About Us

June Hardwick is a 1997 alumna of Spelman College. In May 2006, she obtained her Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law.

 

Hardwick has practiced law throughout the State of Mississippi for the last 15 years. For four years, she served as an Asst. Public Defender in the Hinds County Public Defender Office. In late 2011, she resigned from the PD Office to enter private practice. 

​

The late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba appointed Hardwick to the City of Jackson Municipal Court in August 2013. She served the City as a Judge from October 2013 until July 2014. 

​

The current Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba re-appointed her to the Bench in December 2017. She returned to the Bench in January 2018. Hardwick has also served as the Public Defender for the Town of Utica, since January 2012. 

​

Since 1999, Hardwick's work has targeted socially disadvantaged communities. She has conducted several workshops and participated in panel discussions around such topics as mass incarceration, gender and race. Hardwick’s track record shows a consistent and genuine commitment to advocacy, community and education with the specific goal of empowering marginalized and oppressed people. 

​

Hardwick is featured in the Sundance-award winning, HBO documentary Gideon’s Army. This Emmy-nominated film features three public defenders. including Atty. Hardwick, and their work in the South. June Hardwick is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, the Magnolia Bar Association, the Mississippi Public Defender Association and New Horizon Church International.