State of Mississippi Judiciary

Investiture of Judge Linda Coleman set for April 24 in Cleveland

April 20, 2016

An investiture ceremony for Circuit Court Judge Linda F. Coleman is scheduled for 3 p.m. April 24 at the Bolivar County Courthouse in Cleveland.

Justice Leslie D. King of Greenville will administer the ceremonial oath.

Judge Coleman was sworn in shortly after she was appointed. It is traditional to administer a ceremonial oath at a later investiture.

Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Judge Coleman on March 9 to a vacancy on the 11th District Circuit Court after Judge Johnnie E. Walls Jr. retired.

Judge Coleman, of Mound Bayou, previously served for 25 years as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. She served as vice-chair of the former House Penitentiary Committee, vice-chair of the Tourism Committee, chair of the House Committee on Fees and Salaries of Public Officers, and most recently, vice-chair of the House Corrections Committee. Other committees on which she served included Appropriations; County Affairs; Education; Investigate State Offices; Judiciary A; Judiciary En Banc; Management; Municipalities; Ports, Harbors and Airports; Public Property; Select Committee on Poverty; Transportation; and Ways and Means.

Judge Coleman earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. She was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1987, and went to work serving poor clients of North Mississippi Rural Legal Services that same year. She was managing attorney for NMRLS from 1989 to 1994. In private law practice, she represented the towns of Mound Bayou, Clarksdale and Friars Point, and served as attorney for the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors and the Mound Bayou School Board. She is a member of The Mississippi Bar, the Magnolia Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Council of State Governments and the Mississippi Association of Board Attorneys.

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