A native of Jackson, Robert Shuler Smith has served as the Hinds County District Attorney since 2008. Smith graduated from Forest Hill High School and Tougaloo College before earning his law degree from the Saint Louis University School of Law.

In recent years, Smith has been a rival – and, he claims, a target – of Attorney General Jim Hood’s office. In 2005, Stan Alexander, a prosecutor for Hood, unsuccessfully challenged Smith for the Hinds County DA position.

Hood has unsuccessfully tried Smith three times on various criminal charges. Once in Rankin County, for charges of robbery and aggravated assault, and twice in Hinds County for conspiracy to hinder prosecution. Two domestic violence charges remain against Smith that the state could pursue.

Smith has said he believes the attorney general’s cases were “racially and politically motivated” and were a motivating factor for his run against Hood.

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Will Stribling

Will Stribling

A native of Vicksburg, Will was an editorial intern for Mississippi Today. During his internship, he was a senior studying print journalism and philosophy at the University of Mississippi.