President Donald Trump has made his picks to fill two U.S. attorney vacancies in Mississippi.
The Republican commander-in-chief chose Baxter Kruger for the Southern District and Scott Leary for the Northern District. Both must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office.
Kruger, a graduate of Mississippi College School of Law, currently serves as executive director of the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security. Additionally, the Jackson native is chair of the Mississippi Cybersecurity Review Board and the Mississippi Wireless Commission.
He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District’s criminal division. Pointing to his experience and efficiency as state Homeland Security head, Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell had high praise for Kruger following the nomination announcement.
“Thank you for your leadership at the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security and for your dedicated service to our state,” Tindell wrote in a social media post. “Your hard work and commitment have not gone unnoticed, and this nomination is a testament to that! When you work hard, good things happen and you continue moving up!”
The Mississippi Office of Homeland Security operates under the umbrella of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
Leary, Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney in the Northern District, graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law and also has experience in offices of U.S. attorneys. From 2002 to 2008, he worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee. He then moved into his current role as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
If confirmed, both Kruger and Leary will begin a term of four years or at the discretion of the president.
