Judge Howorth to Step Down After 18 Years on the Bench

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Judge Andrew Howorth at the annual Oxford-Lafayette Chamber of Commerce Luncheon accepting his award for Citizen of the Year. Howorth announced on Facebook Monday that he will be retiring in June after 18 years on the bench.
Photo provided

Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth announced he will be stepping down from the bench in June after 18 years of service.

“I have very much enjoyed the last 18 years as a circuit court judge, but I have a farm in Abbeville that calls my name nonstop,” Howorth wrote on his Facebook page Monday morning. “I also have a bucket list that has many things not yet checked off.”

Howorth was appointed as Circuit Court Judge in 2002 after Judge Kenneth Coleman stepped down from the bench. He ran and was elected to retain his seat at the bench in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.

As a circuit judge, Howorth served as the president of the Conference of Circuit Judges, on the Board of Governors of the Mississippi Judicial College, as Presiding Judge of the Bar’s Complaints Tribunal and as a member of the Drug Court Advisory Committee.

Circuit Court Clerk Jeff Busby is sworn into office by Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth recently.

He was selected by his peers for membership as a Fellow in the highly prestigious Mississippi Bar Foundation and in May 2019, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce for his work with the Third District Drug Court system, which he brought to Oxford in 2008. Drug Court is a three-year program that allows offenders to remain out of jail while working toward sobriety.

“I especially would like to thank the many friends that I have made over the years throughout my judicial district,” Howorth wrote Monday. “I appreciate the hard work by my staff, including the drug court staff. I will very much miss spending time with my court reporters, the lawyers, members of law enforcement, the circuit clerks of my seven counties and their staffs and so many other people too numerous to count.

“I will rely on the Governor to choose a capable person to take my position and hope that my replacement will enjoy the job and the people as much as I have. Meanwhile, I look forward to continuing to put forth full effort at my job for the next six months.”