Barbour keeping some Musgrove appointees

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 23, 2003

[12/23/03]Two top Ronnie Musgrove appointees who thought they might be looking for a new job in 2004 will be reappointed by the new governor.

Gov.-elect Haley Barbour announced today his choices to head public safety, corrections, emergency management and the National Guard.

This morning, he announced that Chris Epps will remain as commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Robert Latham will continue as director of emergency management.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

Barbour also named Marvin Curtis, who started his law enforcement career in Vicksburg, to the post of chief of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol.

Rusty Fortenberry was named commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, and Melvin Maxwell was named deputy commissioner.

Maj. Gen. Harold Cross was tapped as adjutant general of the National Guard.

“Since civilization began, the No. 1 responsibility of government has been to ensure the safety of our people,” Barbour said in the press statement.

Fortenberry, who replaces David Huggins as head of public safety, was the spokesman for Republican Mike Parker in his 1999 campaign for governor. Fortenberry, 43, is a Mendenhall lawyer whose clients include Republican incumbent 29th District Sen. Richard White of Terry who is challenging Nov. 4 election results in his district. A recount showed that White lost his bid for re-election by 135 votes to Democratic Sen.-elect Dewayne Thomas of Byram.

Fortenberry served as district attorney for Jasper, Smith, Simpson and Covington counties from 1992 until 2000. He was first elected as a Democrat in 1991 and switched to the Republican Party for his race for re-election in 1995.

He was briefly a candidate for the GOP nomination for attorney general in 1999, but dropped out before the party primary.

The commissioner of public safety oversees the Highway Patrol, the state crime lab and commercial license and driver’s license testing programs.

“Public safety must be a top priority for our state and law enforcement officials deserve the full respect and support of the governor,” Barbour said. “The appointments I’m announcing today are part of my commitment to ensuring safer communities for all Mississippians.”

Curtis, who worked for both the Vicksburg Police Department and Warren County Sheriff’s Department, replaces Col. L.M. Claiborne as head of the highway patrol.

Curtis had been in charge of the highway patrol’s driver services division.

Cross, who replaces Maj. Gen. James Lipscomb, is the assistant adjutant general for the Mississippi Air National Guard.

Epps was appointed Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections by Gov. Musgrove on Aug. 30, 2002. A native of Tchula, Epps has been with the department since 1982.

Latham is from Senatobia and was appointed executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency on Feb. 1, 2000, by Musgrove.

Barbour, elected Nov. 4, has about 600 appointments to make to state agencies, boards and commissions. Many will be completed before his inauguration next month.