Tim Ford was born on 22 October 1951 in Winter Haven, Florida and grew up near Tupelo, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a B.A. in 1973 and received a degree from its Law School in 1977. Afterwards, Ford clerked for the Presiding Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court for one year and then served as assistant district attorney for the First Judicial District of the state. In 1980, the eighteenth district, comprised of Lee, Prentiss, and Pontotoc counties, elected the young lawyer to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where he remained for the next twenty-four years. In 1988, his peers elected him Speaker of the House, a post he retained until his retirement from public service in 2004.

A 2003 Mississippi Senate Concurrent Resolution commending the legislator described Ford as "viewed by colleagues in State Houses around America with a measure of respect and envy for his ability to hold the House together and resist the pressures of partisanship." Two years earlier, lawmakers and state government observers across the nation designated Ford the recipient of the prestigious "William M. Bulger Excellence in State Legislative Leadership Award" for making significant contributions to the performance, strengthening and operation of his legislative institution. Nationally, he served as Chairman of the Southern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments, President of the National Speakers Conference (1997), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (2002), and Vice Chairman of the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Currently, Ford is a partner at the law firm of Balch& Bingham LLP in Jackson, Mississippi. He serves as general counsel to three legislative entities: the Mississippi Home Corporation, created to address the state's housing needs; the Mississippi Business Finance Corporation, which provides economic development incentives and tax benefits to new and expanding businesses; and the Mississippi Development Bank, designed to help local governments attract new and expanding businesses through tax exempt bonds for improving infrastructure. Ford is also the general counsel to Momentum Mississippi, an economic development advisory committee appointed by the governor and charged with developing legislation to attract businesses. He also acts as a government affairs consultant for local and national firms.

The Tim Ford Collection consists largely of Ford's correspondence during the years 1987-1996. The correspondence is arranged chronologically in boxes 1 and 2. Correspondents include constituents, employees of various state departments and institutions, federal employees, and civic leaders. Box 3 contains correspondence, publications, and videos related to the Telecommunications Task Force. Box 4 contains copies of correspondence and court pleadings pertaining to Watkins v. Fordice, a 1991 suit brought by black legislators and civil rights activists to enjoin the upcoming election and compel a new reapportionment plan of the state's electoral districts.

Open.

This collection is stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in using this collection must contact Archives and Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit.

phone: (662) 915-7408

e-mail: archive@olemiss.edu

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Tim Ford donated the collection to the Archives& Special Collections in 1996.

DebbieLee Landi, Curator of the Mississippi Collection, processed and compiled a folder-level finding aid in 1996. EAD encoded finding-aid begun September 2005. Leigh McWhite, Political Papers Archivist, revised the introductory notes to the finding aid in 2006.