Hinds district attorney election guide: Meet the candidates
By Molly Minta | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Hinds County voters will go to the polls Nov. 3 to select their next district attorney in a quick-turn special election to fill out the term of former District Attorney Jody Owens, who pleaded guilty over the summer to a federal bribery charge stemming from an FBI sting operation to uncover corruption in Mississippi’s capital city.
Mississippi Today invited candidates to answer questions about their qualifications and priorities. Their responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
The winner of the special election will serve through January 2028 and take over the job from acting District Attorney Brad McCullouch, who was appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves. The new DA will have to continue campaigning to keep the post.
Next year’s race will take place within a new electoral landscape: The boundaries of the 7th Circuit Court District – which currently coincides with Hinds County’s borders – will expand to include neighboring Jefferson and Claiborne counties.
The deadline to register to vote for this election has passed. In-person and mail-in absentee voting is underway. Find your polling place here.
Meet the Candidates
Gwen Agho
Agho, 37, grew up in Clinton and began working as a prosecutor in the Hinds DA’s office in 2016, rising to become the chief deputy. She recently led the prosecution of Timothy Herrington, a University of Mississippi student who pleaded guilty last year to killing fellow student Jimmie “Jay” Lee.
Greta Mack Harris
Mack Harris, 57, was born and raised in Edwards in rural Hinds County. She has worked as an attorney for 30 years, serving as an assistant public defender in Hinds County, a special assistant attorney general for the state of Mississippi and a prosecutor in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties.
Darla Palmer
Palmer, 59, was born and raised in Jackson. She has worked as a prosecutor for the town of Edwards and in Jackson’s civil service commission and handled delinquent child support cases for the state. Since 2002, Palmer has worked as a private defense attorney and as a public defender in Rankin County. She twice unsuccessfully challenged Owens for Hinds DA.
Marvin Sanders
Born in the Mississippi Delta, Sanders, 53, is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He worked in the Hinds DA office in the 2000s under Eleanor Faye Peterson and as an assistant district attorney in Leflore County before moving to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. He is now in private practice and a public defender in Sunflower County.
Wendy Wilson White
Wilson White, 57, grew up in west central Jackson. She joined the Hinds County DA’s office in 2020 as a member of the grand jury team, reviewing and presenting cases for indictment. In 2022, Wilson White unsuccessfully ran for circuit court judge. She then worked as a deputy inspector general at the Mississippi Department of Human Services before returning to the DA’s office, where she now conducts probable cause hearings.
Our Questions, Their Answers
What makes you uniquely qualified to be the district attorney for Hinds County?
Agho: I am qualified to be district attorney because I know this office from the inside and have spent years fixing what I found broken. When I joined in 2016, the office was in disarray. Case files were paper, there was no system for storing files, victims were not consistently contacted and there was little institutional memory. When an assistant district attorney left, case information could leave with them, causing delays.
I built my own system. I gave victims my cell phone number so I could update them. I tracked my casework in a spreadsheet so the history of each case would not be lost.
In 2020, I was tasked with finding a case management system to solve these problems. After researching companies, I found one, trained assistant DAs and law enforcement to use it, and helped transfer our data. We went live in 2023, modernizing the office and solving the institutional memory problem. I serve as the system’s case manager.
I am a prosecutor who has tried 100 jury trials to verdict, including six murder trials, with an over 90% conviction rate. I will never compromise fairness to resolve a case.
I know where we are failing and how to fix it. I am ready on day one to restore integrity, clear the backlog and put victims first.
Mack Harris: Not only have I worked both sides of the courtroom – giving me the vantage point of every type of case that could come across the DA’s desk – but my experience in this community with the judicial system from both being a practitioner of the courts to being a community member impacted by violent crime.
Palmer: I am the only candidate who has not worked in the dysfunctional Hinds County District Attorney’s Office. I am also the attorney with the most legal trial experience. My concern is violent crime and, beginning day one, I will organize the office to have a primary focus on violent crime.
Sanders: What uniquely qualifies me to serve as Hinds County district attorney is the depth and range of my prosecutorial experience. I have prosecuted felony cases longer than any other candidate in this race and have prosecuted in more than half of Mississippi’s circuit court districts.
Through my work with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, I handled public integrity and vulnerable persons cases. I stepped in when district attorneys across the state had conflicts. I prosecuted cases ranging from home repair fraud to murder. Working alongside numerous district attorneys’ offices allowed me to see what works when an office functions effectively and what does not work.
I have also served as a criminal defense attorney and public defender; so, I understand both sides of the courtroom.
Several candidates have described the current Hinds County District Attorney’s Office as dysfunctional. One candidate has even gone as far to say that some of her colleagues within that office are “lazy.” Yet she and two of the other candidates worked within that same administration. I did not. It is like repairing a house. Living inside the house may tell you where it leaks, but repairing many different houses teaches you how to fix it.
