Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Melvin (born September 18, 1952) is an American politician,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

Career

Melvin was born in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Portsmouth from 1986 to 2009. Melvin was also a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and a mentor to Virginia state senator Louise Lucas. On February 24, 2009, Melvin announced he would not run for reelection. On April 7, Governor Tim Kaine appointed Melvin to judgeship on the

Virginia Circuit Court The Virginia Circuit Courts are the state trial courts of general jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Circuit Courts have jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases. For civil cases, the courts have authority to try cases with an a ...

in Portsmouth, effective May 1, 2009. On May 1, 2009, he retired from the House and became a judge of the Portsmouth Circuit Court. On March 4, 2016, Melvin was named as the possible successor to Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the Court of Appeals of Virginia if Alston were to be elevated to 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 ...

. The vote to appoint Alston to the Supreme Court of Virginia failed.

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External links

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Project Vote Smart - Representative Kenneth Ronald 'Ken' Melvin (VA)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Kenneth R. Melvin
2005200320011999
campaign contributions
Washington Post - Kenneth R. Melvin
local election 2008 profile 1952 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Colby College alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Politicians from Portsmouth, Virginia Virginia circuit court judges {{Virginia-delegate-stub