Mims Hackett (born September 28, 1941) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 2002 to 2007, where he represented the 27th Legislative District, which covers the western portion of Essex County.

Biography

He was born on September 28, 1941, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. Hackett received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1963 from

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a private historically black Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River a ...

in biology and physical science and received an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in 1976 from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

in administration and supervision. Hackett served in the Assembly on the State Government Committee (as Chair), the Appropriations Committee and the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee.Assemblyman Hackett's Legislative Website
, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed August 27, 2007. Hackett served as the

Mayor of Orange, New Jersey Orange, New Jersey is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council form of municipal government, with a directly elected mayor and a City Council consisting of four ward representa ...

from 1996 to 2008. He served on its City Council from 1988 to 1996. He spent thirty-two years as a science teacher in the Union City Board of Education.

2007 corruption charges

Hackett was arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

on September 6, 2007, in a Federal corruption probe that also included the arrests of Assemblymen Alfred E. Steele and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

Mayor Samuel Rivera. The indictment alleges that Hackett accepted $5,000 in bribes for his efforts to steer insurance business from the City of Orange, with an additional $25,000 to be accepted if the firm received the insurance business it sought. On September 7, 2007,

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

called on both Hackett and Steele to resign from their seats in the New Jersey Legislature. Hackett submitted his letter of resignation from his Assembly seat on September 10, 2007; Steele followed with a resignation submitted that same day. In resigning before September 17, 2007, the Democratic Party was able to put an alternate on the November ballot in lieu of Hackett. He resigned as mayor of Orange on May 27, 2008. Hackett was convicted on a charge of falsifying expense receipts and was sentenced to a five-year prison term beginning in January 2009. In December of that year, he was accepted into a state early-release program and was allowed to return home. He currently resides in Orange.

References

External links

Assemblyman Hackett's Legislative WebsiteAssembly Member Mims Hackett Jr.

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2006 (PDF)

New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2005 (PDF)

New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2004 (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Mims Living people 1941 births African-American state legislators in New Jersey Mayors of places in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey politicians convicted of crimes Paul Quinn College alumni Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama Politicians from Essex County, New Jersey Mayors of Orange, New Jersey New Jersey politicians convicted of corruption Seton Hall University alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people African-American mayors in New Jersey