Mississippi
Opinion: Wildlife commission needs more sunshine as transparency concerns grow – SuperTalk Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is entrusted with the responsibility of conserving and managing our state’s diverse wildlife, fisheries, and parks. Their work impacts not only the environment but also the economy, tourism, and the overall well-being of our communities. It is vital that the decisions and accompanying discussions made by the five-member commission be transparent and open to public scrutiny. Fundamentally, the work of the commission is a sacred trust. When public institutions like our wildlife commission operate in secrecy – which it appears, as I will highlight, too much of the commission’s work these days is discussed in backroom meetings out of the public view and is influenced too often by politics and the rich and powerful – it erodes the trust citizens have in their government.
In Mississippi, a violation of open meetings laws by a public body occurs when the public body (commission) fails to comply with the requirements set forth in the Mississippi Open Meetings Act. Let me discuss briefly Mississippi’s sunshine laws.
A “meeting” is deemed to occur when a quorum or majority of the members of that public body are gathered and discuss anything under their authority or jurisdiction (in this case, all wildlife, fisheries, and parks – including hunting, fishing, and conservation). The wildlife commission must provide proper, advance notice of ALL meetings, including the date, time, location, and agenda. According to sources, the wildlife commission routinely holds “meetings” before their official monthly public meeting. This is widely known by those close (and not so close) to the commission and has gone on for years. And it has been confirmed by former commissioners. There is a culture of discussing and debating issues as a group and one-on-one outside the public eye and, at times, coming to a decision or consensus prior to the public meeting. This is illegal.
A closed meeting cannot be held without a valid legal reason such as discussing personnel matters, pending litigation, or certain economic development issues. While in executive session, discussions unrelated to the stated reason cannot legally occur, and a member of the staff from the attorney general’s office must be present during these sessions.
The commission can’t prohibit or restrict public attendance and participation in their public meeting without proper justification. I have heard, but don’t have definitive proof, that some in the public have been denied opportunities to speak. I was told this in a text from MDWFP executive director Lynn Posey: “You can call or email the office and we will put you on the agenda or anyone can sign up at the meeting and be added. They usually limit comments to five minutes.” In terms of the five-minute rule, I have seen some politically connected members of the public and their friends be given unlimited time.
The commission must keep accurate and detailed minutes of ALL meetings. They are supposed to be recorded, but they have never had a court reporter or other person taking dictation. Intentionally omitting information can be a violation of law. Here’s an important point: If the commission regularly discusses topics that are part of the public trust offline, there is no record. Of important note, they did start videoing and publicly live-streaming their monthly public meetings after much outcry from the public and thanks in large part to Commissioner Billy Mounger’s insistence. You can watch most past meetings on their YouTube channel.
The commission should conduct their discussions and make decisions during open meetings. Making decisions through private communications or informal gatherings without public knowledge and input is a violation of law. But here’s another important point: By saying the commission should conduct discussions in open meetings, the law is protecting the public trust. This doesn’t mean a quorum of commission members has to be present for there to be an issue. All discussions involving matters of the public trust and wildlife, fisheries, and parks should be held in open meetings even if those discussions are one-on-one between commissioners. This point has been successfully litigated in Mississippi.
While there are legal and ethical considerations that are significant, operating in secrecy erodes and undermines public trust. The legitimacy of commission decisions will be challenged and should lead to a public outcry and demands for accountability, resulting in the reputation of the institution being tarnished. Mississippi’s outdoors deserve much better.
I watch commission meetings. As a former newspaper publisher, my radar locks on when commission chairman Bill Cossar says during a commission meeting, “Weren’t you going to second that?” I have seen, and others have confirmed, that there are many instances of the commission referencing pre-determined actions on the record. A lawyer interested in commission proceedings told me, “It would be a cinch to prove it in court.”
By ensuring transparency within the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Commission, we can hold them accountable for their actions and decisions. Transparency allows the public to understand the reasoning behind policies, expenditures, and management practices, fostering a sense of ownership and participation in the general public. Citizens can then know they have a voice. When the preservation and protection of the public trust is seen as a paramount responsibility, those in power must honor and protect it.
