State of Mississippi Judiciary

Commission for Study of Domestic Abuse Proceedings

The Mississippi Supreme Court, acting on a request from the Mississippi Attorney General, created the Commission for Study of Domestic Abuse Proceedings in an order signed May 21, 2008. The Commission’s purpose was to do a comprehensive study of statutes and rules relating to domestic violence issues and to identify and address needed changes. The Commission presented its report, containing 10 recommendations, to the Mississippi Supreme Court on Dec. 11, 2008. The Commission is no longer active.

Supreme Court Justice Ann H. Lamar of Senatobia and Special Assistant Attorney General Heather Wagner of Jackson were co-chairs of the 23-member commission.

Other Commission members

University of Mississippi School of Law Professor Deborah Bell Mississippi College School of Law Professor Shirley Kennedy Court of Appeals Judge Virginia Carlton of Columbia Chancery Judges Margaret Alfonso of Gulfport, Jaye Bradley of Lucedale, and Cynthia Brewer of Madison County Circuit Judges Margaret Carey-McCray of Greenville, Vernon Cotten of Carthage, and Kenneth Thomas of Cleveland Justice Court Judge Deborah Gambrell of Hattiesburg Municipal Judge John Shirley of Pearl Gulfport Assistant City Prosecutor Martha Carson Assistant District Attorney Kassie Ann Coleman of Hattiesburg Hinds County Public Defender William LaBarre Hinds County Assistant Public Defender Lynn Watkins Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Director Ken Winter of Oxford Jackson attorney Brandi Brown of Catholic Charities Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence Executive Director Anna Walker Crump of Jackson Sen. Gray Tollison of Oxford; Rep. Kimberly Campbell of Jackson Mississippi Judicial College Director Cynthia Davis of Oxford