Administrative Office of Courts
Judge Carlton to receive Meritorious Service Medal The U.S. Army Reserve 3rd Personnel Command will present the Meritorious Service Medal to Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Virginia Carlton at a ceremony in Jackson on Sunday, April 27. The presentation will be at 11 a.m. at the Walter Scott Reserve Center at 180 Walter Bernard Avenue in Jackson. Col. Cheryl Ludwa, head of the 3rd Personnel Command, will make the presentation. Judge Carlton, of Columbia, has served in the military for 17 ½ years. She is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Mississippi National Guard. She served on active duty with the U.S. Army 1990-1998, with assignments at Fort Benning, Ga., in Germany and Hawaii and at Fort Polk, La. She previously served as a prosecutor, defense counsel and legal assistance officer. While on duty in Hawaii, she served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Army. She left active duty with the rank of Major. She graduated from the U.S. Army Reserve Command and General Staff College in 2002. She served for three years as Staff Judge Advocate with the U.S. Army Reserve 3rd Personnel Command, headquartered in Jackson. She left the U.S. Army Reserve in July 2007. Judge Carlton joined the Mississippi National Guard in August 2007. She now serves as a Judge Advocate (JAG) officer in the Mississippi National Guard. Judge Carlton said, “It was an honor to have served the 3rd Personnel Command and the troops. These are experiences I will carry with me and remember for a lifetime. “In addition to constantly training for our wartime mission, we endured the aftermath of Katrina. I will always be awed by the professionalism of these soldiers, and I am honored to have known them and served with them,” Judge Carlton said. Judge Carlton joined the Mississippi Court of Appeals in January 2007. She previously served for three years in the House of Representatives from District 100, which includes Jefferson Davis, Lamar and Marion counties. She also previously served on the state Drug Court Advisory Committee. In 2005, the Mississippi Juvenile Justice Advisory Group named her as one of three Distinguished Legislators for Juvenile Justice Causes. The Mississippi Association for Adult and Community Education named her as South Mississippi Friend of Education of the Year for 2005. She is a former assistant district attorney for the 15th Circuit Court District and a former public defender. She worked as a forensic child abuse investigation instructor for the Southwest Mississippi Children’s Advocacy Center in McComb. She earned her law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1989. #### |
