Jennifer A. Riley Collins is an American attorney and politician. Riley Collins is from

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

. She graduated from Meridian High School and earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. O ...

in 1987. She earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in criminal justice administration in 1993 from University of Central Texas and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1999 from the

Mississippi College School of Law Mississippi College School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school. MC Law is one of only two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and is the only law school in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi. The school is a prof ...

. Riley Collins enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1985, and served as an intelligence officer on active duty for 14 years. She spent another 18 years in the

United States National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

. She retired at the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 2017. She also served as the executive director of the Mississippi chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

from 2013 to 2019. In the 2019 election, she ran for

Attorney General of Mississippi The Attorney General of Mississippi is the chief legal officer of the state and serves as the state's lawyer. Only the Attorney General can bring or defend a lawsuit on behalf of the state. The Attorney General is elected statewide for a four-yea ...

. She lost to

Lynn Fitch Lynn Fitch (born October 5, 1961) is an American lawyer, politician, and the 40th Mississippi Attorney General. She is the first woman to serve in the role and the first Republican since 1878. Previously, she was the 54th State Treasurer of Missi ...

, the

Mississippi State Treasurer State Treasurer of Mississippi is a post created in 1817 when the state was admitted to the Union. Before the state was formed by splitting the Alabama Territory from the Mississippi Territory, an equivalent post was the Territorial Treasurer G ...

, which ended the Democratic Party's streak of holding the office since 1878. In February 2020, Riley Collins became the

county administrator In local government in the United States, a county administrator or county manager is a person appointed to be the administrative manager of a county, in a council–manager form of county government. In some counties, the equivalent position is t ...

for

Hinds County Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats ( Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Cou ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley Collins, Jennifer Living people People from Meridian, Mississippi United States Army officers Alcorn State University alumni Mississippi College School of Law alumni Mississippi Democrats 1965 births