The Numbers Are Already There
In 2023, the Stone County sheriff's runoff came down to 687 votes. A Forrest County supervisor's seat was settled in the primary by 749 votes. In Harrison County, the sheriff was chosen by a margin of 1,520 votes with no opponent waiting in the general. The Lamar County sheriff's race was decided 52 to 48. Across south Mississippi, the contested county races that year were won by somewhere between a few hundred and two thousand votes. The 2025 municipal elections were tighter still. Hattiesburg's Ward 3 council seat was decided by 632 votes. Bay St. Louis Ward 2 came down to 41. A Lumberton alderman won by 8.
Those are the offices where the bail profession lives or dies. Sheriffs decide how their jails handle bonds. Supervisors decide what gets funded and what does not. Judges, clerks, and prosecutors are elected or appointed by people who were elected. Nearly every problem this profession has faced over the last decade started in a local office, and nearly every one of those offices was decided by a margin a well-organized group could cover.
The Mississippi Bail Agents Association is that group. Our members belong to churches and civic organizations. We have families, cousins, in-laws, neighbors, and clients who trust our judgment because they have watched us make hard decisions in their own communities, year after year. We raise money for our projects, and we raise it well. Our social media team has generated more than two million views in 2026 alone. We have the data, we have the members, and we have the relationships to influence every single race in this state.
For a long time we let the status quo speak for us, and in many places the status quo has been openly hostile to what we do. That is changing. In the coming elections MBAA will be watching local races closely. We will ask candidates direct questions. We will research their records. We will decide who is pro-public safety and pro-accountability and who is not, and we will tell our communities what we found.
Every state bail association has the same numbers in its own counties. The margins are small, the members are there, and the relationships already exist. What has been missing is the decision to use them.
We have made that decision.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mike Morrison is President of the Mississippi Bail Agents Association and the 2026 PBUS National Bail Agent of the Year. With more than 35 years in professional bail and many years working directly with the Mississippi Legislature on bail law, criminal justice policy, and public-safety issues, Morrison has seen firsthand how decisions made by elected officials can strengthen—or weaken—the systems responsible for accountability in Mississippi communities.
His position today is clear: the status quo is no longer acceptable. Anti-bail and anti-accountability policies should not go unanswered simply because they come from an elected office. Sheriffs, supervisors, legislators, prosecutors, judges, and other public officials make decisions that directly affect public safety, court appearance, crime victims, taxpayers, and the ability of the criminal justice system to function as intended. Those decisions deserve scrutiny, and the people making them should expect to be held accountable by the voters they serve.
Under Morrison’s leadership, the Mississippi Bail Agents Association is developing a stronger statewide voice built around education, legislative involvement, public communication, and political awareness. With members and relationships in communities throughout Mississippi, MBAA has both the reach and the responsibility to identify candidates who support public safety and meaningful accountability—and to challenge policies and elected leadership that move Mississippi in the opposite direction.
For Morrison, strengthening professional bail is only part of the objective. The larger responsibility is strengthening public safety across Mississippi by making certain that the people entrusted with public office understand that accountability applies to them as well.
