officials for their support of the project, the indictment alleges. The use of campaign accounts was an important feature of the alleged scheme, according to the indictment.
Owens divvied up $50,000 from Facility Solutions Team, or FST, into checks from various individuals or companies — allegedly meant to conceal the bribe — to former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba’s reelection campaign, the indictment charged.
Lumumba accepted the checks during a sunset cruise on a yacht in South Florida, the indictment alleged. His campaign finance report, filed earlier this year, reflected five $10,000 contributions near the date of the trip, with no mention of FST.
Lumumba, who lost reelection in April, has pleaded not guilty.
While the indictment accused Owens of saying that public officials use campaign accounts to finance their personal lives, state law prohibits the use of political contributions for personal use.
The indictment alleges Owens accepted $60,000 — some for the purpose of funneling to local politicians — from the men representing themselves as FST in the backroom of Owens’ cigar bar on Feb. 13, 2024. On his campaign finance report, he listed a $12,500 campaign contribution from FST two days later, the same day the indictment alleges he paid off $10,000 of former Councilwoman Lee’s campaign debt. Lee pleaded guilty to charges related to the alleged bribery scheme in 2024.
Also on Feb. 15, 2024, the campaign finance report Owens filed shows a $10,000 payment to 1Vision, a printing company that used to go by the name A2Z Printing, for the purpose of “debt retirement.” Lee had her city paycheck garnished starting in 2023 to pay off debts to A2Z Printing, according to media reports. No mention of Lee was made in the campaign finance report filed by Owens. The printing company did not respond to requests for comment.
Campaigns are allowed to contribute money to other campaigns or political action committees. If Owens’ committee used campaign funds to pay off debt owed by Lee’s campaign, the transaction should have been structured as a contribution to Lee’s campaign and reported as such by both campaigns, said Sam Begley, a Jackson-based attorney and election law expert who has advised candidates about their financial disclosures.
The alleged debt payoff on behalf of Lee is not the first time Owens has described transactions on his campaign finance filings in ways that may obscure how his campaign is spending money. Confusing or unclear descriptions of spending activity are common on campaign finance reports across the state.
Owens previously reported that in 2023, he paid $1,275 to a staff member in the district attorney’s office who also worked on his campaign. The payment was labeled a reimbursement, which Owens explained in a May email to The Marshall Project – Jackson was for expenditures this person made on behalf of the campaign, “such as meals for volunteers/workers, evening/weekend canvassers, and election day workers.”
State law requires campaigns to itemize all contributions and expenses over $200. Begley said he believes Owens’ committee should have itemized any payments over $200 made by anyone on behalf of the campaign.
Upfront payments, with the expectation of repayment by the campaign, might also be considered a loan, according to a spokesperson for the secretary of state. Campaigns are barred from spending money to repay undocumented loans.
The state Ethics Commission has addressed undocumented loan repayments in several opinions, outlining the required documentation to make repayments legal.
Since 2018, the Ethics Commission has had the power to issue advisory opinions upon request to help candidates and campaigns sort through laws that Hood, the commission’s executive director, said aren’t always clear.
The commission has issued just six opinions in seven years.
“I was surprised in the first few years that there weren’t more,” Hood said. “But now it seems to be clear that for whatever reason, most people don’t think they need advice.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Indicted Jackson prosecutor's latest campaign finance report rife with errors appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The article critically examines the conduct of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, a Democrat, and highlights systemic weaknesses in Mississippi’s campaign finance laws. While the reporting is grounded in factual evidence, legal documents, and expert commentary, the tone leans toward exposing flaws in enforcement and transparency—issues typically emphasized by center-left or reform-oriented journalism. The article does not display partisan rhetoric or ideological framing beyond its focus on accountability and legal integrity. Its publication by Mississippi Today and The Marshall Project, both known for investigative work with slight progressive leanings, further supports a Center-Left classification.
Mississippi Today
Whooping cough cases increase in Mississippi
The Mississippi State Department of Health issued an alert Wednesday that cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, are climbing in the state.
The year-to-date number of cases in Mississippi ballooned to 80 as of July 10. That compares to 49 cases in all of 2024.
No whooping cough deaths have been reported. Ten people have been hospitalized related to whooping cough, seven of whom were children under 2 years old.
Cases have largely been clustered in northeast Mississippi. The region accounts for 40% of cases statewide.
The nation has also seen rising rates of whooping cough, though cases have been climbing less steeply than in Mississippi. About 15,000 whooping cough cases have been reported nationwide this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The highly contagious respiratory illness is named for the “whooping” sound people make when gasping for air after a coughing fit. It may begin like a common cold but can last for weeks or months. Babies younger than 1 year are at greatest risk for getting whooping cough, and can have severe complications that often require hospitalization.
