Hinds County now has a new district attorney following the resignation and guilty plea of Jody Owens in connection with a federal bribery scandal.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday that he has lifted the interim title from Brad McCullouch, giving him the full-time DA role. McCullouch was announced as interim on July 1, the day Owens’ resignation went into effect. Reeves said the reason he appointed McCullouch, who had served in the DA’s office since 2023, was to maintain continuity.
“To maintain continuity, to ensure that those prosecutions continue in a timely manner, and after many conversations with members from the community over the last 10 days, I believe the best course of action is to limit disruption in the office’s operations,” Reeves stated.
“The majority of his legal career has been devoted to prosecuting criminals, including as a special assistant attorney general,” he continued. “That vast experience makes him the right person for this appointment. I thank him for stepping up to serve until a new district attorney is elected and takes office.”
The governor further called for a special election to take place on Nov. 3, the same date as midterms, to give voters the opportunity to select a top attorney for the state’s Seventh Circuit Court District. The qualifying deadline for candidates is Aug. 20, so that means prospective officeholders have just over a month left to get the ball rolling on a campaign.
Whoever is elected DA in November will likely have to continue hitting the campaign trail, as the district is expanding to accommodate Jefferson and Claiborne counties beginning New Year’s Day in 2027. A new election will be held in November 2027 to elect a DA for the tri-county district.
What about Jody Owens?
Owens was indicted in 2024 alongside former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson Councilman Aaron Banks. The trio faced multiple charges, including conspiracy and bribery, with both Owens and Lumumba having a racketeering charge levied against them.
Owens is accused of taking more than $115,000 in bribes while enriching his elected colleagues to the tune of roughly $80,000 to steer a downtown convention center hotel development project in favor of FBI informants posing as real estate developers. Instead of Jackson getting a new hotel, federal authorities exposed a broader string of public corruption through bribes, private planes, strip clubs, and yachts, court records assert.
Owens, Lumumba, and Banks were set to stand trial July 13, but all three have reached plea agreements with the Department of Justice. Owens went from potentially facing decades behind bars to looking at a maximum of five years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines. The same applies to Lumumba and Banks. All three are scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 15.
