The Mississippi Bar is looking to prohibit embattled former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens from practicing law within the state.
In a complaint sent to the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Mississippi Bar cited Owens’ indictment on federal bribery charges and recent guilty plea as justification to strip him of his law practice. Owens was indicted in 2024, alongside former Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and city councilman Aaron Banks.
“The Bar requests that Jody E. Owens II be immediately suspended from the practice of law in the State of Mississippi, with all costs and expenses associated with the filing and litigation of this Formal Complaint being taxed against Respondent,” a portion of the filing reads. “The Bar further requests other such relief as the Court deems proper.”
The three men and two others are accused of taking bribes to give a favorable look at a downtown convention center hotel project proposal.
The proposal was from FBI informants posing as Nashville real estate developers. And 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 initially pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against them and were scheduled to stand trial on July 13. Before further court proceedings could happen, however, Owens both entered a plea agreement on a conspiracy charge and announced his resignation on June 29. Lumumba and Banks followed with plea agreements a week later.
The former Hinds County DA faces up to five years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and time on probation related to his federal conspiracy charge. He is set to be sentenced on Oct.15. As for his legal practice, he is likely to be disbarred in Mississippi. But that decision will be left up to the state Supreme Court, which holds the exclusive authority to suspend or disbar attorneys from practicing law.
