Jackson Free Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three Mississippi Supreme Court justices are beginning new eight-year terms.

Those inaugurated Monday were Chief Justice Mike Randolph, Presiding Justice Leslie D. King and Justice Josiah Dennis Coleman.

Randolph is the longest-serving current member of the nine-person court, and he has been chief justice since February.

Randolph was appointed to the Supreme Court in April 2004 by then then-Gov. Haley Barbour. Randolph was elected in November 2004, November 2012 and November 2020. He has homes in Hattiesburg and Ocean Springs.

King lives in Greenville. He served in the Mississippi House from 1980 to 1994 and was one of the original members elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1994.

King became chief judge of the 10-member appeals court in April 2004, and he remained in that role until Barbour appointed him to the Supreme Court in March 2011. King was elected to the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2020.

Coleman was previously elected to the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2020. He lives in the Fentress community in Choctaw County.

Mississippi has three Supreme Court districts. Randolph is from the southern district, King is from the central district and Coleman is from the northern district.

Justice Kenny Griffis was also reelected to a central district Supreme Court seat in November, but his new term doesn't start until January 2022.