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T. Kenneth Griffis
2019 - Present
2031
6
T. Kenneth Griffis is a judge for District 1-Position 1 of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He assumed office on February 1, 2019. His current term ends on January 5, 2031.
Griffis ran for re-election for the District 1-Position 1 judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Griffis was first appointed to the court by Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to succeed Judge William Waller.[1] To learn more about this appointment, 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.[2] Griffis received a confidence score of Strong Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Griffis previously served on the Mississippi Court of Appeals—District 3, Position 2—from 2003 to 2019.
Biography
Griffis received a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1987.[4] He served as an appellate judge from 2003 to 2019.[5]
He was also a certified public accountant from 1984 to 2007. He taught as an adjunct law professor at Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi.[4]
Elections
2020
See also: Mississippi Supreme Court elections, 2020
General election
General election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 1
Incumbent T. Kenneth Griffis defeated Latrice Westbrooks in the general election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | T. Kenneth Griffis (Nonpartisan) | 51.5 | 202,530 |
 | Latrice Westbrooks (Nonpartisan) | 48.5 | 190,455 | |
| Total votes: 392,985 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
- See also: Mississippi judicial elections, 2016
| Mississippi Supreme Court, District 1, Place 3, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jim Kitchens Incumbent |
53.54% | 185,169 |
| T. Kenneth Griffis | 46.46% | 160,661 |
| Total Votes (553 of 553 precincts reporting: 100%) | 345,830 | |
| Source: The New York Times | ||
2014
- See also: Mississippi judicial elections, 2014
Griffis ran for re-election to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. He was unopposed in the general election on November 4, 2014.[6]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
T. Kenneth Griffis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Appointments
2019
Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice William Waller retired on January 31, 2019. A press release from the Mississippi Judiciary said, "At age 66, [Waller] enjoys good health. 'It’s just time,' he said."[7]
Gov. Phil Bryant (R) appointed Judge Kenny Griffis to succeed Waller. Griffis was Bryant's fourth nominee to the nine-member supreme court. Under Mississippi law, the governor names a temporary judge to replace a judge who retires in the middle of his or her term.
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.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- 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.
T. Kenneth
Griffis
Mississippi
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Received donations from Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Griffis donated $2,400 to Republican candidates and organizations. He received donations from organizations that regularly donate to Republican candidates, including former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and state GOP chairman Joe Nosef. Griffis was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant (R). He was endorsed by individuals and organizations that regularly endorse Republicans, including the Mississippi Republican Party. 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[10]
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.[10]
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.[12]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
|
Officeholder Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Gov. Bryant appoints Supreme Court replacement for Bill Waller," December 19, 2018
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kenny Griffis for Supreme Court, "About," accessed July 26, 2021
- ↑ Jackson Free Press, "Kenny Griffis," February 1, 2019
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed June 9, 2014
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Chief Justice Waller announces he will retire January 31, 2019," November 9, 2018
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 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
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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
