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Jimmy Maxwell
2016 - Present
2033
9
On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Jimmy Maxwell to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.[1][2] As of September 3, 2025, Maxwell was awaiting a committee vote to advance his nomination to the full U.S. Senate.[3] Click here for more information on Maxwell's federal judicial nomination.
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.
Maxwell first became a member of the Mississippi Supreme Court through a gubernatorial appointment. He was appointed to the court by Gov. Phil Bryant (R) on December 23, 2015, to succeed retiring Justice David Chandler and then elected to a full eight-year term in November 2016.[4] To read more about judicial selection in Mississippi, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[5] Maxwell received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[6] Click here to read more about this study.
Maxwell previously served on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. He was appointed to that court in 2009 by Gov. Haley Barbour (R).
Judicial nominations, appointments, and elections
United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Maxwell to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Jimmy Maxwell |
| Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi |
| Progress |
| 10 days since nomination. |
 Nominated: September 2, 2025
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 ABA Rating:
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| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: September 3, 2025
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| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported:
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| Confirmed:
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Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Maxwell's nomination on September 3, 2025. As of September 3, 2025, Maxwell was awaiting a committee vote to advance his nomination to the full U.S. Senate.[3] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.
Nomination
On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Jimmy Maxwell to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Click here for a list of other nominees who have been nominated by President Donald Trump.
Maxwell was nominated to replace Judge Michael Mills, who assumed senior status on November 1, 2021.[7]
Biography
Maxwell received his bachelor's degree in business and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi.[8] His professional experience includes practicing civil law and working as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi.[8]
About the court
| Northern District of Mississippi |
|---|
| Fifth Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 3 |
| Judges: 1 |
| Vacancies: 2 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Debra M. Brown |
| Active judges: Debra M. Brown Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi is one of 94 United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit based in downtown New Orleans at the John Minor Wisdom Federal Courthouse.
The Northern District of Mississippi has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
The jurisdiction of the court includes facilities in Aberdeen, Ackerman, Clarksdale, Cleveland, Corinth and Greenville.
The geographic jurisdiction of the Northern District of Mississippi consists of all the following counties in the northern part of the state of Mississippi.
- Alcorn County
- Attala County
- Benton County
- Bolivar County
- Calhoun County
- Carroll County
- Chickasaw County
- Choctaw County
- Clay County
- Coahoma County
- DeSoto County
- Grenada County
- Humphreys County
- Itawamba County
- Lafayette County
- Lee County
- LeFlore County
- Lowndes County
- Marshall County
- Monroe County
- Montgomery County
- Oktibbeha County
- Panola County
- Pontotoc County
- Prentiss County
- Quitman County
- Sunflower County
- Tallahatchie County
- Tate County
- Tippah County
- Tishomingo County
- Tunica County
- Union County
- Washington County
- Webster County
- Winston County
- Yalobusha County
To read opinions published by this court, click here.
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
Elections
2024
See also: Mississippi Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2
Incumbent Jimmy Maxwell won election in the general election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jimmy Maxwell (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 339,411 |
| Total votes: 339,411 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Maxwell in this election.
2016
- See also: Mississippi judicial elections, 2016
Maxwell ran to keep his seat in 2016.[9]
Election results
November 8 general election
| Mississippi Supreme Court, District 3, Place 2, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
 James D. Maxwell Incumbent | ||
| Source: The New York Times | ||
2014
- See also: Mississippi judicial elections, 2014
Maxwell ran for re-election to the Court of Appeals.
General: He was unopposed in the general election on November 4, 2014.
[10]
2010
Maxwell was re-elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals after running unopposed.[11]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jimmy Maxwell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[12]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[13]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Jimmy
Maxwell
Mississippi
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Appointed by a Republican governor
- State was a Republican trifecta at time of appointment
Partisan Profile
Details:
Maxwell was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant (R). At the time of his appointment, Mississippi was a Republican trifecta.
State supreme court judicial selection in Mississippi
- See also: Judicial selection in Mississippi
The nine justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court are elected to eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections. All candidates must run in the general election (as Mississippi holds no primary for judicial candidates) and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[14] For more information about these elections, visit the Mississippi judicial elections page.
Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Mississippi are elected to represent specific districts. The nine justices are divided among three supreme court districts (not to be confused with the 22 divisions of the circuit courts) and are voted into office by the residents of their respective regions.[15] Only the states of Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana use a similar system.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a qualified elector for and from the district in which election is sought;
- a minimum of 30 years old;
- a practicing attorney; and
- a state citizen for at least five years.[14]
Chief justice
The court's chief justice is selected by seniority. He or she serves until retirement when the justice with the next most judicial experience becomes chief.[14]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, a temporary judge is named by the governor. Appointees serve out the remainder of their predecessor's unexpired term if four or fewer years of the term remain. If there are more than four years remaining, the appointee will run in the next general election, taking place nine months or more after the vacancy occurs. The winner of the election will serve the remainder of the term.[16]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
|
Candidate Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2 |
Officeholder Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Truth Social, "Truth Details," accessed August 12, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The White House, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," accessed September 9, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Congress.gov, "PN466-5 — James D. Maxwell II — The Judiciary" accessed September 9, 2025
- ↑ The Oxford Eagle, "James Maxwell II appointed to state's highest court," December 24, 2015
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ U.S. Courts, "Future Judicial Vacancies," accessed October 15, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Jimmy Maxwell," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Secretary of State, State of Mississippi, "2016 Election Results," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed June 9, 2014
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Sample Official Election Ballot," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 7, 2021
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Supreme Court," accessed September 7, 2021
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 7, 2021
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2 2016-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi |
Succeeded by - |
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi
State courts:
Mississippi Supreme Court • Mississippi Court of Appeals • Mississippi circuit courts • Mississippi Chancery Court • Mississippi county courts • Mississippi justice courts • Mississippi youth courts • Mississippi Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Mississippi • Mississippi judicial elections • Judicial selection in Mississippi
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State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) |
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