Mississippi Today
Bills to help domestic violence survivors make progress, then die in the Legislature
Bills to help domestic violence survivors make progress, then die in the Legislature
Domestic violence advocates say Mississippi lawmakers have missed an opportunity to pass legislation aimed to help survivors, such as the creation of domestic abuse courts geared to their needs.
“In order to fix your problem, you have to be willing to admit that there is a problem. And nobody in the state wanted to admit there was a problem with domestic violence,” said Rep. John Hines Sr., D-Greenville. “If you kill (the bill), we don’t have to talk about that.”
He has been filing legislation to establish domestic abuse courts since as early as 2013, and those bills died in committee and didn’t make it to the full House floor.
This year, Hines filed House Bill 170 to establish domestic abuse courts across the state, and that bill passed the House with 119 votes and moved to the Senate’s Judiciary B and Appropriations committees where it died. Sen. Joey Fillingane, chair of the Judiciary B Committee, and Sen. W. Briggs Hopson III, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, did not respond to a request for comment.
Hines wonders how many people would still be alive or uninjured or how many families would still be together if the state had domestic abuse courts in place.
Nearly 40% of Mississippi women and 32% of Mississippi men experience intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence or stalking in their lifetimes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wendy Mahoney, executive director of the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said domestic abuse courts are needed and there are already models of them working in Vicksburg and Hattiesburg.
Hines said the intervention court model, which is already in place for drugs and mental health, can work for domestic abuse. In addition to helping survivors, the court would be a place for abusers to learn their actions are violent and how to not hurt others. He said it could also
disrupt the cycle of children learning that domestic abuse is okay or that it is okay to be abused.
Hines sees parallels between how control is exercised in domestic abuse situations and the state Legislature: One political party maintains control and makes decisions, such as what ideas and policies move forward. That is what happened with Medicaid expansion, postpartum Medicaid expansion, funding for historically Black colleges and universities and with House Bill 1020, Hines said, referring to the legislation that would subvert the power of Jackson’s police force by empowering the state Capital Police to have citywide jurisdiction and allow the state’s chief justice to appoint judges to hear cases in Hinds County.
This year is the furthest Hines’ domestic abuse court bill has advanced, which he sees as a good sign that legislators are more open to the idea of establishing the courts. If needed, he plans to refile the bill in the next session and as long as he is a lawmaker.
The idea to set up domestic abuse courts came from former 9th District Chancery Court Judge Marie Wilson, whom Hines said wanted the authority to create programming to help survivors, perpetrators and their children by getting them the proper care and treatment they needed.
Other legislation filed this session was House Bill 65, which would allow a domestic abuse survivors to get out of a rental lease without notice if their safety is at risk, and Senate Bill 2084, which would allow judges to include pets in domestic abuse protection orders.
Mahoney said domestic abuse court programs and these other efforts are the standard in other states.
Rep. Daryl Porter, D-Summit, proposed HB 65 and a similar bill last year. In the current session, the bill made it to the House floor, but it was tabled and died before the body’s Feb. 9 deadline to advance bills.
Under HB 65, landlords would have been prohibited from removing a tenant or ending the individual’s rental agreement if the tenant is a domestic violence survivor and calls 911 for safety or medical help.
Mahoney said in other states, shelters are able to verify those who have experienced domestic abuse if they have reached out or received services from the shelter.
Landlords also would not have been able to charge a penalty if the survivor terminated the rental agreement or disclose personal information that can be used to locate the tenant after the individual left the property, according to the bill. Termination of a rental agreement due to domestic abuse also couldn’t have been used against a person seeking to enter a new rental agreement.
Porter did not respond to a request for comment.
Under SB 2084, companion animals such as dogs and cats would be considered personal property that a judge can direct a person not to abuse or damage.
Sen. Angela Burks Hill, R-Picayune, proposed the bill and started filing similar legislation in 2018. Most of the bills have died in the Judiciary A Committee, but in 2019 the legislation made it to the full House before failing to receive action by deadline.
Hill and Sen. Brice Wiggins, who chairs the Judiciary A Committee, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mahoney said domestic and animal abuse are connected, and harm or threat of harm to an animal is often used as coercion to keep an abused person from leaving.
People have called shelters in the state to ask if they can bring pets, she said. Shelters have worked with veterinary clinics and Mississippi State Unversity’s Veterinary School to house animals. Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, which serves the Pine Belt area, received a grant to provide space for pets in its shelter.
Overall, Mahoney said the coalition and other advocates aren’t always informed about domestic abuse-related legislation when it’s filed and more often they learn about it later in the process. She believes there can be a greater impact if advocates can learn earlier to provide feedback to lawmakers as they work on legislation.
“Out of the need of survivors, this is what we do in our field,” Mahoney said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday
Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.
“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”
The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.



“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”
The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.
“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”
NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.




This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says
Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed.
They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them.
Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother.
“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.”
Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023.
Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board.
The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition.
A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities.
Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board.
In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties.
The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more.
From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths.
“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said.
Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.
A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents.
Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed.
In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.
Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records.
Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson.
Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.
He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media.
Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary.
Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents.
At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.
“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
Court to rule on DeSoto County Senate districts with special elections looming
A federal three-judge panel will rule in coming days on how political power in northwest Mississippi will be allocated in the state Senate and whether any incumbents in the DeSoto County area might have to campaign against each other in November special elections.
The panel, comprised of all George W. Bush-appointed judges, ordered state officials last week to, again, craft a new Senate map for the area in the suburbs of Memphis. The panel has held that none of the state’s prior maps gave Black voters a realistic chance to elect candidates of their choice.
The latest map proposed by the all-Republican State Board of Election Commissioners tweaked only four Senate districts in northwest Mississippi and does not pit any incumbent senators against each other.
The state’s proposal would keep the Senate districts currently held by Sen. Michael McLendon, a Republican from Hernando and Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, in majority-white districts.
But it makes Sen. David Parker’s district a slightly majority-Black district. Parker, a white Republican from Olive Branch, would run in a district with a 50.1% black voting-age population, according to court documents.
The proposal also maintains the district held by Sen. Reginald Jackson, a Democrat from Marks, as a majority-Black district, although it reduces the Black voting age population from 61% to 53%.
Gov. Tate Reeves, Secretary of State Michael Watson, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch comprise the State Board of Election Commissioners. Reeves and Watson voted to approve the plan. But Watson, according to meeting documents, expressed a wish that the state had more time to consider different proposals.
Fitch did not attend the meeting, but Deputy Attorney General Whitney Lipscomb attended in her place. Lipscomb voted against the map, although it is unclear why. Fitch’s office declined to comment on why she voted against the map because it involves pending litigation.
The reason for redrawing the districts is that the state chapter of the NAACP and Black voters in the state sued Mississippi officials for drawing legislative districts in a way that dilutes Black voting power.
The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, are likely to object to the state’s newest proposal, and they have until April 29 to file an objection with the court
The plaintiffs have put forward two alternative proposals for the area in the event the judges rule against the state’s plans.
The first option would place McLendon and Blackwell in the same district, and the other would place McLendon and Jackson in the same district.
It is unclear when the panel of judges will issue a ruling on the state’s plan, but they will not issue a ruling until the plaintiffs file their remaining court documents next week.
While the November election is roughly six months away, changing legislative districts across counties and precincts is technical work, and local election officials need time to prepare for the races.
The judges have not yet ruled on the full elections calendar, but U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick said at a hearing earlier this month that the panel was committed have the elections in November.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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