New judge appointed to Mississippi Court of Appeals

May 14, 2011

Jackson, Mississippi: Governor Haley Barbour appointed Ermea Russell to the Mississippi Court of Appeals (District 2) on May 13, 2011 to fill the seat that was left vacant by the promotion of Leslie King to the state Supreme Court in February. Russell, a lawyer and former judge of the 7th Judicial District, will take office as an appellate judge on May 23rd and will serve until the end of King's term in January of 2013. The Governor hailed her "solid reputation and great knowledge of our legal system".

Russell is an attorney of the Russell Law Firm and works in Jackson. She has also served as senior trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was a judge of the 7th Judicial District Court (Hinds County) in 1998 and 1999. Earlier in her career, she was Secretary of the Mississippi Senate, chief counsel to Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs and worked for the Institutions of Higher Learning as an Assistant Commissioner of Intercultural Relations. She is also a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, where she has served since 1973. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of West Alabama and a law degree rom the Mississippi College School of Law.