Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Hood Gains More Coin for the Realm

Lord Protector Jim Hood issued the following statement.

Attorney General Jim Hood delivered a $17,658,336.29 check to the Mississippi Legislature Tuesday that included settlement monies recently collected.

The settlements include five of the civil suits in the MDOC-Christopher Epps prison bribery scandal, drug pricing cases, data breach litigation against popular ride-sharing company Uber, and several antitrust and consumer multistate cases. The money is placed into the state’s general fund and appropriated by the Legislature; however, General Hood, as required by state law (Mississippi Code Section 7-5-63), made recommendations to the legislative leadership on how the money should be spent.

In the attached letter to legislative leadership, General Hood recommended the money be spent on mental health training, regional jails, opioid crisis response, and reimbursements for inflated IT expenses. Specifically, he requested investing in more crisis intervention and mental health training for law enforcement across the state, as well as training for all levels of educational personnel to help them identify a student with a mental illness and seek proper care for that person.

“This is essential for the safety of those suffering with mental illness, the law enforcement officers encountering them, and the public,” General Hood wrote.

Mississippi is experiencing a critical shortage in treatment facilities for both the general public and those who are incarcerated as death rates from the opioid crisis continue to rise, so General Hood requested a portion of the $17.6 million be directed toward funding more treatment programs. Additionally, he asked for funding for overdose reversal drugs and data tracking software for usage be given to the Mississippi Department of Health. General Hood also sought additional help for Child Protective Services, which helps children who have been neglected or abandoned by parents who are addicted to opioids.

“The money I’ve sent over to the Legislature is extra money they now have to spend on some of the most critical programs in our state that have been making do after experiencing deep budget cuts in recent years,” General Hood said. “I sincerely hope the legislative leadership will carefully consider how this money is dispersed and remember the many families who are suffering due to the opioid crisis or the law enforcement agencies that need money to be properly equipped to de-escalate a person with a mental illness who may cause harm to themselves or others. There should be nothing partisan about this when these are great needs across the state.”

Following a decrease by the Mississippi Department of Corrections to the regional jails’ per diem rates, General Hood requested some of this money be directed to regional jails in order to maintain operations for the safety of the community. Finally, General Hood asked that $475,112.45 from cases regarding price-fixing of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) be given to public entities in the state who suffered from inflated prices of computers with DRAM. That includes the Institutions of Higher Learning, Department of Finance and Administration, Department of Education, and cities and counties.



18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jim Hood bringing home the bacon once again! Well done sir. You will be a wonderful governor.

Anonymous said...

The Little Emperor is fuming (because of this and the long wait that he had this morning getting out of his neighborhood onto Lakeland).

Anonymous said...

I can imagine that red faced dough boy Tater stomping around his office, throwing a tantrum.

He's had everything handed to him since he was anointed by the MSGOP but they won't be able to hand him the governorship.

Anonymous said...

This makes Tate so mad.

Anonymous said...

Which big contributor trial lawyer did Jim Hood pay to do the job he was elected to do? Funny how AGs in other states are capable of negotiating these things themselves while Hood pays his contributors to do it for him. Trucks are expensive these days!

Anonymous said...

I guess Tater (3:41 PM) just woke up from his afternoon nap.

Anonymous said...

Just wait until a republican fills the AG seat. This source of income (even though relatively small and infrequent) will dry up since the reuplicans will not bite the corporate hand that feeds them.

Anonymous said...

3:41 PM, what negotiating do Attorneys General do in other states? Please fill me in. Also, it is not possible for an AG to pay a trial lawyer to do anything that is proscribed unto him according to Mississippi law. I'm afraid that your Cracker Barrel lupper has been tainted with Country Time Bath Salts.

On A Silver Platter No Less said...

What the hell are you talking about, 4:17? Are you totally unfamiliar with the millions gifted to trial lawyer friends of Mike Moore and Hood over the past sixteen years?

Anonymous said...

This swindle happened on Hood's watch.....he is only recovering 2% of the taxpayer's money that was lost. How is this a win? Hood is a weak, Mississippi never-will-be.

Anonymous said...

Seems to me that victims should get the money.

Red Summer said...

Some of this stuff is literally just filling out paperwork for class action lawsuits. I did my paperwork and received a small check for the DRAM antitrust settlement from being overcharged when buying computer memory for 25 years.

there are lots of websites out there that you can apply to join class action law suits.

Anonymous said...

So there are actually people posting negative shit about the State receiving a check? You do you, Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

Republicans: Jim Hood uses private trial lawyers! Can you imagine?!? Private attorneys to litigate for the State! That's his job! He's corrupt!

Also, Republicans: Under this new bill, we would allow agencies to choose private attorneys at their discretion. It's called the glorious sunshine bill. Also, Mr. Reeves and Mr. Baker would like to again introduce their measure to privatize the AG office. Let's celebrate their brilliance and initiative.

Anonymous said...

Jim Hood did a bang up job nailing Chris Epps!

Anonymous said...

The AG office does not have the talent or the resources to pursue every claim that arises. The very common and totally legal practice of hiring outside counsel provides talent and resources. You critics should focus your attention on what the Legislature does with the money the AG recovers. Improve schools? Infrastructure? Economic development? Don’t hold your breath.

Anonymous said...

Republicans have been in control of the State for some time now.....How's that working for you? Different hogs at the trough!

Anonymous said...

How can this be, the AG's office has previouly made it clear that no one can be prosecuted for fraud because MS doesnt have a legal definition of fraud.



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