Transparent, accountable, and ethical leadership by the commission, combined with citizen engagement, are vital in maintaining this trust. It is our collective duty to cherish and safeguard it. By doing so, we can protect Mississippi’s wildlife legacy, and we, the public, can know it was built on integrity, fairness, good science, and the common good. I am humbled and accept fully the responsibility I have as the host of SuperTalk Outdoors to be a critical watchdog of this state’s conservation efforts, holding those in power accountable and shining a light on potential abuses or mismanagement. I have a deep understanding of this role. And while they may not like it and have taken extraordinary steps in the recent past to silence my voice, I intend to play a crucial role in reporting and discussing the actions of our wildlife commission. I intend to uncover any discrepancies, conflicts of interest, or unethical or illegal practices that may undermine public trust. And I will celebrate their actions when they do good work.
But let’s be clear here, continued violations of Mississippi’s open meetings laws will almost certainly lead to formal complaints, litigation, and further degradation of the public trust. Let’s put the public trust back on the front burner. Our kids and our kid’s kids are counting on us.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of SuperTalk Mississippi Media.
Mississippi
Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for June 2, 2026
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from June 2 drawing
05-14-16-33-35
Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 3-3-8, FB: 5
Evening: 6-9-5, FB: 7
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 6-0-4-9, FB: 5
Evening: 2-8-1-0, FB: 7
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 08
Evening: 03
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Story continues below gallery.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.
Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:
Mississippi Lottery Corporation
P.O. Box 321462
Flowood, MS
39232
If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.
Mississippi Lottery Headquarters
1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100
Flowood, MS
39232
Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.
When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?
- Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
- Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Mississippi
Jackson mayor claims victory after water authority ruling. What he said
Mississippi governor signs Jackson MS water authority bill into law
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill into law on April 8, 2026.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn claimed victory in the city’s legal fight against Mississippi’s new Metro Jackson Water Authority, arguing a federal judge’s latest ruling validates Jackson’s concerns about state lawmakers trying to influence the future of the city’s water system.
During a press conference at City Hall Tuesday, June 2, Horhn pointed to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate’s decision to block the authority from naming a president, entering lease agreements or taking other substantive actions while Jackson’s water and sewer systems remain under federal oversight.
“What we’re thankful of is that the judge seems to agree with us,” Horhn said. “House Bill 1677 appeared to try to subvert the authority of the federal court.”
The comments come one day after Wingate issued a split ruling on the controversial law. While the judge declined to block House Bill 1677 outright, he also barred the Metro Jackson Water Authority from taking operational action beyond seating board members while the federal court continues overseeing Jackson’s water and sewer systems.
But Wingate’s ruling did not strike down House Bill 1677. It was more of a split ruling.
The judge agreed with arguments made by the state, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and JXN Water that the law itself does not automatically transfer control of Jackson’s water and sewer systems because any future takeover remains subject to federal court approval.
That leaves open a question: If the law remains on the books, could the Metro Jackson Water Authority simply remain in place until federal oversight ends and then assume control of the systems?
Horhn was asked that question directly Tuesday.
In response, Horhn focused on portions of the ruling that prevent the authority from naming a president who would serve as a deputy to JXN Water leader and Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin. Horhn also pointed to Wingate blocking movement on any lease agreements until the court decides how the eventual transition away from federal oversight should occur.
“Two major points of the judge’s ruling are that he enjoined the state and the authority if it does start taking action from being able to name a president who would become the second in command of JXN Water,” Horhn said. “The other thing is that he enjoined any action on a lease being entered into until such time as he has had a chance to deliberate and decide what the future path ought to be.”
Horhn’s answer suggested he believes the ruling leaves room for other options besides simply allowing House Bill 1677 to take effect once federal oversight ends.
“What the judge has said to us for a number of months is that he wants to see a transition plan,” Horhn said.
