Wednesday, the last day of October, will end the 31-year-long term of Bilbo Mitchell, the long-time District Attorney of the 10th Circuit Court, who will be succeeded by his Assistant District Attorney, Kassie Coleman. 

“I’m about to be 62 and be able to draw Social Security soon,” Mitchell said. “I thought I’d get out of the pressure cooker for awhile.”

Mitchell said he didn’t plan to be retired for long since his wife still works full time, but said he didn’t want to serve the last year of his term.

“I wanted to retire at the end of June, but if I had done that there would have been a special election and I didn’t want to have to put the district through that,” Mitchell said. “Then the person elected would have only served a year… this way we’ll just have the regular election next year.”

Mitchell said he recommended that Gov. Phil Bryant appoint Coleman to succeed him because of her experience as a prosecutor for the Attorney General’s office and as an Assistant District Attorney for the 12th Circuit Court, which covers Hattiesburg.

“I got to bring her home to Meridian; she graduated from Southeast (Lauderdale High School),” Mitchell said. “She’s respected by prosecutors throughout the state. She’ll be an excellent district attorney.”

Coleman has served as an assistant district attorney in the 10th Circuit Court District since 2014, according to a news release from the governor’s office. She also assisted law enforcement during this time with their investigations.

Before joining the 10th Circuit Court District, she was an assistant district attorney for the 12th Circuit Court District in Perry and Forrest counties prosecuting violent crimes. She also oversaw all of the community service and pre-trial diversion programs for the district. She also served in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office as a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor and Special Assistant Attorney General from 2003 to 2006.

“I guess my biggest hope is to continue the legacy that Bilbo began,” Coleman said. “He’s the longest seated district attorney in the state and he’s been unopposed in every election since he started so there’s no doubt he’s doing something right.”

Coleman said she would continue to work with law enforcement agencies across all four counties to see how the district attorney’s office could better assist them in cases. 

“As an assistant district attorney, you’re focused on your own docket and your own cases,” Coleman said, adding that the district attorney instead reviews cases before presenting them to a grand jury, which all happens before an assistant district attorney ever gets assigned a case. “So that will be a transition… but I also still want to continue to be in court; being there, trying cases, that’s important to me.”

With recent turnover in the 10th Circuit Court, two new judges, different prosecutors and changes in the public defender’s office, Coleman said everyone would have to work hard to get cases moving on the docket

“All of us, the public defenders, the judges, the prosecutors, we’re in constant communication about how to get the cases on the docket moving, especially for those that are incarcerated pre-trial,” Coleman said. 

In the future, Coleman said she hopes to explore collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s office when it comes to crime and gang prevention in the 10th Circuit Court. 

“The opportunity for all of us to work together is going to be our best chance for success,” Coleman said. “It’s going to take everybody to address crime issues and the other issues that face our law enforcement officers.” 

‘A good negotiator’

Philip Weinberg, who has worked with the 10th Circuit Court for just under 11 years, said that in his experience working across the state, from Pascagoula to Jackson to Clarksdale, his time in Mitchell’s office has been the best.

“I’ve enjoyed it more than any other place I’ve been,” Weinberg said. “I’ve never had a job I’ve liked better.” 

Weinberg praised Mitchell’s professionalism and dedication to his role as district attorney, saying he took the commitment personally.

“He’s a good negotiator and trial lawyer,” Weinberg said. “And he’s been a good friend. I’m going to miss him.”

As for Coleman, Weinberg said he looks forward to working with her in the future.

“We’re fortunate she was here – I told Bilbo it was probably one of the best personnel choices he’s made,” Weinberg said. “He couldn’t have made a better choice… she’s young, enthusiastic and she’s smart as a whip.”

Mitchell gave advice to Coleman, who will begin her appointment on Nov. 1. 

“The main thing to know about this job is that you’re working for the victims of crime,” Mitchell said. “The victims are the ones who help you make decisions about a case.”

Mitchell said, similar to the judge’s campaign commercials about judicial temperament, district attorneys needed the right temperament as well.

“I think the district attorney has to have that temperament too because they need to deal with people who’ve had bad things happen to them,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s important to the job.”

Mitchell thanked the voters of the 10th Circuit, which covers Wayne, Clarke, Lauderdale and Kemper counties, for their three decades of support.

“In Meridian, everyone knew me but in the other three counties they’ve taken me in as if I was one of them,” Mitchell said. “And that means a lot.”

As for retirement, Mitchell said he wants to spend more time with his family, especially a new grandchild in Memphis, Tennessee, and maybe play some golf.

“At first, I plan to do a lot of fishing,” Mitchell said. “I haven’t had time to do that lately.”