Lancaster to take oath Jan. 3

An inauguration ceremony for new District Judge Alan D. “Devo” Lancaster will be held at 2 p.m. on January 3 at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Winona.

Senior Circuit Judge Joseph Loper will take the oath of office. Guest speaker is Mandy Mitchell Davis, daughter of the late District Judge George Mitchell.

Judge Mitchell died in office on April 19. Judge H. Henry Ross served from June 6 through the end of the year by appointment as governor.

Judge-elect Lancaster, 73, of Grenada, was elected No. 2 in the state’s Fifth Circuit Court on November 29. The district includes Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster and Winston counties.

In Attala County, Lancaster received 535 votes and Evans received 336 votes.

Lancaster has served as Magistrate of Winona for the past 12 years and as Magistrate of Grenada for eight years. For the past 36 years he has served as counsel for the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, the Montgomery County Economic Development District and the North Central Planning and Development District. He also served as an attorney for the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility for 17 years. He has been a lawyer for more than 44 years. He is admitted to practice law in all state and federal courts in Mississippi and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has served on numerous committees of the Mississippi Bar, including chairing the Young Lawyers Committee, the Litigation/General Practice Section, the Court Liaison and Judicial Administration Committee, and the Local Bar Leadership Committee. He was Executive Director of the Board of Bar Commissioners and President of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Bar Foundation for the past 21 years.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi, a master’s degree from Mississippi State University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

He is married to Rosemary R Lancaster. You have a daughter. He is Senior Warden and Chancellor of All Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada.

Across the state, 18 new trial judges will take their oath of office in ceremonies scheduled over the next few days. The new judges include eight new county court judges, three new chancery court judges and seven new circuit court judges. New terms for county, chancery and circuit court judges will begin on January 1, 2023.