Mississippi Gaming Commission chair and longtime Gulfport attorney Al Hopkins died Sunday evening, the commission’s office confirmed Monday.
Hopkins, who would have turned 82 on Tuesday, has chaired the commission since 2015, and was in his third term after being reconfirmed last year by the state Senate.
A former assistant adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, Hopkins retired from the military with the rank of major general. He founded his own law firm, Hopkins, Barvié & Hopkins, in 1977 in Gulfport and served for 13 years as chief judge of the Court of Military Appeals. He was a 1963 graduate of Delta State University, receiving bachelor’s degrees in history and English. In 1965 he received his juris doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He later received a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from William Carey University.
