Lamar Named to MS Supreme Court

GOVERNOR BARBOUR FILLS SUPREME COURT VACANCY

(Jackson, Mississippi) – Governor Haley Barbour today announced the appointment of Circuit Court Judge Ann Hannaford Lamar of Senatobia to fill an unexpired term as a Justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Lamar, 54, a former district attorney before becoming a Circuit Court judge in Mississippi’s 17th District, will serve in the position formerly held by Justice Kay Cobb of Oxford, who recently resigned. Lamar?s appointment is effective May 21, 2007.

?Ann is highly regarded among her peers as an outstanding judge with a great legal mind. She brings a wealth of credentials and experience both as a prosecutor and judge to a very demanding level of public service. I am pleased she has accepted this important assignment and confident she will follow in Justice Cobb?s footsteps as a dedicated and conscientious member of the state?s highest court,? Governor Barbour said.

Lamar has more than 25 years of legal experience. Since 2001, she has served as a Circuit Court Judge in the district covering DeSoto, Tate, Panola, Tallahatchie, and Yalobusha counties. Prior to this position, she worked as district attorney and assistant district attorney in the 17th Judicial District; from 1982-1987, she practiced law with Lamar & Hannaford, P.A., a general practice law firm in Senatobia.

Lamar is immediate past chair of the Mississippi Conference of Circuit Judges. She is past president of the William C. Keady American Inns of Court and past member of the board of directors of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association. Other affiliations include the Mississippi State Bar and Tate County Bar Associations; American Judges Association; Mississippi Association of Drug Court Professionals; and Mississippi Judicial College Board of Governors.

Lamar earned a juris doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where she finished in the top 25 percent of her graduating class. Her husband, John, and oldest son, Trey, practice law in Senatobia at Lamar & Hannaford P.A. Lamar?s younger son, Vance, works at Edge Athletics in Memphis.

Governor Barbour?s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee, which reviews the qualifications of potential judicial appointees in accordance with Executive Order 914, found Lamar fully qualified to serve in this post.