The mayor said city officials have already begun discussions with JXN Water about what that transition plan could look like.
“We have begun discussions with JXN Water to have meaningful conversations with them about putting such a transition plan forward,” Horhn said. “At this point, the actions of the city are focused on working with Jackson Water to try to come up with a transition plan that might be approved by the judge.”
Under existing court orders, JXN Water is expected to develop a formal transition plan that must ultimately be approved by Wingate.
When asked whether the city could pursue its own water authority rather than the state-created Metro Jackson Water Authority, Horhn pointed to existing Mississippi law allowing municipalities to create utility districts.
“For a number of years, there has been state statutory authority for municipalities to establish municipal utility districts,” Horhn said. “We have made that presentation before the judge, and as I understand it, he’s taking it under advisory.”
Horhn did not elaborate on whether the city is actively pursuing that option, but the comments suggest Jackson may continue advocating for alternatives to House Bill 1677 as discussions about a post-receivership transition continue.
Additionally, Horhn reiterated his long-standing position that Jackson should maintain majority control over any future governing body overseeing the city’s water and wastewater systems.
“We don’t mind participation and involvement by the state of Mississippi,” Horhn said. “But any future governance of the City of Jackson’s water and wastewater system must have the City of Jackson having the majority of control.”
Horhn said Jackson’s position has never been that the state should be excluded entirely.
“What I have said is that we don’t mind participation and involvement by the state of Mississippi,” Horhn said. “But any future governance of the City of Jackson’s water and wastewater system must have the City of Jackson having the majority of control on any future boards or authorities that would be created.”
Horhn said Jackson opposed House Bill 1677 because it would have allowed state and suburban appointees to outnumber city representatives on the authority’s governing board.
“We don’t mind if you want to have some involvement, but not control,” Horhn said.
The mayor also argued the legislation ignored concerns repeatedly raised by Jackson officials during the legislative process.
“House Bill 1677 was a classic example of the state not listening to the local interests of the City of Jackson,” Horhn said.
Overall, Wingate’s 22-page order on Monday, June 1, was something of a split decision. Jackson persuaded Wingate to freeze many of the authority’s powers, but the state successfully defended the law itself from being blocked outright. The larger question of who will ultimately control Jackson’s water system remains unresolved. For now, Wingate remains in the driver’s seat.
“The parties should all accept that this state statute cannot force this court’s hand, nor dictate the calendar of this litigation,” Wingate wrote.
Charlie Drape, the Jackson beat reporter, has covered the Jackson water crisis from its collapse in 2022 through the system’s ongoing recovery, including independent testing and other accountability reporting. You can contact him at cdrape@gannett.com.
Mississippi
How SCOTUS Callais Ruling Erased a Mississippi Voting Rights Victory
In 2022, Dyamone White, then in her late 20s, filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that Black voters like her didn’t have a fair chance to elect justices to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Three years later, she won a significant victory. A federal judge ruled that Mississippi Supreme Court election districts violated the Voting Rights Act and that Black candidates who wanted to run for the state’s highest court were unlikely to succeed. U.S. District Court Judge Sharion Aycock instructed lawmakers to draw a new map to give Black voters more power, with court-ordered special elections to follow, likely this fall.
“WE WON,” White wrote in a social media post that day in August 2025. “This isn’t just a personal victory — it’s a win for every Mississippian who has waited too long for fair representation. I became a plaintiff because I refused to accept that our state’s highest court could exclude the very people it serves. Today, that changes.”
But that change still hasn’t happened — and a recent seismic ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court means it may never happen.
In late April, the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Louisiana v. Callais that dramatically weakened the Voting Rights Act, making it much harder for racial minorities to win voting discrimination lawsuits.
The decision further intensified a mid-decade redistricting war that’s been spreading across the country ahead of the congressional elections in the fall. But the decision affects politics beyond the federal level. The now-upended court battle about Mississippi’s judicial elections will serve as an early test of whether voting rights plaintiffs can still mount a convincing case in some circumstances.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court vacated Aycock’s ruling from last year after the plaintiffs and defendants agreed that the Callais decision had dramatically changed the legal landscape.
