meet your canidate
Gay Polk-Payton
Judge Polk-Payton has been a practicing attorney for 25 years, a Forrest County Justice Court Judge for 10 years and a City of Hattiesburg Municipal Court Judge for 3 years. She has served this community as an advocate in the Forrest County Public Defenders’ Office, the Perry County Public Defenders’ Office, the 12th Judicial District Drug Court, the City of Hattiesburg Public Defenders’ Office and at Polk-Payton Law Office as a general practice private attorney. She has served as a Commissioner for the Mississippi Bar Association, current Mississippi Bar Resolutions Committee Member and as President of the South Central Mississippi Bar Association. She has also served as adjunct faculty at USM and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at UM School of Law. She has been inducted into the UM Constance Slaughter Harvey Black Law Students’ Association Hall of Fame and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s (CLEO) Judges’ Hall of Fame. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from USM, a Master’s Degree in Business from UNO and a Juris Doctor from UM School of Law. She is the mother of one son, Gaybriel, who is a JSU alumnus.
A Judge OF the people....for the people…For a change.
Judge Polk-Payton was born and raised in the City of Hattiesburg in Forrest County and believes in giving back to the community that nurtured her into adulthood. She is very active in the community and has received countless recognitions. She has spoken and sang at events for USM, William Carey, Jones County College, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, the Masons, the NAACP, Hattiesburg Public Schools, City of Hattiesburg, Forrest County, National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the list goes on. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta and West Point Church. She has also received many community awards, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major of Justice Award, the Social Justice Award from Zeta Phi Beta, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award from Alpha Phi Alpha and the Alumni Spotlight for Hattiesburg Public Schools.