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

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

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 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 ...

from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

from 1986 to 2009. Melvin was also a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and a mentor to Virginia state senator

Louise Lucas Lillie Louise Lucas ( Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia ...

. On February 24, 2009, Melvin announced he would not run for reelection. On April 7, Governor

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

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 The Court of Appeals of Virginia, established January 1, 1985, is an intermediate appellate court of 17 judges that hears appeals from decisions of Virginia's circuit courts and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court sits in pan ...

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.

Notes

References

External links

* * *
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