Sara Richardson Thomas (born April 21, 1941) is an

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educator and politician from

Indianola Indianola may refer to: Places in the United States * Indianola, California (disambiguation) ** Indianola (Eureka), California * Indianola, Florida * Indianola, Georgia * Indianola, Illinois * Indianola, Iowa * Indianola, Kansas, a former settleme ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. She was a member of the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

from the 31st District, having first been elected in 1998 to succeed her nephew, Bill Richardson, who had died in office, and having retired in June 2018. She is a member of the

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Background

Thomas, the daughter of

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

, attended Mississippi Valley State University and

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census. Cleveland has a large commercia ...

. She taught language arts in the public

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s of

Sunflower County, Mississippi Sunflower County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,450. Its largest city and county seat is Indianola. Sunflower County comprises the Indianola, MS Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

for 21 years before becoming a principal. She is married to Arthur Lee Thomas.

Legislative service

In 1997, her nephew Bill Richardson, who represented the 31st district, died of cancer. Thomas was elected to fill the vacancy in 1998, and would serve in that office for 21 years. In late June 2018, it was announced that she had resigned, effective from June 30. At that time, she was serving on the House committees on

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

, Investigating State Offices, Public Property and Youth and Family Affairs.Fowler, Sarah. "Longtime Mississippi lawmaker Sara Richardson Thomas retiring" ''Mississippi Clarion Ledger'' June 29, 2018
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Background

Legislative service

References

Further reading