Jackson Free Press

Attorney General Jim Hood's campaign site sent out an email this morning urging his supporters to call senators and oppose the Sunshine Act, which would allow agency heads to hire outside counsel to represent them. (Read more about the act in our archives.)

In the email, Hood applies the Sunshine Act's potential effects to former Gov. Haley Barbour's end-of-term pardons, and suggests that the bill could prevent Hood from acting in similar cases.

Here's the email, verbatim:

Dear Friends,

Thanks for your continued support of our efforts to fight crime, protect children and vulnerable adults, and go after those who commit domestic violence. Recently, we took on over 200 Haley Barbour pardons of some murderers, rapists, and child molesters. We took that fight to the Mississippi Supreme Court because we believe that many of these pardons were in violation of the state's constitution. So many victims and their families were never consulted with regard to these pardons, and I, like you, felt for how these families were treated.

You've helped us get our message out successfully in the past, and now we need your help again. The Mississippi House of Representatives has passed HB 211 which severely limits our office's ability to investigate and prosecute civil cases. This bill will allow each agency and board to hire their own attorney instead of having the AG's office handle those issues. Imagine had we not been able to intervene in the pardon case on your behalf if this bill had been law?

Here's what you can do. Please call your State Senator today and ask them not to strip the Attorney General's office of its authority to represent you. If this bill or similar measures is allowed to become law, it could cost you, the taxpayer, an additional $11 million at a time when the state has no extra money to hire new law enforcement officers, adequately pay our prosecutors, or do many other things.

Please call your Senator today at 601.359.3770 and ask them NOT to support any bill that limits the power of the Attorney General! Call or email your Senator and tell him/her to vote NO on any bill that limits the authority of this office to protect the people. Here is a link to a legislative website that can help you find your legislator and their email address. To keep up with this issue, follow us by clicking here or the Facebook icon above and on our website. Nothing can replace the important role that an independent Attorney General plays in protecting Mississippi families.

Thanks for your support,

Jim Hood