Rita Potts Parks (born 1962) is a Mississippi politician serving as a Republican member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

, representing the 4th district since 2012. Her district represents parts of Alcorn and Tippah counties.

Early life and education

Parks was born on December 18, 1962, in

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,622 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. His ...

. She attended

Alcorn Central High School Glen is a town in Alcorn County, Mississippi. The population was 382 at the 2020 census, down from 412 at the 2010 census. History The town of Glen, located southeast of Corinth, owes its beginning to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Glen ...

. After high school, she went to

Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as Northeast Mississippi Junior College'','' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...

, graduating with an

Associate of Science Associate may refer to: Academics * Associate degree, a two-year educational degree in the United States, and some areas of Canada * Associate professor, an academic rank at a college or university * Technical associate or Senmonshi, a Japa ...

in Biology in 1982. She entered the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

in late 1982 and graduated with a

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

in Biology/Biological Sciences in 1985. In 1987, she entered State Technical Institute, earning an Associate of Science in Industrial Engineering in 1989.

Career

Parks ran for election for Mississippi Senate District 4 in 2011, where she ran unopposed in the Republican primary. She won the general election by a narrow margin, earning 50.7% of the vote; she assumed office on January 3, 2012. Her district includes parts of

Alcorn County Alcorn County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,740. Its county seat is Corinth. The county is named in honor of Governor James L. Alcorn. The Corint ...

and Tippah County. For the 2024 session, she chairs the Local and Private committee and is the vice-chair for the Highways and Transportation committee; she is a member of Appropriations, Business and Financial Institutions, County Affairs, Energy, Investigate State Offices, Medicaid, and Public Health and Welfare.

Political positions

She voted for changing the Mississippi state flag in 2020.

Personal life

She is a member of the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

, the

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

service club, the

American Society for Quality The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with more than 30,000 members, in more than 140 countries. History ASQC was established on 16 February ...

, and the Parenteral Drug Association. Parks is married and has one daughter. She is a Baptist.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Rita Potts Living people 1962 births People from Corinth, Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni Republican Party Mississippi state senators 21st-century members of the Mississippi Legislature Women state legislators in Mississippi 21st-century American women politicians