OXFORD, Miss. – The Mississippi Judicial College at the University of Mississippi School of Law trained a record number of new judges to begin their terms in 2019.
A dozen UM Law alumni are beginning new careers in 2019 as judges across the state.
Court of Appeals
Anthony N. “Tony” Lawrence was elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in November. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the UM School of Law in 1990. He began practicing general litigation in Mississippi and Alabama. He was elected district attorney for Jackson, George and Greene counties in November 2003 and was re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Chancery Court
Debra M. Giles (J.D. 2008) was elected chancery judge for District 9 – Place 2. Robert M. Logan, Jr. (J.D. 1975) was elected as chancery judge for District 2. Crystal Wise-Martin (J.D. 1998) was elected chancery judge for District 5 – Place 2. Bennie L. Richard (J.D. 1997) was elected chancery judge for District 9 – Place 1.
Circuit Court
Robert T. “Bo” Bailey (J.D. 2006) was elected circuit judge for District 10 – Place 2. Debra W. Blackwell (J.D. 1990) was elected circuit judge for District 6 – Place 2. Tomika T. Harris-Irving (J.D. 2002) was elected circuit judge for District 22. John R. White (J.D. 1987) was elected circuit judge for District 1 – Place 1.
County Courts
Allison Kizer (J.D. 1995) was elected county judge for Lowndes County. James D. Moore (J.D. 1999) was elected county judge for Lee County. Mark Watts (J.D. 1989) was elected county judge for Jackson County.
Retirees
Several UM Law alums are also celebrating the end of their judicial careers by hanging up their robes and entering retirement.
Tyree Irving and Eugene L. Fair, Jr. both served on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Irving graduated from UM Law in 1974 and began his legal career as a law clerk for Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Gillespie. He then interned with the NAACP legal defense and education fund. In 1978, Irving became assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi. A decade later, he was hired as the attorney for the Board of Supervisors in Humphreys County. He also ran a general practice in Greenwood until he was elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1998. He served as a presiding judge on the court since 2011.
Fair graduated from the UM School of Law in 1968. He was a Judge Advocate General for the United States Navy from 1968 to 1972. Fair ran a law practice in Hattiesburg for 34 years. In 2006, Fair was elected chancellor for the 10th Chancery Court District, which includes Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River and Perry Counties. He was appointed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals by Gov. Haley Barbour in 2011, and was re-elected in 2012.
Chancery court judges T.K. Moffett, John A. Hatcher, Patricia D. Wise, Edward Fenwick, Jon M. Barnwell, M. Ronald Doleac, Jerry Mason, Kenneth M. Burns, H.J. “Jim” Davidson, Jr., Ed Patten, Jaye A. Bradley and V. Glenn Anderson all retired from their respective seats across the state.
Circuit court judges Thomas J. Gardner III, Jeff Weill, Sr., Isadore Patrick and Lester F. Williamson retired from their respective seats across the state.
Larry Wilson retired from the Jackson County seat; Gaylon Harper retired from the Jones County seat; Charlie Brett retired from the Lee County seat; and Beverly Mitchell Franklin retired from the Lowndes County seat.