Gail Barnett is a 1980 graduate of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.). She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1984 in Houston, TX. Gail has practiced law for over thirty-seven (37) years. She started her career serving as the first African America Assistant County Attorney for Orange County, TX; then returning to Mississippi to become the first African American elected to the position of County Attorney for Holmes County, MS. Thereafter, Mrs. Barnett, (F/K/A, Gail Shaw-Pierson) became the first African American elected Chancery Court Judge, District 11, for the State of Mississippi. Gail returned to private practice and was thereafter, appointed by the Board of Aldermen, for the City of Canton, MS, to serve as Municipal Judge Pro Tem.

Gail has proudly served in the following positions: Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Houston, TX; as Public Defender for Madison County, MS and for many years as a private practitioner. Gail currently resides in Orange, TX, where she continues to practice Immigration Law. She has been the wife of Keith Barnett of Orange, TX for the past twenty-two years and is the mother of Leigh Amber (Rob) Demery, and grandmother to Leah and Kobe. She’s a member of the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, of Orange, TX where she has served as one of the leaders of the Bread of Heaven Outreach Ministry and currently serves as the Adult Women’s Sunday School Teacher.