JACKSON, MS – Today Commissioner Sean Tindell announced the appointment of Lora Hunter to serve as Director of the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security.
Before joining the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, Hunter served as General Counsel for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Prior to serving as DPS General Counsel, Hunter also served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Northern District of Mississippi, Criminal Division, and as an Assistant District Attorney for Hinds County, Mississippi. While an AUSA, Hunter served as lead counsel in the prosecutions of various violations of federal law, including multijurisdictional Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) cases, firearms, civil rights, narcotics, white-collar, and violent crimes. In 2018, Hunter received HIDTA’s National Outstanding Team Investigation Award for a three-year, multijurisdictional OCDETF case.
Hunter earned her J.D. in 2009 from the University of Mississippi and B.S., Magna cum laude, in 2006 from Mississippi College. She received extensive legal training in federal criminal practice at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, and is a graduate of the International Association of Defense Counsel’s Trial Academy hosted by the Stanford School of Law. She is licensed to practice in all Mississippi courts, the Northern District Court of Mississippi, the Southern District Court of Mississippi, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Lora Hunter has served as a leader in our state for years, working hard to protect Mississippians,” said Governor Tate Reeves. “I am grateful that she will continue serving the people of Mississippi as the Director of the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security.”
“It is an honor to appoint Lora Hunter as the next Director of the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security,” said Commissioner Sean Tindell. “Under Director Hunter’s leadership, the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security will continue to develop and enhance state-level planning, preparation, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of threats and hazards to our way of life.”