Belk’s appointment was effective January 1, 2022.
On December 31, 2021, Governor Tate Reeves announced the appointment of Jeffery Belk of Jackson County to serve as the Chairman of the State Parole Board.
The appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Mississippi Senate.
Belk replaces Steven Pickett who resigned as State Parole Board chairman on December 31st.
Pickett served nine years as chairman of the State Parole Board. He was appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant in 2012. In a letter to Governor Reeves announcing his retirement, Pickett thanks him for the opportunity to have served the state and make a difference in people’s lives.
“My position on the parole board provided me a different kind of opportunity to help others, by giving a second chance to those who earned it and denying it to those who remain a threat to public safety,” Pickett wrote to Reeves.
Pickett formerly served as a Deputy with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department.
New chairman Belk is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in marketing. He has served on the Singing River Health System Board of Trustees and is retired from Chevron as Project Procurement Coordinator. He is currently the Business Manager for M&D Construction.
Belk has volunteered as a Member of the Personal Services Contract Review Board, Chevron Federal Credit Union Advisory Council, Jackson County Republican Executive Committee, and is also a 2011 graduate of Leadership Jackson County.
He has previously served as Chairman of Jackson County Civil Service Commission, a board member of the Home of Grace, Chairman of Chevron Pascagoula Federal Credit Union Supervisory Committee, board member of the Mississippi Minority Business Association, and Chevron Small Business/Supplier Diversity Coordinator.
Jeffery was born in Kreole, Mississippi and lives in Vancleave, Mississippi with his wife, Cindy, and four children.
Anne Summerhays
