Administrative Office of Courts
Judges Emfinger, Dodson, Mozingo elected to leadership of Circuit Conference April 26, 2018 Circuit Judge John Emfinger of Brandon has been elected chairman of the Conference of Circuit Court Judges. Circuit Judge Lisa P. Dodson of Gulfport was elected vice-chair, and Circuit Judge Tony Mozingo of Oak Grove was elected secretary-treasurer. 
Judge Emfinger succeeds Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd as chairman of the Conference of Circuit Judges. Conference officers were elected by their colleagues on April 19 during the Spring Trial and Appellate Judges Conference in Bay St. Louis. Judicial conferences meet in April and October for continuing legal education training, and periodically during other times of the year to discuss legal and judicial issues. They make recommendations on issues affecting their courts. Judge Emfinger has been a Circuit Judge of the 20th Circuit Court District of Rankin and Madison counties since January 2011. He previously served for 14 years as an assistant district attorney for the 20th District. He worked for nearly 10 years as a special assistant attorney general, serving in the attorney general’s Criminal Division, in the State and Local Government Section, and later as director of the attorney general’s Public Integrity Division. He worked for a year as a staff attorney in the office of the Mississippi Secretary of State. He was in private law practice for about seven years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Mississippi College and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. Judge Dodson has served as a Circuit Judge of the Second Circuit Court District since January 2007. She was the first female Circuit Judge elected in the Second District, which includes Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. She was in private law practice for 15 years, and she served for 10 years as an assistant district attorney in the Second Circuit Court District. She previously served on the Board of Bar Commissioners. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2009. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Mis-sissippi University for Women and a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Judge Mozingo was first elected to the Fifteenth Circuit Court in November 2010 and took office in January 2011. The district includes Jefferson Davis, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion and Pearl River counties. He previously served as Municipal Court Judge for the cities of Purvis and Lumberton, Justice Court Judge Pro Tempore for Jefferson Davis County, and attorney for the Lamar County Board of Supervisors. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and earned a law degree from the Mississippi College School of Law. #### |
