Andy Taggart grew up less than a mile from Moss Point High School, where he graduated in 1975. Andy spent his sophomore year as a manager for the football team, then played his junior and senior years, earning a letter playing on special teams during the 1974 season that saw the Tigers go undefeated during the regular season. After rearing three boys in rural Madison County, Miss., Andy and his wife, Karen, moved to Ocean Springs, where they now live. Andy is one of the founding partners and is CEO of the law firm of Taggart, Rimes & Wiggins, PLLC, with offices in Ridgeland, Hattiesburg, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula. Earlier in his career, he was a partner in the state’s largest law firm, and Chief of Staff to former Governor Kirk Fordice. Andy has served as Chairman of the Greater Jackson (MS) Chamber Partnership and was named by former Governor Phil Bryant as Co-Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Corrections Task Force on Contract Review and Procurement, to provide advice and recommendations for restoring public confidence and trust in the operations of state government in the wake of public corruption charges. Andy also served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Mississippi Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. Andy is the co-author of two popular books – Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008 published by the University Press of Mississippi earned two literary awards in the first year of publication. His lighter book of political anecdotes, Mississippi Fried Politics: Tall Tales from the Back Rooms, was released in November of 2008. Andy has authored or co-authored works published by The University of Mississippi Law Journal, The Mississippi Lawyer, The Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences and The Journal of Mississippi History. He is a frequent contributor to business and trade periodicals. He was elected to a term of service on the Madison County, Miss., Board of Supervisors, in 2003 and was elected President of the Board in January 2007. He also served as president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance from August 2002 through October 2005. He led the company to both regional and national recognition. Andy served four terms on the Board of Trustees of Mississippi College, including several years as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. Previously, he served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of FamilyNet, Inc., the television and radio broadcasting subsidiary of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He served four years as a gubernatorial appointee to the Mississippi Arts Commission. Andy received his Juris Doctor cum laude from Tulane University in 1984, where he served on the Senior Editorial Board of the Tulane Law Review. To study at Tulane, Andy was awarded the Hale Boggs Scholarship, a full three-year scholarship awarded to the entering student with the highest overall record. A 1979 graduate of Mississippi College, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science with High Honors and Distinction.