The death of Judge George Mitchell not only leaves a void in the hearts of those who knew him close, but in the second seat of the Fifth District Circuit Court and in the election. This year both Circuit Court judges are up for re-election. And both Mitchell and Judge Joey Loper were running unopposed.
But, Mitchell’s death leaves an unanswered question. What happens next?
According to a release from the Adminsitrative Office of the Courts, the next step is for Governor Tate Reeves to appoint someone to serve out the rest of Mitchell’s term.
But, what happens to the election? According to the release, Judge Mitchell was unopposed in the non-partisan general election scheduled for Nov. 8.
The candidate qualifying deadline passed on Feb. 1. Mississippi’s election statute regarding the death of the sole qualified judicial candidate, Mississippi Code Section 23-15-977 (4) says:
“If only one (1) person files his or her intent to be a candidate for a judicial office and that person later dies, resigns or is otherwise disqualified from holding the judicial office after the deadline provided for in subsection (1) of this section but more than seventy (70) days before the date of the general election, the Governor, upon notification of the death, resignation or disqualification of the person, shall issue a proclamation authorizing candidates to file their intent to be a candidate for that judicial office for a period of not less than seven (7) nor more than ten (10) days from the date of the proclamation.”
However, Reeves has yet to name a replacement or issue the proclamation. Mitchell was also in the middle of the Circuit Court term for Carroll County. Loper will preside of Carroll County’s cases, which will take place on Tuesday May 3, instead of Monday, because Loper has court in another location.
In other races, Bennie Thompson is going up for another term. Thompson faces Ronald Eller, Brian Flowers and Stanford Johnson.
In the Chancery Clerk race, Chancellors Joseph Kilgore and Kiley Kirk are running unopposed in the Sixth District race.
Those races along with the school board race for the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District and the Carroll County School District and the special elections for a Montgomery County Election Commissioner seat and the Carroll County Northern District Judge seat will be held in November. All of the races are independent and do not have to have primaries.
The Winona Times and the Carroll County Conservative will keep you up-to-date on who will be appointed to serve out Mitchell’s term and who will qualify for the judicial race.
