Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice vacancy (May 2025)
| Alabama Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Mitchell vacancy |
| Date: May 19, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Bill Lewis |
| Date: May 20, 2025 |
On May 20, 2025, Governor Kay Ivey (R) appointed Bill Lewis to the Alabama Supreme Court.[1] Lewis replaces Justice Jay Mitchell, who retired on May 19, 2025. Mitchell resigned to focus on his campaign for Alabama Attorney General, which is scheduled for election in November 2026.[2] Lewis is Gov. Ivey's fourth nominee to the nine-member supreme court.
In Alabama, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
Should a vacancy occur between regularly scheduled elections, which take place in November of even-numbered years, an interim justice is appointed by the governor. Any justice appointed in this fashion must then stand for election in the next general election occurring at least one year after taking office.[3]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Alabama Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Bill Lewis
Lewis obtained a B.A. from The University of the South and a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law.[4]
Lewis was senior counsel at his own law firm, the Law Office of Bill Lewis, LLC. His professional experience also includes work as a prosecutor and as an indigent defender for the Elmore County District Court.[4]
Lewis has served as president and secretary of the Elmore County Bar Association, as a member of the Federal Criminal Justice Act Panel, and on the boards of directors of the River Region United Way, the Elmore County Community Foundation, and the Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce.[4]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Alabama
In Alabama, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Alabama Supreme Court
Justices
Following Mitchell's retirement, the Alabama Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Sarah Stewart | Elected in 2018.[5] | |
| ■ Tommy Bryan | Elected in 2012 | |
| ■ Greg Cook | Elected in 2022 | |
| ■ Chris McCool | Elected in 2024 | |
| ■ Brad Mendheim | Appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) in 2018 | |
| ■ William Sellers | Appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) in 2017 | |
| ■ Greg Shaw | Elected in 2008 | |
| ■ Kelli Wise | Elected in 2010 |
About the court
| Alabama Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 9 |
| Founded: 1819 |
| Location: Montgomery |
| Salary |
| Associates: $189,353[6] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Partisan elections |
| Term: 6 years |
| Active justices |
| Tommy Bryan, Greg Cook, Bill Lewis, Chris McCool, Brad Mendheim, William Sellers, Greg Shaw, Sarah Stewart, Kelli Wise |
The Alabama Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort. The court was founded in 1819 as a part of the state's first Constitution in which Alabama was admitted into the Union. The chief justice of the court is Sarah Stewart. The court has the authority to review decisions reached by the lower courts and may also review matters of contention where the dollar amount in question exceeds $50,000, as long as no other Alabama court has jurisdiction. The court consists of nine justices: eight associate justices and one chief justice.[7] The supreme court was established by Article VI of the Alabama Constitution, Section 139.
As of May 2025, all nine judges on the court were either elected in partisan elections as a Republican or appointed by a Republican governor. Sue Bell Cobb, who retired in 2011, was the last Democrat to sit on the court.[8][9]
The Alabama Supreme Court meets in the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama.[10]
In Alabama, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
About Justice Mitchell
- See also: Jay Mitchell
Mitchell was born in Mobile, Alabama, and lives in Homewood. He received a B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College in 1998, an M.A. from University College Dublin in 1999, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2002.[4][11]
Mitchell was an attorney in private practice before being elected to the state supreme court. As of 2021, he was a member of The Federalist Society.[4]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Governor of Alabama, "Governor Ivey Appoints Judge Bill Lewis to Serve on Supreme Court of Alabama," May 20, 2025
- ↑ Alabama.com, "Alabama Supreme Court justice resigning to run for another office in 2026," May 19, 2025
- ↑ Alabama Judicial System, "Qualification of Judges," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Law Office of Bill Lewis, LLC, "Attorneys," accessed October 14, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Note: Stewart was elected to the Chief Justice position in 2024. Before this, she held an associate justice postiion.
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsupreme - ↑ Alabama Appellate Courts, "A History of the Alabama Judicial System," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ The News Courier, "Alabama Supreme Court chief justice resigning August 1," June 29, 2011
- ↑ Alabama Judicial System, "Supreme Court and State Law Library," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Jay Mitchell," accessed June 8, 2021
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama
State courts:
Alabama Supreme Court • Alabama Court of Civil Appeals • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals • Alabama Circuit Courts • Alabama District Courts • Alabama Juvenile Courts • Alabama Municipal Courts • Alabama Probate Courts • Alabama Small Claims Courts
State resources:
Courts in Alabama • Alabama judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alabama
| |||||||