Hinds County needs more than someone who knows the office as it has been. It needs someone who knows what a district attorney’s office can be.
Wilson White: I have the most balanced and broad range of experience:
- Prosecutorial experience on the city (chief city prosecutor, city of Jackson); county (assistant Hinds County district attorney); and state (Mississippi Department of Human Services, deputy inspector general) levels
- Work experience inside the DA’s office (grand jury, case review, trials, pleas, law enforcement relationships, and familiarity with the inner workings of the office and all aspects of the criminal justice system)
- Management and leadership positions, promotions and work experiences
- Trial and legal experience gained from working in small, mid-size and large law firms
- Civil rights/mental health advocacy experience
- Long-standing relationships with law enforcement
- Strong ties to this community
- Banking experience
- Teaching experience
Campaign finance: Who is supporting your campaign and do you commit to filing accurate campaign finance reports during this election?
Agho: Yes. I commit to filing complete, accurate and timely campaign finance reports throughout this election. After what this county has been through, voters deserve to know exactly who is funding every candidate. My campaign is supported by individual donors across Hinds County, Hinds County business owners, members of the legal community, friends and family members. Every contribution will be reported as the law requires.
Mack Harris: This is truly a grassroots campaign with much of my funding being self-financed and community members standing with me. I commit to timely and accurate reports pursuant to all applicable laws.
Palmer: My campaign is supported by personal funds and donations from friends, family and local businesses.
Sanders: My campaign is being supported by the Committee to Elect Marvin Sanders, which accepts contributions (including in-kind) from family, friends, professional colleagues, community members and Hinds County residents.
Wilson White: I am financially supporting my campaign, and I commit to filing accurate campaign finance reports during this election. At least 95% of the funds spent on my campaign thus far have been from my personal funds.
It is widely agreed that the criminal justice system in Hinds County is dysfunctional, but there is no consensus as to why. In your view, what is the most pressing issue facing the criminal justice system in Hinds County? Describe what you would do as district attorney to fix the root problem you identified.
Agho: The root problem is disorganization and a lack of accountability for how cases move. Too many cases sit without anyone owning them. Files pass from desk to desk, grand jury presentations stall and people wait in the Raymond jail for months while victims hear nothing. When no one is responsible for a case, no one is responsible for the delay.
I would bring accountability back to case management. Prosecutors should own their cases – from grand jury through sentencing – with assignments based on experience and expertise. The most complex cases should receive experienced review before grand jury presentation, and every homicide should be reviewed by me and at least two experienced prosecutors to ensure the evidence is sufficient.
I would also establish regular meetings with law enforcement leaders to address problems before they cause delays. Grand jury procedures should have clear standards for complete files and experienced review before presentation.
The jail population should be reviewed weekly, prioritizing violent cases while identifying nonviolent cases for diversion, pre-indictment resolution or bond release. Prosecutors should have clear productivity standards, with case-resolution numbers reported publicly.
Finally, I would hire a qualified victims advocate to keep victims informed, explain their rights and help them follow their cases.
Accountability starts at the top. I will hold myself and every prosecutor to the same standard.
Mack Harris: Cases are won or lost long before they reach a courtroom, in how evidence is preserved, how search warrants are executed and whether constitutional standards are met. When prosecutors and law enforcement are not working from the same standards, cases fall apart, victims are denied justice and public trust erodes.
As district attorney, I will rebuild that relationship as a balanced partnership. The DA and law enforcement are partners in the pursuit of justice, but my office will not be a rubber stamp for bad cases. I will reinstate countywide training academies with our local law enforcement agencies in Bolton, Byram, Edwards, Jackson, Raymond and Terry, along with the Hinds County Sheriff. This training will standardize evidence preservation, search warrant execution and constitutional standards, so that cases are built right from the start.
Partnership also requires accountability. Prosecutors and officers both take solemn oaths. When an oath is broken, accountability will be applied equally. As a felony prosecutor, I told a sitting DA on principle that I would not prosecute a case because it lacked the legal merit to proceed. The public and officers alike respect prosecutors who are fair, consistent and legally unassailable. That is the standard I will bring, because justice is only served when every part of the system works in concert.
Palmer: The central problem is the movement of cases in the office and how the office is organized regarding those cases. I would change how cases are being assigned to assistant district attorneys and the manner in which they are assigned to each judge’s courtroom. I would have a person monitoring cases being sent over from the lower courts and set deadlines for completion or submission to a grand jury if that’s the desired result. Some cases need to be dismissed.
Sanders: The most pressing issue facing Hinds County’s criminal justice system is the time it takes to move a case from arrest to prosecution. Justice is not served when cases sit for two years or more without indictment or when individuals are indicted but their cases are not promptly placed on the court docket.
