Attorney General’s Office Helping Businesses Navigate COVID-19

I’m honored to join the Madison County Business League and Foundation Business Briefing Webinar this Wednesday, August 5^th at 11 am.

I will be sharing an update on the changes we have made at the Attorney General’s Office to serve Mississippi better, both during this pandemic and beyond. If you’re a business owner or community leader in Madison County and want to join the conversation, you can register for the webinar in this link.

Continuing Our Partnership with Uber to Fight Human Trafficking

According to Polaris Research, April 2020 saw a 40 percent increase in crisis trafficking situations reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. Human trafficking is not just something that happens in other countries. It happens right here in Mississippi and we can all help to put an end to this criminal enterprise and support victims without shame or blame. This is one of my highest priorities.

This summer, Uber partnered with my office to provide free rides for counselors, shelters, law enforcement, and others who help victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault. They provided my office with a total of 1,150 codes to disseminate throughout the State to help victims and their support services.

For United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30th, Uber also provided drivers and food deliverers with resources to help recognize trafficking. Trafficking victims are not always as easy to identify as you might think. We can all do our part by learning more about how to identify the signs of trafficking and how you can report it. Click here to learn more.

County and Municipal Relief for COVID-19 Expenses

The application process for the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Program is open and provides $70 million in federal CARES Act funding for counties and municipalities to help cover expenses related to their COVID-19 response. The application process will run through October 15th.

MEMA set up a hotline from 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday, to help answer questions: 1-844-5-CAREMS (1-844-522-7367). Applications are found at this link.