Jackson Free Press logo

This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

[verbatim] Jackson, MS*Attorney General Jim Hood kicked off National Domestic Violence Awareness month (October) today with the announcement of a newly established unit to combat Domestic Violence in Mississippi. The Domestic Violence Division of the Office of Attorney General is being funded by a two year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

The main purpose of the unit will be to act as a resource for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and all other individuals or entities having legal duties related to domestic violence victims or providing services to domestic violence victims within the State of Mississippi. “What this division does is bring a cohesiveness to the state’s efforts to fight domestic violence,” said Attorney General Jim Hood. “Our state ranks second highest in the nation for domestic violence. That dubious distinction alone is enough to say we have to improve our efforts and that’s what we are dedicated to doing.”

Partnering with the Attorney General’s Office in this effort are the Administrative Office of Courts, the Judicial College, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Planning and the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“When a group of dedicated individuals and organizations make a commitment to act as one, the possibilities to create positive change are endless,” said Michele Carroll, Executive Director of the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “With the award of this grant and the development of this program we have a truly unique opportunity to work collaboratively to end the violence. Only together do we have the strength to move forward to break the cycle of domestic violence in Mississippi.”

Previous Comments

Go Jim Hood! This issue needs serious attention in Mississippi.

#89352 | Author: Izzy | Date: Oct 2 2006

Agreed… This is definitely good news. Jim Hood just made the “Mississippi politicians I actually like” list. Cheers, TH

#89353 | Author: Tom Head | Date: Oct 2 2006

This is something I am glad to see. I hope that the unit will be effective and properly funded.

#89354 | Author: LatashaWillis | Date: Oct 3 2006

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.