Fixing this requires accountability at every stage. First, the District Attorney’s Office must work closely with law enforcement so officers understand what evidence and documentation prosecutors need to build a case that can actually be tried. Second, prosecutors must thoroughly review cases at the preliminary hearing stage to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to move forward. Once a case is bound over, it should be promptly reviewed and, when appropriate, presented to the grand jury. After indictment, defendants should be arraigned and cases placed on the criminal docket without unnecessary delay.
I would assign prosecutors responsibility for their caseloads from review through resolution and regularly identify cases that have stalled.
Moving cases faster does not mean sacrificing quality. It means preparing cases correctly from the beginning and creating accountability so cases do not simply sit. Justice delayed affects defendants, victims, law enforcement and the entire community.
Wilson White: In my opinion, the most pressing issue facing the criminal justice system in Hinds County is the volume of crime, specifically the violent crime we are seeing and experiencing.
While I will devote myself to addressing existing crime, I will also make crime prevention a priority. What we’re seeing is disturbing on so many levels.
I want to bridge the gaps between the community, law enforcement, schools, churches and faith organizations. I want there to be an exchange of information and healthy dialogue. I don’t want more words; I want action and active involvement. I believe it will take a unified effort. Hence, my platform, “Together We Can.”
It appears as though criminals are gaining momentum. While the number of criminals appears to be increasing and the courts have grown by one, there have been no real increases in law enforcement, prosecutors, public defenders or many of the others we all rely on to render justice. The “why”’ has to be addressed and I plan to make that one of my top priorities.
I believe education has a role to play. I want to see more done to educate our children about crime so that they can better identify it and avoid it. Our adults need to hear the crime we are living through, and witnessing is not normal and should not be accepted as such. I need everyone to understand they have a voice and begin how to use their voices more to stand against crime.
Criminals truly thrive and multiply when they are allowed to hide and avoid accountability and I believe that is what we are seeing.
I also want to see swift justice. I will look closely at how long it takes a case to work through the criminal justice system. There are obvious delays that need to be addressed. Swift accountability will impact crime in a positive way.
How would you foster working relationships across the justice system? Please comment on the current relationship between the district attorney’s office, the Jackson Police Department, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, local judges and defense attorneys. How should these relationships look?
Agho: Right now, these relationships are strained. Law enforcement and prosecutors too often blame each other for delays, cases reach the grand jury without complete files and judges are left managing a backlog no one owns. Public trust in the office has been damaged, and that damage affects every partner.
I would start with regular, standing meetings with JPD, the Sheriff’s Office and other agencies to screen cases early, agree on what a complete file looks like, and fix problems before they become delays. I would assign prosecutors as points of contact for each agency so officers know who to call.
With judges, I will bring experienced prosecutors to court and be honest about our caseload. With defense attorneys, I will insist on timely discovery and professional, respectful dealings. A fair process is a faster process.
These relationships should be built on shared goals: safer neighborhoods, cases that move and a system people can trust.
Mack Harris: The current relationship with the interim district attorney and law enforcement seems to indicate more efforts are being made to collaborate. The relationship should look like entities seeking to work in the best interests of and for the common good of the citizens who are being served.
From start to finish, that takes intentional partnership, mutual understanding and respect for processes. We can and will achieve this in a Greta Mack Harris administration through the reinstatement of a case review panel system that sought to bring together the necessary agencies to make sure Hinds County citizens are getting the best service from the judicial system.
Palmer: I have personally spoken with law enforcement throughout Jackson and the rest of the county. The relationship between the DA’s office and the parties aforementioned is clearly fragmented. I would personally reach out to foster better relationships and insist that all persons in the office work to ensure that these relationships are mended.
Sanders: I have prosecuted cases for two decades and have been a criminal defense attorney for almost a decade. I do not currently work in the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, so I cannot fairly comment on the relationships, whether positive or negative, between the District Attorney’s Office and other players in the criminal justice system. I have worked alongside other district attorney’s offices, so I know what the relationship can be.
As the next Hinds County district attorney, I will conduct training with law enforcement, participate in meetings with leadership within each law enforcement agency to include Capitol Police, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and each municipal law enforcement agency within Hinds County.
Prosecutors need to be able to work with defense attorneys to make sure cases can be properly moved through the courts. Prosecutors must work with judges to make sure cases are moved efficiently off of each judges’ docket.
Finally, as your next Hinds County district attorney, I will work with leadership within the Hinds County municipalities about the procedures within my office which align with access to law enforcement so that we can have effective training.
Wilson White: I do not know that I can truly speak to the current relationship between the district attorney’s office, the Jackson Police Department, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, local judges and defense attorneys.
