Administrative Office of Courts
Investiture of Judge Maxwell is May 15 in Oxford An investiture ceremony for Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge James D. Maxwell II is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 15 at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Leslie D. King will preside and administer the ceremonial oath. Judge Maxwell took the oath of office March 2 in Jackson. It is traditional to have a formal investiture ceremony, including a ceremonial administering of the oath, at a later time. Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Maxwell March 1 to fill the vacancy created when Judge David A. Chandler joined the Supreme Court. Speakers include Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran and former First Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas W. Dawson. Bobby P. Martin, chair, president and CEO of The Peoples Bank of Ripley, will introduce Judge Mills. John Marshall Alexander, chief of the Criminal Division of the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, will introduce Sen. Cochran. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock will acknowledge special guests. Lafayette County Sheriff Buddy East will open court, and Dr. Eric Hankins, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Oxford, will give the invocation. Circuit Judge Henry Lackey of Calhoun City will welcome guests. Boy Scouts of the Chicksa District Yocona Area Council will post the colors. Janet Hankins of Oxford will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Judge Maxwell’s children, James D. Maxwell III and Mae Covington Maxwell, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Judge Maxwell’s wife, Melinda B. Maxwell, will hold the Bible during the administration of the oath and assist him in donning his robe. Chancery Judge Edwin H. Roberts Jr. of Oxford will give the benediction. Judge Maxwell, 34, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi from October 2002 through February 2009. He represented the U.S. Department of Justice in criminal prosecutions involving public corruption, white collar fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, smuggling, firearms and gang offenses. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office, Maxwell practiced civil law with the firm of Daniel Coker Horton & Bell, P.A. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Mississippi and his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is president-elect of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar and also serves as president of the Lafayette County Bar. He previously served as president of the Tri-County Young Lawyers of Lafayette, Yalobusha and Calhoun counties. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association. #### |
