Under the new administration of Governor Barnett, 1960 thru 1964 became the zenith of activity for the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. H.V. Cooper cast votes for and was part of a legislative session that doubled bi-annual funding of the commission from $250,000 to $500,000. With taxpayer monies, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission funded and supported notorious, pro-segregationist policies and activities through local and statewide organizations to include White Citizens' Councils; these groups would prove to be directly related to the KKK. Roughly half of the commission members were also on Citizens' Councils. Two of the most conspicuous low points of the 1960/64 Governor Barnett tenure and legislative support of the commission; the June 12, 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers with subsequent legal support of Byron De La Beckwith and the June 21, 1964 murder three civil rights workers. Files and paperwork of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission closely related to the Mississippi Legislature during that era were unsealed in March 1998.