Chancellor Joseph Kilgore to leave the bench July 31

Chancellor Joseph Kilgore of Philadelphia has announced that he will leave the bench on July 31, 2024. He has accepted a position as Counsel for the law firm of Watkins & Eager, PLLC, in its Jackson office.

Judge Kilgore has served the Chancery Courts of the Sixth District for 14 years. The district includes Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Kemper, Neshoba, and Winston counties.

“After much prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided that it is time to start a new chapter in my career. It has been the highest professional honor of my life to serve the residents of the Sixth District for the last fourteen years. I have also been privileged to serve along with outstanding judges, court staff, attorneys, chancery clerks, and deputy clerks. I fully plan to continue serving my community and state in the coming years,” Judge Kilgore said in a letter to Gov. Tate Reeves.

The Governor will appoint a judge to fill the vacancy. A special election is expected to be held in November 2025.

Judge Kilgore was appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour on July 1, 2010, and was elected, without opposition, in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022. He formed and currently operates the Sixth Chancery Court Youth Intervention Court (drug court). He served as Chairman of the Mississippi Conference of Chancery Judges from 2016 to 2017. He also served a term as vice-chairman and secretary of the conference.

He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court to the Commission on Guardianship and Conservatorship and served as Co-chair of the Guardianship of the Estate sub-committee. He was appointed to the Mississippi Task Force on Foster Care and Adoption. The work of both committees resulted in positive legislation for the state’s most vulnerable citizens. He also served on the Attorney General’s Mental Health Task Force; the Guardian ad Litem Transparency and Oversight Panel, which was a study committee formed by the Legislature; the Children’s Advocacy Center, a committee regarding the protection of forensic interviews for children; and the Secretary of State Probate Code Study Group.

Kilgore served as inaugural chair and a founding member of the Child Welfare and Advocacy Section of the Mississippi Bar. He was a member of the Bicentennial of Mississippi’s Judiciary and Legal Profession Committee of the Bar.

In 2022, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project honored him with the Beacon of Justice Award for outstanding leadership in promoting and supporting equal access to justice for indigent litigants. This was awarded in recognition of yearly pro se legal clinics held throughout the Sixth District.

Before he was appointed to the bench, Kilgore served as general partner with the Philadelphia law firm of Alford, Thomas & Kilgore. He served as board attorney for the Philadelphia Public School District and Philadelphia Utilities.

Kilgore earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Mississippi in 2000 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2003.