Joseph G. Moss

Joseph Gibson Moss (April 26, 1922 – March 22, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a state legislator and chancery judge in Mississippi. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives for Hinds County for 20 years. He served on the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission for 8 years.

Early life Joseph (Joe) Gibson Moss was born on April 26, 1922, in Jackson, Mississippi. He attended public schools in the city before transferring out of Central High School his senior year to attend Hinds County Agricultural High School in Raymond, MS. Upon high school graduation he was awarded scholarship to and enrolled at Hinds Junior College where he played on the football team. While there, he met Permelia Williams, and the two married on June 6, 1944. Moss had previously enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria during World War II, rising to the rank of first sergeant in the 281st Combat Engineers Battalion, Third Army. He received three battle stars during the conflict, including one for the Battle of Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge). At the end of the war he returned to Hinds and received his associate's degree before attending Mississippi State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics (1948) He served on the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission from 1960 to 1968. He also served on the Education Committee, Ways & Means Committee, Public Utilities Committee, State Building Commission and PEER Committees during his time in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

In 1978 Moss was elected chancery judge for the Fifth Chancery Court District. He served three terms in that post and upon retirement from the bench, he took senior status whereupon he was assigned special cases until 1992.