Whooping cough cases fell in Mississippi after the COVID-19 pandemic began, but have since rebounded. This is likely due to people now taking fewer mitigation measures, like masking and remote learning, State Epidemiologist Renia Dotson said at the state Board of Health meeting July 9.
The majority of cases – 76% – have occurred in children. Of the 73 cases reported in people who were old enough to be vaccinated, 28 were unvaccinated. Of those 28 people, 23 were children.
“Vaccines are the best defense against vaccine preventable diseases,” State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney said after the State Board of Health meeting.
Mississippi has long had the highest child vaccination rates in the country. But the state’s kindergarten vaccination rates have dropped since a federal judge ruled in 2023 that parents can opt out of vaccinating their children for school on account of religious beliefs.
The pertussis vaccination is administered in a five-dose series for children under 7 and booster doses for older children and adults. The health department recommends that pregnant women, grandparents and family or friends that may come in close contact with an infant should get booster shots to ensure they do not pass the illness to children, particularly those too young to be vaccinated.
Immunity from pertussis vaccination wanes over time, and there is not a routine recommendation for boosters.
State health officials also encourage vaccination against other childhood illnesses, like measles. While Mississippi has not reported any measles cases, Texas has had recent outbreaks.
The Mississippi Health Department offers vaccinations to children and uninsured adults at county health departments.
Correction 7/16/25: This story has been updated to reflect that the age of the seven hospitalized children is under 2 years old.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Whooping cough cases increase in Mississippi appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents a straightforward, fact-based account of rising whooping cough cases in Mississippi without ideological framing. It cites official sources such as the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offering context, statistics, and public health recommendations. While it mentions a 2023 federal court ruling that allowed religious exemptions to vaccinations—a potentially contentious topic—it does so factually without editorializing or assigning blame. The overall tone remains neutral and informative, aligning with public health reporting rather than political advocacy.
Mississippi Today
Driver’s license office moves to downtown Jackson
The driver’s license office in Jackson has moved downtown as the Mississippi Department of Public Safety prepares to shift its headquarters from the capital city to suburban Rankin County.
The department last month announced it was closing the license office that had operated for decades next to its headquarters just off Interstate 55 at Woodrow Wilson Avenue, near the VA Medical Center.
The new office is at 430 State St., near Jackson’s main post office and a few blocks from the Capitol.
“This location provides easier access for those who live and work in the area and ensures we can continue offering vital driver services in a more convenient and accessible space within the city of Jackson,” said Bailey Martin, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety.
Mississippi has 35 driver’s licenses offices. The new Jackson office is in a former car dealership – an all-white building with floor-to-ceiling windows that fill the space with sunlight. On Wednesday, customers sat on black benches, chatting or scrolling on their phones while waiting to be called up to get or renew a license.
Carlos Lakes, 34, from Yazoo City, said he first went to the Richland office that issues commercial driver’s licenses but couldn’t get what he needed there. He said he then went to the old office on Woodrow Wilson and saw a note on the door showing the office had moved.
“So, it’s been about two hours of running around,” said Lakes, a truck driver.
He said the customer service at the new office was good, aside from the long wait time.
Medical student Seth Holton, 22, had a similar experience. He drove in from Flora, in Madison County, and went to the Woodrow Wilson location before finding the new office. He said it was his first time getting his license renewed.
“I think it looks nice,” Holton said of the new location. “I think it’s organized. There’s good seating. It’s pretty quick, for the most part.”
Student Marquerion Brown, 19, posed for photos with a large cardboard frame of a driver’s license in the corner of the new office. He’d just passed his driver’s test for the first time.
“I’m just lucky and thankful to get this one this time,” Brown said. He hadn’t decided where he wanted to drive first. “I got a lot of places in mind.”
The Department of Public Safety headquarters will open in Pearl within the next year, near the state’s crime lab, fire academy and emergency management agency.
Martin said the new headquarters will allow the department to have its divisions in one place – the highway patrol, bureau of investigation, bureau of narcotics, homeland security office and commercial transportation enforcement.
“As such, this move will enhance operational efficiency with other public safety partners, improve interagency collaboration, and position the department for future growth,” Martin said.
The headquarters move has been in the making for over five years. Public safety officials said the old building on Woodrow Wilson fell into disrepair after years of neglect.
Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, was part of a group of lawmakers who proposed moving the headquarters to a different location inside Jackson.
“I personally think that the state government should be based in the state capital,” he said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Driver's license office moves to downtown Jackson appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article from *Mississippi Today* offers a factual and neutral report on the relocation of the Jackson driver’s license office and the broader headquarters move by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. It includes quotes from officials and everyday citizens without editorializing or promoting a specific viewpoint. The inclusion of Sen. David Blount’s comment presents a mild political contrast, but it is balanced and not framed in a confrontational or ideological way. The tone remains focused on public service logistics and community impact rather than political narrative.
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