Mississippi Supreme Court justice vacancy (January 2019)
 |
|---|
| Waller Vacancy Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Vacancy date |
| Vacancy status |
| Nomination date |
| December 19, 2018 |
| Table of contents |
|
Selection process About Chief Justice Waller |
| See also |
| Recent news External links Footnotes |
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."[1]
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.
To read more about other state supreme court vacancies across the country that are filled by appointments, click here.
The appointee
On December 19, 2018, Gov. Phil Bryant (R) appointed Kenny Griffis as Waller's successor.[2]
At the time of his appointment, Griffis was a presiding judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals (District 3, Position 2). He was elected to the court in 2002 and re-elected in 2014. Prior to becoming a judge, Griffis worked as a lawyer and as a certified public accountant. Griffis attended Meridian Community College and Mississippi State University. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi.
The selection process
As of this appointment process, the nine justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court were elected to eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections. To serve again, all candidates had to run in the general election (as Mississippi holds no primary for judicial candidates) and face re-election.[3] For more information about these elections, visit the Mississippi judicial elections page.
Unlike most states, Mississippi Supreme Court justices were elected to represent specific districts. The nine justices were divided among three supreme court districts and were voted into office by the residents of their respective regions.[4] Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana used a similar system.
If a midterm vacancy occurred on the court, the governor would name a temporary judge. Appointees would serve out the remainder of their predecessor's unexpired term if four or fewer years of the term remained. If there were more than four years remaining, the appointee would run in the next general election, taking place nine months or more after the vacancy occurred, and then serve the remainder of the term.[3]
The temporary judge selected to replace Waller needed to run for election in November 2020 to remain on the bench for two more years.[1]
About Chief Justice Waller
William L. Waller, Jr. was elected to the court to serve District 1, Place 1, in November 1996. Waller served as chief justice from January 2009 to January 2019.[5][1]
Prior to becoming a supreme court justice, Waller was a municipal court judge in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1995 to 1996. He worked in private practice from 1978 to 1995.[5]
Waller received his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in 1974 and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1977.[5]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2019
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2019
The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2019. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2020.
| 2019 judicial vacancies filled by appointment | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court | Date of Vacancy | Justice | Reason | Date Vacancy Filled | Successor |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Fred Lewis | Retirement | January 9, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Barbara Pariente | Retirement | January 14, 2019 | Robert J. Luck |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Peggy Quince | Retirement | January 22, 2019 | Carlos Muñiz |
| Kentucky Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | Bill Cunningham | Retirement | March 27, 2019 | David Buckingham |
| Mississippi Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | William Waller | Retirement | December 19, 2018 | Kenny Griffis |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | February 28, 2019 | Mark Martin | Private sector[6] | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley | Apppointed to new post[7] | March 11, 2019 | Mark Davis |
| Arizona Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | John Pelander | Retirement | April 26, 2019 | James Beene |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 10, 2019 | Patrick Wyrick | Elevation to a federal judgeship[8] | November 20, 2019 | Dustin Rowe |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 30, 2019 | John Reif | Retirement | September 17, 2019 | M. John Kane IV |
| Arizona Supreme Court | July 3, 2019 | Scott Bales | Private sector[9] | September 4, 2019 | Bill Montgomery |
| Texas Supreme Court | July 31, 2019 | Jeff Brown | Elevation to a federal judgeship[10] | August 26, 2019 | Jane Bland |
| New Hampshire Supreme Court | August 23, 2019 | Robert Lynn | Retirement | January 7, 2021 | Gordon MacDonald |
| Virginia Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Elizabeth McClanahan | Retirement | February 15, 2019 | Teresa M. Chafin |
| Vermont Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Marilyn Skoglund | Retirement | December 5, 2019 | William Cohen |
| Kansas Supreme Court | September 8, 2019 | Lee Johnson | Retirement | December 16, 2019 | Evelyn Z. Wilson |
| Delaware Supreme Court | October 30, 2019 | Leo E. Strine Jr. | Retirement | November 7, 2019 | Collins Seitz Jr. |
| Iowa Supreme Court | November 15, 2019 | Mark Cady | Death | January 28, 2020 | Dana Oxley |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 19, 2019 | Robert J. Luck | Elevation to a federal judgeship[11] | September 14, 2020 | Jamie Rutland Grosshans |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 20, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa | Elevation to a federal judgeship[12] | May 26, 2020 | John D. Couriel |
| Kansas Supreme Court | December 17, 2019 | Lawton Nuss | Retirement | March 11, 2020 | Keynen Wall |
| Maine Supreme Court | December 2019 | Jeffrey Hjelm | Retirement | January 6, 2020 | Catherine Connors |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Chief Justice Waller announces he will retire January 31, 2019," November 9, 2018
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Gov. Bryant appoints Supreme Court replacement for Bill Waller," December 19, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Mississippi," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Supreme Court; Districts," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 State of Mississippi Judiciary, "William L. Waller, Jr.," accessed November 12, 2018
- ↑ Martin left the court to become the dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
- ↑ Beasley was appointed chief justice of the court.
- ↑ Wyrick was confirmed to a seat on the Western District of Oklahoma on April 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bales left the court to become executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.
- ↑ Brown was confirmed to a seat on the Southern District of Texas on July 31, 2019.
- ↑ Luck was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 19, 2019.
- ↑ Lagoa was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 20, 2019.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
| |||||||
