Hinds County voters will head to the polls again Tuesday to choose their coroner. 

No coroner candidate crossed the 50% vote threshold to avoid a runoff. Jeramiah Howard, the current interim coroner, came close at 41% of the vote. He and Stephanie Meachum, who received 16.7% of the vote, are vying for the position. 

The winner will complete the term of Sharon Grisham-Stewart, who served as county coroner from January 1999 until December 2024. She still had a year left in her term.

In Grisham-Stewart’s final years as coroner, her office along with Jackson Police Department were scrutinized for not adequately notifying families of missing persons about their loved one’s burials at the county pauper field.

Howard and Meachum previously worked in the Hinds County Coroner’s Office under Grisham-Stewart’s leadership. She endorsed and campaigned for Howard.

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors appointed Howard as the acting coroner in January. He served as chief deputy coroner under Grisham-Stewart for five years. He also served as chief of the Pocahontas Volunteer Fire Department for 10 years.

Meachum served as office manager responsible for budgets and agency records for the coroner’s office from 2011 to 2016. She has led the death division at the state Department of Health’s vital statistics office since 2016.

On Election Day, Howard won nearly every precinct from Utica to Jackson, only losing roughly 10 precincts out of 108. He won by his widest margins in Pocahontas and other northwestern precincts located in the county. Meachum performed best in central Jackson. 

Only 12.75% of 165,069 voters turned out for Election Day in Hinds County.

Howard has signs in most precincts in the county, in front of private homes and off interstates and highways. Some went up as early as July. He estimates that his team has placed 30 big signs, 100 medium signs and over 600 yard signs across the county.

“It was a team effort,” he said. “I feel blessed to have this much support across the county.”

He also wanted to thank his nearly thirty volunteers.

“Running for office is a noble deed,” he said. “My fellow candidates ran good races and deserve credit for putting their name on the ballot and reaching people in the community.”

Meachum has been her own campaign manager since she first filed. Her team sometimes included a few friends and family. Since the runoff announcement, she has received calls from potential volunteers.

“I feel inspired to reach more voters,” she said in an interview with Mississippi Today on Oct. 5. “Some are still unsure of what the coroner does, and I’m hoping to reach them.”