That removed the state’s obligation to draw a new court map. It also eliminated the possibility that the state would hold special elections for its Supreme Court seats this fall, ending Black voters’ hope that 2026 may yield fairer representation at the top of the state’s judiciary. The case will now head back to Aycock’s court for new arguments under the higher standard created by the Callais decision.
The plaintiffs still see a path forward to win new maps. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center argue on behalf of White and her fellow plaintiffs that they can still prevail under that new standard.
Looking to the court battles ahead, White is also looking back. She is from the tiny town of Edwards, a rural community near the state’s capital city region, and she recites its history of Black resistance to oppression, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement and beyond.
“It’s an area that is resilient,” White said. “The people I grew up around, they were all fighters.”
Dyamone White with Reuben Anderson, the first Black justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, in 2024.
The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965, was a key tool in dismantling the Jim Crow regime of White supremacy that blocked Black residents from ballot box access in Mississippi and across the South.
Among other provisions, the law prohibited states from diluting the voting power of racial minorities and required that those voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing.
So, with Callais decided, what’s changed?
When plaintiffs filed suit over the Mississippi Supreme Court voting districts in 2022, they had to show a violation of the law only by pointing to discriminatory effects of the voting districts in use, regardless of what the original architects of those districts may have intended.
Those effects? Black people make up about 38% of Mississippi’s population, but the state has just one Black justice currently sitting on its nine-member Supreme Court. Only four Black justices have ever been on the court, all serving since 1985 and never more than one at a time. All four first reached the court through a gubernatorial appointment to fill a vacancy.
That has meant very little Black representation on a body that interprets state laws and the state constitution, hears appeals in criminal and civil cases and has some control over the operations of lower courts.
With no need to delve into the intention of the legislators who created the current districts in the late 1980s, Aycock, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Mississippi Supreme Court districts as drawn have the effect of diluting Black voting power, violating the Voting Rights Act.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in the Callais case, however, sets a higher standard. A Voting Rights Act violation may now be found “only when circumstances give rise to a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred.”
Legal experts have said that proving intentional discrimination is challenging — made even more difficult by the Alito opinion’s endorsement of partisan gerrymandering as a legitimate purpose of redistricting. The conservative justice wrote that states can now defend themselves against race dilution claims by arguing that Black districts are being eliminated not because of racist motivations but partisan ones since Black voters have typically supported Democratic candidates.
States like Louisiana and Tennessee have moved to quickly eliminate Black-majority Congressional districts. They will likely defend their new maps as partisan gerrymanders, not racially motivated ones.
“It’s going to be just lightning-strike rare for a Voting Rights Act claim to work where partisanship is permitted,” said Justin Levitt, a former Department of Justice official and election law expert who teaches at Loyola Marymount University Law School.
However, Mississippi Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan, and that may make a meaningful difference in the current litigation, said Amir Badat, a civil rights lawyer who has argued a number of voting rights claims in the state.
Badat said that even under Callais, lawmakers may not be able to hide behind partisan intent to shield themselves from judicial scrutiny.
“In this kind of narrow circumstance, you still have viable Section 2 claims,” said Badat, referencing the section of the Voting Rights Act that bans discriminatory election practices.
Levitt agrees that voting rights cases in nonpartisan elections may still be possible to win under Callais, though he added that the overall impact of the decision likely makes even those cases quite difficult.
While the legal standard may have changed, White, the lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, says one thing has not: The reality faced by Black voters who want to see a fair state Supreme Court map.
“We laid out the facts of representation in the state. You can’t deny that, “ White said. “We can go back to court again, and the facts remain the same. Representation is not equal.”
This article was produced in collaboration with Bolts, a nonprofit publication that covers criminal justice and voting rights in local governments; sign up for their newsletter.
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