William Cleveland Mims (born June 20, 1957) is a senior justice on the

Supreme Court of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

. He is a former member of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

and

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

. He is the second person in Virginia history to serve in these three offices. He presently is a lecturer and director of the pre-law program at Christopher Newport University.

Early life and education

Mims was born and grew up in

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2 ...

, and graduated from Harrisonburg High School. He is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. Mims graduated from the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, where he was student body president. He is a member of the

Phi Eta Sigma Phi Eta Sigma () is an American freshman honor society. Founded at the University of Illinois on March 22, 1923, it is the oldest and largest freshman honor society and has chartered three hundred and eighty-six chapters throughout the United Stat ...

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

, and

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...

honorary societies. He has law degrees from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

(J.D.) and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

(LL.M.).

Early career and private practice

Mims served as deputy legislative director to U.S. Senator Paul S. Trible Jr. from 1983 to 1985, and as chief of staff to Congressman Frank R. Wolf from 1985 to 1987. He practiced law in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northea ...

from 1987 to 2005. He has taught as an adjunct professor, at George Mason University School of Law (now

Antonin Scalia Law School The Antonin Scalia Law School (previously George Mason University School of Law) is the law school of George Mason University, a public research university in Virginia. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, roughly west of Washington, D.C., a ...

) and

Appalachian School of Law The Appalachian School of Law (ASL) is an ABA-approved private law school on a four building campus in Grundy, Virginia, a small town near the convergence of Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The school offers a three-year Juris Doctor de ...

. He briefly was a partner in the

Hunton & Williams Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States. History Hunton & Williams (formerl ...

law firm in 2010, prior to joining the Supreme Court.

General Assembly

Mims was elected as a Republican to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in 1991 and the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

in 1998, serving a total of 14 years. While in the General Assembly, he also served as chair of the Virginia Housing Commission and the Virginia Code Commission and vice-chair of the Joint Commission on Health Care. His legislative accomplishments included creating the Virginia Higher Education Tuition Trust Fund (now called Virginia 529). He also sponsored numerous successful bills relating to the rights of crime victims, improving traffic safety, and reforming mental health policies.

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Robert F. McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his ...

appointed Mims as chief deputy attorney general in January 2006. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Attorney General, with more than 300 attorneys and staff. In that role, he also coordinated Virginia’s legal response to the

Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...

, including the mediated settlement of all but two liability claims, and the re-regulation of Virginia’s electric utilities. When McDonnell resigned as attorney general to run for governor, the General Assembly unanimously elected Mims to complete McDonnell’s term. Mims did not seek election to a full term and was succeeded by Kenneth Cuccinelli in January 2010.

Supreme Court of Virginia

The General Assembly unanimously elected Mims to the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

on March 10, 2010. He took the oath of office on April 1, 2010. The 100th justice in the history of Virginia, Mims filled a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice

Barbara Milano Keenan Barbara Louise Milano Keenan (born March 1, 1950) is a senior United States circuit judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Early life and education Keenan was born ...

upon her appointment to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryla ...

. Mims did not seek reappointment to the court when his term ended on March 31, 2022.

Civic involvement and personal life

Mims has served in numerous capacities relating to improving mental health and foster care policies. These include service on the boards of Voices for Virginia’s Children, the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, and the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform. He has served on the Board of Governors of the

Virginia Bar Association The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provid ...

. He is an elder at his church. He frequently authors “Faith & Values” guest columns for the ''

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

'', and speaks often throughout Virginia on the topics of justice and servant leadership. Mims has received honorary degrees from

Bridgewater College Bridgewater College is a private liberal-arts college in Bridgewater, Virginia. Established in 1880, Bridgewater College admitted both men and women from the time of its founding and was the first four-year liberal arts college in Virginia to ...

and

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Lo ...

, the William B. Spong Award from

William & Mary School of Law The William & Mary Law School, known historically as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the professional graduate law school of the College of William & Mary. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the school is the oldest extant law school in th ...

, and the

Outstanding Eagle Scout Award The NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the larges ...

from the National Association of Eagle Scouts. He has delivered the Madison Vision Series lecture at

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

and the Convocation address at the

. Mims is married to Jane Mims. They have three adult daughters, two sons-in-law, and five grandchildren. An avid marathoner and occasional ultra-marathoner, he ran in the

2013 Boston Marathon The 2013 Boston Marathon was the 117th running of the annual marathon race in Boston, United States, which took place on April 15, 2013. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), it hosted the second of the World Marathon Majors to ...

and crossed the finish line shortly before the two bombs exploded.

Notes

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mims, William C. 1957 births Living people College of William & Mary alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Harrisonburg, Virginia People from Leesburg, Virginia Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Virginia Attorneys General Republican Party Virginia state senators 21st-century American judges