Jennifer A. Riley Collins (born November 10, 1965) is an American attorney and politician. Riley Collins is from

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

. She graduated from Meridian High School and earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

in 1987. She earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in criminal justice administration in 1993 from the University of Central Texas and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1999 from the

Mississippi College School of Law Mississippi College School of Law (MC Law or MC Law School) is an American Bar Association accredited law school. MC Law is one of two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and is the only law school in the capital city of Jackson, Mississipp ...

. Riley Collins enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1985, and served as an intelligence officer on active duty for 14 years. She spent another 18 years in the

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

and

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. She retired at the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 2017. She also served as the executive director of the Mississippi chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

from 2013 to 2019. In the 2019 election, she ran for

Attorney General of Mississippi The attorney general of Mississippi is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state officials a ...

. She lost to

Lynn Fitch Lynn Fitch (born October 5, 1961) is an American lawyer, politician, and the 40th Mississippi Attorney General. She is the first woman to serve in the role and the first Republican since 1878. Previously, she was the 54th State Treasurer of Mis ...

, the

Mississippi State Treasurer State Treasurer of Mississippi is a post created in 1817 when the state was admitted to the United States of America, Union. Before the state was formed by splitting the Alabama Territory from the Mississippi Territory, an equivalent post was t ...

, which ended the Democratic Party's streak of holding the office since 1878. In February 2020, Riley Collins became the

county administrator A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

for

Hinds County Hinds County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats (Raymond, Mississippi, Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Missis ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley Collins, Jennifer Living people People from Meridian, Mississippi United States Army officers Alcorn State University alumni Mississippi College School of Law alumni Mississippi Democrats 1965 births Women in Mississippi politics