Judges appointed by Phil Bryant
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This page lists judges appointed by Phil Bryant (R) during his term as Governor of Mississippi. As of today, the total number of Bryant appointees was 23. For the full profile of Bryant, click here.
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population. Some Mississippi judges are outside of that coverage scope. As a result, this page does not provide an exhaustive list of all judges appointed by Gov. Bryant.
Appointment process
In Mississippi, the governor appoints a judge to fill a vacancy. If there are less than four years in the unexpired term, the new judge serves the remainder.[1]
Appointed judges
The tables below list the governor's appointees to the courts across the state.
State Courts
Supreme Court
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 1 |
February 1, 2019 - Present |
|
|
Mississippi Supreme Court District 2 Position 1 |
September 18, 2017 - Present |
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|
Mississippi Supreme Court District 2 Position 2 |
February 15, 2016 - January 5, 2025 |
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|
Mississippi Supreme Court District 3 Position 2 |
January 4, 2016 - Present |
Court of Appeals
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Mississippi Court of Appeals District 1 Position 1 |
2016 - June 30, 2024 |
|
|
Mississippi Court of Appeals District 3 Position 1 |
July 1, 2015 - Present |
|
|
Mississippi Court of Appeals District 3 Position 2 |
2019 - 2020 |
|
|
Mississippi Court of Appeals District 5 Position 2 |
2017 - June 1, 2020 |
Local Courts
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Bolivar County Court |
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|
Coahoma County Court |
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|
Lauderdale County Court |
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|
Madison County Court |
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|
Mississippi 10th Chancery District Court |
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|
Mississippi 10th Circuit Court District |
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Mississippi 10th Circuit Court District |
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Mississippi 11th Circuit Court District |
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Mississippi 17th Circuit Court District |
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Mississippi 18th Chancery District |
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Mississippi 1st Chancery District Court |
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Mississippi 20th Chancery District Court |
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Mississippi 5th Circuit Court District |
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Mississippi 8th Circuit Court District |
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|
Mississippi 8th Circuit Court District |
Judicial selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Mississippi
| Judicial selection in Mississippi | |
 | |
| Mississippi Supreme Court | |
| Method: | Nonpartisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| Mississippi Court of Appeals | |
| Method: | Nonpartisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| Mississippi Circuit Court | |
| Method: | Nonpartisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
| Mississippi Chancery Court | |
| Method: | Nonpartisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
| Mississippi County Court | |
| Method: | Nonpartisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
| Mississippi Justice Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.
This article covers how state court judges are selected in Mississippi, including:
- Mississippi Supreme Court,
- Mississippi Court of Appeals,
- Mississippi Circuit Courts, and
- Limited jurisdiction courts
As of April 2025, the selection of the state court judges in Mississippi primarily occurred through the nonpartisan election of judges, with the exception of justice courts and municipal courts. In justice courts, judges were elected in partisan elections. In municipal courts, judges were appointed. Mississippi was the first state in the union to begin electing judges by popular vote.[2]
Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.
| Appellate state court selection in the United States, by general selection method[3] |
|---|
|
|
| State courts and their selection methods across the U.S., including the District of Columbia[3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Supreme Court (of 53)[4] | Courts of Appeal (of 46) | Trial Courts (of 147) |
| Partisan elections (PE) | 8 | 6 | 39 |
| Nonpartisan elections (NPE) | 13 | 16 | 34 |
| Legislative elections (LE) | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Gubernatorial appointment of judges (GA) | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Assisted appointment (AA) | 22 | 18 | 46 |
| Combination or other | 3[5] | 1[6] | 17[7] |
State profile
| Demographic data for Mississippi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 2,989,390 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 46,923 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 59.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 37.4% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 1.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 2.9% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 82.3% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 20.7% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $39,665 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 27% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Mississippi. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
Mississippi voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, two are located in Mississippi, accounting for 0.97 percent of the total pivot counties.[8]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Mississippi had two Retained Pivot Counties, 1.10 of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Mississippi coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Mississippi
- United States congressional delegations from Mississippi
- Public policy in Mississippi
- Endorsers in Mississippi
- Mississippi fact checks
- More...
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Mississippi; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedreformefforts - ↑ 3.0 3.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
- ↑ Both Oklahoma and Texas have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ Michigan and Ohio use nonpartisan general elections with candidates selected through partisan primaries or conventions. In the District of Columbia, judges are selected in the same manner as federal judges.
- ↑ Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are appointed on an as-needed basis by the supreme court justices.
- ↑ Most courts that use combination/alternative methods (for example, mayoral appointment) are local level courts. These courts are often governed by selection guidelines that are unique to their specific region.
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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
