Eight candidates have submitted applications by Monday’s deadline to become Starkville’s next municipal judge.
The city’s board of aldermen will hold a special-call meeting at 3 p.m. Friday, after a work session, to interview candidates.
Aldermen are looking to appoint a new municipal judge after Rodney Faver, who now holds the post, was elected to the Chancery District 14, Place 1 judge seat. Starkville’s municipal judge salary ranges from $50,000 to $67,500. Aldermen will set the new judge’s salary when they make a hire.
The municipal judge applicants aldermen will consider are Charles Bruce Brown, Jimmy Brown, Marty Haug, Jeffrey Hosford, Jay Hurdle, Brian Kelley, Caroline Moore and Whit Waide.
Charles Bruce Brown has operated a law office in Starkville for 28 years. He was sworn in to practice law in Mississippi’s state and federal courts in April 1990 and has experience as a public defender. He’s worked as a municipal attorney and prosecutor for Mathiston since 2008 and Sturgis since Sept. 2017.
Jimmy Brown has practiced law for 38 years. He notes in his application his work has carried a heavy focus on criminal law and has handled everything from “a speeding ticket up to a capital murder case through trial.”
Haug has practiced law in Starkville since 2009 and practiced for six years as an attorney with Florida’s First Judicial Circuit for six years before that. Haug won election as Oktibbeha County’s District 3 Justice Court judge seat in 2015. He was also appointed Sturgis’ municipal judge in 2015.
Hurdle has practiced law in Starkville since 2010. In his application, Hurdle says he has extensive experience in criminal law and has represented clients in more than 150 criminal and misdemeanor cases in the last year.
Kelley has practiced law for 16 years in Mississippi, with 14 of those in Starkville. He opened a law practice in Starkville in the spring of 2004 and has maintained an active criminal defense practice, wherein he’s represented clients in municipal courts throughout Mississippi.
Moore has worked as Starkville’s city prosecutor since 2013 and was elected as Winston County’s first female prosecutor in 2008. Moore notes in her application that she’s worked closely with Faver and all the court staff. She’s practiced law since 1997.
Waide is a political science professor at Mississippi State, where he’s taught law courses for 12 years. He also serves as general counsel for MSU students and is a pre-law adviser for the university’s student body. Waide also developed and is the director of MSU’s pre-law minor program. Before working as a professor, Waide worked with as a commercial litigator with a firm in Jackson and as general counsel and chief of staff for the State Treasurer’s Office.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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