I can say I have been prosecuting crime here in Jackson and Hinds County for 12 years. During those 12 years, I have served Jackson as its chief city prosecutor, Hinds County as an assistant district attorney and Mississippi as the Department of Human Services’ deputy inspector general.
I have worked hard to form and maintain strong relationships with all of the law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, judges and defense attorneys I have had an opportunity to work with. I build my relationships on mutual respect, trust and honesty.
In order to foster working relationships throughout the justice system, I will listen and encourage everyone else to listen as well. I am sure we all hold good ideas as it relates to issues within the justice system and how to address them. Here again, “Together We Can.”
Crime victims and their families frequently feel excluded from the criminal justice process. What role should crime victims play in prosecution?
Agho: Victims should be informed, heard and respected at every stage. They do not direct a prosecution, but they deserve to understand it and to have their voices count.
When I joined this office, no one was tracking whether prosecutors stayed in contact with victims. I built my own system to make sure I did, and it made a real difference for the families I served. As district attorney, I will make that the standard for every prosecutor.
That means a working victim advocate program, which the office does not have today. It means contacting victims before key decisions such as plea offers, keeping them updated as the case moves and preparing them for court. It means making sure they know their rights under Mississippi law, including the right to be heard at sentencing. Victims should never learn about their own case from the news. Every victim deserves to know where their case stands.
Mack Harris: Crime victims should be actively involved from the inception of a case. As a family member of multiple victims of violent crimes, I know first hand that the system is geared more toward the criminal defendant than victims. If and when elected, we will mobilize the victim assistance coordinator to partner with law enforcement to secure testimony logistics and emergency relocation where necessary, maintaining continuous victim-family communication.
Palmer: Crime victims may be in a position to advance the prosecution against a defendant. They play a crucial role. However, the office must be mindful also that certain developments in the case should remain confidential. Victims should be updated to some degree, however.
Sanders: Crime victims should be consulted prior to any resolution outside of a jury trial, especially violent crimes. They should be properly informed of court dates and proceedings and have access to the prosecutors if they have questions about the status of the criminal case. This is the purpose of and the responsibility of the victim coordinator. As your next Hinds County district attorney, I will make sure that the victim coordinator understands this responsibility and is given the proper training to execute this job.
Wilson White: I think it is a good practice to regularly communicate with victims and keep them abreast of where their cases are in the court system. Victims should have a voice and be heard. They should also be informed and allowed to express their thoughts, feelings and expectations. Justice varies and I believe it is person specific. What looks like justice to one person, won’t look like justice to another. I want to know what justice looks like to our victims so that the DA’s office, in line with the law, can pursue the justice they need.
I often ask, where do broken people go? How do they survive as victims? Victims deserve to be made whole and a part of that is giving them the justice they need and deserve. I want the DA’s office to be the victims’ safe place – a place where they feel respected, seen, heard and valued. The best way to secure those feelings is to be open and honest.
The district attorney’s office generates enormous sums of money through pre-trial intervention programs, but the public doesn’t know how the DA spends these funds. Describe the characteristics of a transparent DA’s office.
Agho: A transparent DA’s office treats every dollar as the public’s money, because it is.
First, all pretrial intervention fees and other self-generated funds should be deposited in accounts subject to regular independent audits, with the results published. Second, the office should publish regular reports showing how much money comes in, where it goes and who approved the spending. Third, clear written policies should govern how those funds can be used, with no discretionary spending outside those rules. Fourth, the office should cooperate fully with the state auditor and the Board of Supervisors.
Transparency also applies to performance. The public should be able to see how many cases the office handles, how long they take, the size of the backlog and how victims are being served.
This county has seen what happens when no one is watching. Under my leadership, everyone will be able to see how this office works.
Mack Harris: A Greta Mack Harris district attorney’s office will be one that is transparent with how pretrial funds are managed. It’s one that includes checks and balances that would require that the person who collects the money isn’t the same person as the one who determines where it will be spent. Checks and balances on allocation of funds coupled with routine audits will ensure that the DA’s office is not only honest in its reporting, but efficient. After each fiscal year, I will publish a financial statement breakdown of the money collected and spent.
Palmer: A transparent DA’s office will provide the budgets as required by the Board of Supervisors as well as what state statutes require.
Sanders: As your next Hinds County district attorney, if there is a question, we will make ourselves open to review by the state auditor. As deputy director of the public integrity division for the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, I prosecuted numerous cases where there was a significant lack of transparency. So, I know what you can and cannot do with public funds.
Wilson White: The DA’s office under my leadership will not hide or shield the amount of funds it receives or how such funds are expended. The DA’s office under my leadership will have a legitimate system of checks and balances to ensure proper receipts, spending and documentation. The DA’s office belongs to the people, not the DA. I am confident my business education and business work experience will be an asset to the DA’s office in this regard.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
