Former Virginia Attorney General Bill Mims ’79 was appointed to the Virginia Supreme Court March 10.
Mims replaced current Gov. Bob McDonnell as attorney general after McDonnell resigned last February to run for governor. He served through January, at which point he was replaced by Ken Cuccinelli.
“Bill is an extraordinary public servant and a longtime personal friend,” McDonnell said in a press release. “He has long been one of my closest co-workers in nearly 20 years in public office … We need individuals of Bill’s character and intelligence in public service, and while he may have thought his time serving Virginia was over, [the] appointment is welcome news to all of us who know just how uniquely qualified and decent a person he is.”
Mims earned a B.A. in history from the College of William and Mary, also studying public administration and serving as student body president.
“Bill Mims has served the commonwealth brilliantly and selflessly throughout his career,” College President Taylor Reveley said. “He will be a superb addition to the Virginia Supreme Court. William and Mary is enormously proud of our alumnus, Justice Mims.”
Before his appointment as attorney general, Mims worked as McDonnell’s chief deputy from 2006 to 2009. Previously, Mims served in the Virginia General Assembly from 1992 to1997 and in the Virginia State Senate from 1998 to 2005.
“The overwhelming support for Bill’s appointment to the highest court in Virginia is a reflection of the high regard in which he is held by leaders from both parties,” McDonnell said. “Bill will make a tremendous Supreme Court Justice, and I congratulate him on yet another accomplishment in a life dedicated to serving the citizens of Virginia.”
Mims’ Supreme Court position goes into effect April 1.