Tuesday, August 31, 2010
First woman justice elected as chief of Va. supreme court
Virginia's chief justice supervises the administration of the state's entire court system and may assign any circuit court judge temporarily to another circuit or call retired circuit judges back to active duty.
RICHMOND -- Justice Cynthia Kinser has been selected as the next chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and will become the first woman to hold the position when the court convenes in February.
Kinser, a Lee County native, was elected to the post today by her fellow justices. She will succeed Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, who had served two four-year terms and was not eligible for re-election under a policy the court adopted in 2002.
The position of chief justice had been based solely on seniority until 2002, when the General Assembly passed legislation giving the court’s seven members the authority to elect the chief. Hassell was the first black justice to hold the chief’s position.
Kinser, a former commonwealth’s attorney in Lee County and former federal magistrate judge, was appointed to the court in 1997 by then-Gov. George Allen. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Her term as chief justice will begin Feb. 1, 2011.
Kinser, a Lee County native, was elected to the post today by her fellow justices. She will succeed Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, who had served two four-year terms and was not eligible for re-election under a policy the court adopted in 2002.
The position of chief justice had been based solely on seniority until 2002, when the General Assembly passed legislation giving the court’s seven members the authority to elect the chief. Hassell was the first black justice to hold the chief’s position.
Kinser, a former commonwealth’s attorney in Lee County and former federal magistrate judge, was appointed to the court in 1997 by then-Gov. George Allen. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Her term as chief justice will begin Feb. 1, 2011.
