Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State Sen. Derrick T. Simmons received the 2014 Award for Leadership in Juvenile Justice Reform at the 12th annual forum for the National Juvenile Justice Network, in conjunction with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rep. John W. Hines, D-Greenville, and Sen. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, also received the award.

Simmons is a Greenville, Miss., native who graduated at the top of his class at T.L. Weston High School in 1995. Simmons, a Democrat, studied business administration at Jackson State University and got his bachelor's degree in finance from JSU's business school in 2000 and received his MBA in finance at Howard University College of Business in 2002. Simmons graduated from Howard School of Law in 2005. During his time there, he participated in the historic Howard Mock Trial team that defeated Harvard Law School in the American Bar Association International Mock Trial Competition.

In 2007, Mississippi Valley State University welcomed Simmons as an adjunct professor for its college of professional studies. Simmons has also served as the youngest member on the Greenville Public School District Board of Trustees.

Together with his twin brother, Greenville City Councilman Errick Simmons, Simmons formed the Simmons & Simmons law firm in their hometown in 2008. As a municipal court judge, Simmons has served the communities of Sunflower and Moorhead, Miss.

Simmons was elected to the Mississippi State Senate during a special election after District 12 Sen. Johnnie Walls was elected to circuit court in spring 2011. Simmons' platform focused on employment, education and health care. Simmons is also a member of the Labor, Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and Insurance committees, and works as chairman of the Enrolled Bills Committee.

The National Bar Association dubbed Simmons one of the Nation's Best Advocates: Top 40 Lawyers Under 40, and the Magnolia Bar Association gave him its Government Service Award in 2012.

He is a sponsor of Simmons & Simmons Little League Sluggers and Armstrong Elementary School's basketball team. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., the Greenville Rotary Club and the Washington County United Way, and an advocate for "Keep Greenville Beautiful."

Simmons and his wife, CuWanda Flowers Simmons, have a son named Derrick Jr., also known as "DJ."