About Mike

“When I was fourteen, I knelt at my bedside and begged God for a normal and happy life - and I think I’ve lived an exceptionally happy one. I’ve had a great career, a beautiful wife, healthy children. At some point though, I realized that God pretty much said no to the whole normal thing.”

Mike's Unusual Journey:

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Representative Mike Ball was born to a runaway mother in Stockton, CA, 1954. Suffering from mental illness, his mother fled her husband and small town life in Alabama while pregnant with Mike, taking with her his three year old sister, Linda. For nine years, Mike and Linda followed their mother from city to city, household to household, suffering from poverty and instability.

Mike and Linda floated in and out of foster care, homes of relatives and acquaintances, and a children’s shelter until their mother faced losing all parental rights. The threat of becoming completely dependent on the foster care system compelled a social worker at Mary Graham Hall Children’s Shelter to contact the children’s father in Hartselle, Alabama on their behalf. Mike met his father for the first time at a Birmingham airport in 1963.

Suddenly, the punk kid from the streets of California was introduced to his father’s Alabama values: faith, self-discipline, personal integrity, strong work-ethic, and treating others with respect. Mike was given his first opportunity to overcome the hardships of his early childhood. Mike was inseparable from his father until he witnessed a tragic accident that took his father’s life. At fourteen, Mike was devastated by the loss of his hero and best friend.

With help from his friends and drawing on the life lessons learned from his father, Mike finished school while supporting himself by working as a roofer in the day and playing music on weekends.

In spite of hearing people say, “You can’t, you’re too little”, Mike never gave up seeking God’s path for his life. In 1973, Mike enlisted in the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Sergeant before receiving an honorable discharge in 1977.

Shortly before the end of his enlistment, Mike learned that the Alabama State Troopers had removed height and weight restrictions from their qualifications. At 5ft 4in and 115 lbs, Mike was hired as an Alabama State Trooper, the smallest in the history of the Department of Safety at the time.

He wore the Trooper uniform for 8 years and served as a patrolman, as well as a member of the special operations unit and the SWAT team.

In 1986, Mike became a Agent of the State Troopers investigative division, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. As an ABI agent, he conducted investigations of major crimes including public corruption, murder, robbery, fraud, child abuse, and sex crimes. Mike also served as a hostage negotiator for many years.

In 2002, Mike was elected as the District 10 representative of Alabama. His political career is well known for his down-to-earth tactics to expose lapses of common sense within our state government and protect the voice and rights of local citizens.

When not in Montgomery, Mike is often caught reconnecting to his roots as a shade tree musician or working beside his son in the family roofing business.