Conference of Circuit Judges holds elections

•Winston Kidd of Jackson, a Hinds County circuit judge, has been elected vice chairman of the conference. Kidd has served as a judge of the 7th Circuit District more than 15 years. He was in private law practice in Jackson for 10 years before he was appointed to the bench in 2001. He teaches pretrial practice as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law. He is former president of the Magnolia Bar Association. He has an undergraduate degree in respiratory therapy from the University of Mississippi and received his law degree from Mississippi College School of Law.

•John Emfinger of Brandon, a circuit judge for Madison and Rankin counties, has been elected secretary-treasurer.of the conference. Emfinger has been a judge of the 20th Circuit Court District more than five years. He previously served for 14 years as an assistant district attorney for the 20th District. He worked for nearly 10 years as a special assistant attorney general, serving in the attorney general’s Criminal Division, in the State and Local Government Section, and later as director of the attorney general’s Public Integrity Division. He worked for a year as a staff attorney in the office of the secretary of state. He was in private law practice for about seven years. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Mississippi College and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law.

•Prentiss G. Harrell of Hattiesburg, the senior circuit judge of the 15th District, has been elected chairman. He has served more than nine years as a circuit judge for the district that includes Jefferson Davis, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion and Pearl River counties. He previously served for nine years as county attorney for Lamar County. He is a graduate of William Carey University and the Mississippi College School of Law.