Background
Smith grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from Saint Andrew"s Episcopal School.
Smith grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from Saint Andrew"s Episcopal School.
Harvard University.
He was previously a Republican Party candidate for State Treasurer of Mississippi in the 2011 statewide election. He earned a bachelor"s degree from Harvard University and a law degree from University of Virginia Law School. Smith was a judicial clerk for the Honorary
Rhesa Barksdale of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Until December 2010, Smith was a Budget Adviser and Legal Counsel to then-Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour. While serving as Budget Advisor to then-Governor Barbour, he was charged with managing the State's Budgets in 2010 and 2011, during one of the most challenging times in the state"s fiscal history following the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
He was also part of the team that worked to author the Governor's Executive Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2012. Smith is also a Certified Public Funds Investment Manager, a distinction accorded by the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada, after testing on knowledge of the management of issues related to state and local treasurer’s offices.
He was formerly an attorney at Balch & Bingham Limited Liability Partnership and an Adjunct Professor at the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson.