Administrative Office of Courts
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Judge Carlyn Hicks to take oath July 14 to serve on Hinds County Court July 13, 2020 Hinds County Court Judge Carlyn M. Hicks will take the oath of office at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 14, in the En Banc Courtroom of the Mississippi Supreme Court, 450 High Street in Jackson. The ceremony will be live streamed on the Mississippi Judiciary website at this link: Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph will administer the oath of office. Chief Justice Randolph on July 9 issued an order that temporarily appoints Judge Hicks as a special judge for the Hinds County Court. The appointment is to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Melvin V. Priester Sr., who retired from the Hinds County Court on June 3. The Supreme Court order of appointment is at this link: Judge Hicks, 36, of Jackson, has served as director of the Mission First Legal Aid Office, a pro bono initiative of Mississippi College School of Law, since August 2017. She oversaw the operations of staff and volunteers who provide legal services to more than 1,200 low income clients annually in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties. She began work with Mission First as a student volunteer, became a staff attorney in September 2010, then represented indigent parents in Youth Court through the Mission First Legal Aid program for almost five years. She has worked to improve child welfare policy at the national and state level. She is a member of the Mississippi Children’s Justice Commission Parent Representation Task Force and the Mississippi Court Improvement Program Multidisciplinary Team. She is a member of the Board of Directors of CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Mississippi. She is a service provider representative on the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission. She is one of only three Mississippi attorneys certified as a Child Welfare Law Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children, accredited by the American Bar Association. Judge Hicks is a member of the American Bar Association National Alliance for Parent Representation Steering Committee, the ABA Family Justice Initiative National Advisory Committee and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute Advisory Board. She is chair of the Mississippi Bar Child Welfare and Child Advocacy Committee and chair of Pro Bono and Community Outreach for the Capital Area Bar Association. Judge Hicks has served since 2015 as a clinical adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law Child Welfare and Family Justice Clinic. She previously taught Constitutional law for a year in the Jackson State University Department of Political Science. Judge Hicks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Jackson State University in 2006, and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law in 2010. She was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in September 2010. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Mississippi College in 2012. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in public administration at JSU. Judge Hicks is a lifelong resident of Jackson. She and her husband, Derrick Hicks, have a daughter, Leigh, 8. They attend Mt. Helm Baptist Church. #### |
