Quantcast

LEGAL NEWSLINE

Friday, March 29, 2024

Federal prosecutor steps down to challenge Hood for Miss. AG

Mikehurst 150x150

JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - A former federal prosecutor has decided to run for Mississippi attorney general, pitting himself against three-term attorney general Jim Hood.

 

On Friday, Republican Mike Hurst resigned his position as Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division, which he has held since 2006, to run for attorney general.  

 

In his time in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Madison resident prosecuted some of the largest and most complex public corruption and white collar cases in the state’s history, including the recent bribery case against former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps.

“Mississippians need and deserve an attorney general who will fight for and protect them,” he said in an announcement. “I have the proven experience and track record as a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the unwavering determination necessary to see that our people in Mississippi get the honest services we deserve from our government and all of our public officials.

 

“As your next attorney general, I will be Mississippi’s prosecutor, continuing my crusade to root out public corruption in our state and holding corrupt public officials accountable.”

 

Hurst is a native of Newton County, Miss., and a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson and The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.

 

From 2000-03, he practiced law at Troutman Sanders LLP in Washington. From 2003 until beginning his service as Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2006, he served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and later as legislative director and counsel in the Washington office of Congressman Chip Pickering.

 

Hurst was recently awarded the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2014 Executive Office of the United States Attorneys Director’s Award for Outstanding Prosecution of Fraud and Service to Fraud Prevention, relating to the prosecution of the largest and most complex commercial mortgage fraud Ponzi scheme ever committed in Mississippi’s history.

 

He is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Mississippi Prosecutors Association and the Federalist Society.
 

Hurst said he plans to hold a press conference this week to discuss plans for his campaign and his agenda for the Attorney General’s Office, if elected.

 

Hurst’s filing comes a week after Hood announced he plans to seek a fourth term as the state’s top lawyer. Hood is the only Democrat to hold a statewide elected office.

 

The state’s primary election is set for Aug. 4. The general election is Nov. 3.

 

From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

More News