Candidate bio
- 20-year partner, Phelps Dunbar law firm
- Vicksburg native
- Notre Dame University, Ole Miss Law School, NYU master of law in taxation
- "Best Lawyers in America," 1989-2007
- GOP nominee for Congress, 1998
- Hunter, marathoner
- Married, three children

 

TUPELO - Publishing lists of 16th section land leases and timber resources will be a priority for Delbert Hosemann, a Jackson lawyer seeking to be Mississippi's next secretary of state.

 

"I will publish the list of leases in the first 60 days" of taking office, he told the Daily Journal Editorial Board on Monday.

 

Information gained from such lists, which he said do not exist in one place, will make it easier to compare how counties are handling the public property's valuation and compare leases for fair market value.

 

Sixteenth section lands are held in trust for public education and are overseen by the state Secretary of State's Office. Annual rent revenues total about $51 million and are returned to the counties where they originate.

 

Some parts of North Mississippi do not have these lands because they were sold in the 1800s. In lieu of the rents on 16th section lands, these North Mississippi counties receive compensation each year from the Legislature.

 

Hoseman also pressed his top campaign plank - for voter identification, which he said will become a reality, if a recent federal court ruling also mandating party or unaffiliated registration stands.

 

In promising to improve 16th section timber management, he said he will analyze how it is being handled by the Mississippi Forestry Commission.

 

"I am encouraged we can better manage our resources," he said.

 

In the Aug. 7 primary, Hosemann faces fellow Republicans Mike Lott of Petal, Jeffrey Rupp of Columbus and Gene Sills of Crystal Springs.

 

He gave credit to former Secretary of State Dick Molpus, who began the push for 16th section management in the mid-1980s, and current officeholder Eric Clark, who isn't seeking re-election.

 

"Now, we have an opportunity to refine this and make it more of a business to benefit our kids," he added.

 

Other issues he spoke about were:

 

- Updating the state's business laws - The Uniform Commercial Code hasn't been amended since 1987 and changes could make Mississippi more competitive. He plans to bring a wide-ranging citizens group together to suggest updates to the Legislature.

 

- A business court - A new court could handle cases strictly dealing with "everyday business issues," now the responsibility of circuit courts, which Hosemann said are bogged down with criminal cases. "It's done in Delaware, and that's why they have 70,000 corporations there," he noted.

 

The business lawyer with real estate development successes said the secretary of state's office fits his interests and experiences.

 

"Mississippi has been good to us," he noted, referring to his wife, Lynn, and their children. "I think it's honorable to be a politician."

 

Contact Daily Journal news editor Patsy R. Brumfield at 678-1596 or patsy.brumfield@djournal.com.

 

 

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 6/12/2007, section A , page 2

 

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