Two candidates have advanced to a runoff in the race for Hinds County district attorney.
The field of five candidates dwindled to Darla Palmer and Gwen Agho as the two who will battle it out in a Dec. 1 runoff to serve the remainder of former DA Jody Owens’ term. Palmer garnered roughly 27% of the vote, while Agho earned around 23% of ballots cast. With neither getting above 50% of the vote, the runoff is necessary.
Owens resigned and was subsequently disbarred in Mississippi after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in a scandal involving former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, former City Councilman Aaron Banks, and others. In the meantime, Brad McCullouch has served as interim DA.
Palmer and Agho separated from a field of five candidates that included Greta Mack Harris, Marvin Sanders, and Wendy Wilson White.
Palmer is a lifelong Jacksonian who has spent nearly three decades as a criminal trial courtroom lawyer. Her service includes time in Edwards and in Jackson’s civil service commission as a prosecutor. She also worked for the state, where she handled child support cases, and has spent time as a private defense attorney and public defender in neighboring Rankin County.
A Jackson State University graduate who received her law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law, Palmer is running on the platform of enhancing public safety and running the district attorney’s office with integrity.
Agho is a lifelong Hinds County resident who grew up in Clinton and now lives in Jackson. She joined the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office in 2016 and has prosecuted murders, violent crimes, firearms offenses, narcotics cases, and crimes against children.
She currently serves as chief deputy district attorney in Hinds County. Agho notably helped as a special prosecutor for the state in the case against Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., the man who admitted to killing Ole Miss student Jimmie “Jay” Lee.
Agho is a graduate of Millsaps College and earned her law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where she served on the Trial Advocacy Board and competed on the National Trial Team in Criminal Law. She is running on the platform that she will lead the district attorney’s office with transparency, integrity, and an emphasis on justice.
Whoever wins the runoff will take over a district that is adding Claiborne and Jefferson counties beginning January 2027. The winner will serve the remainder of Owens’ term, which expires in January 2028, meaning another election will be held next November.