News Release

Chief Justice Mike Randolph has appointed Circuit Judge Smith Murphey. V of Batesville as an alternate member of the Commission on Judicial Performance.

Gov. Tate Reeves recommended Judge Murphey as an alternate member of the judicial disciplinary body to replace Judge Christopher Collins of Union, who left the bench Jan. 1.

Judge Murphey’s term as an alternate member of the Commission will end Dec. 31, 2021.

An alternate member sits on a judicial disciplinary hearing panel when a member has a conflict or cannot otherwise participate.

The Commission on Judicial Performance investigates allegations of judicial misconduct and makes recommendations for discipline to the Supreme Court. The Commission includes seven members and seven alternates.

Judge Murphey joined the 17th Circuit bench in January 2011. The district includes DeSoto, Panola, Tallahatchie, Tate and Yalobusha counties. Judge Murphey previously served as chair,  vice-chair and secretary  treasurer of the Conference of Circuit Judges.

He previously served as an assistant district attorney of the 17th Circuit District for almost 15 years.  He is former president of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association and former president of the Prosecutors Section of the Mississippi Bar. He taught trial techniques and constitutional law nationally to prosecutors for the National Advocacy Center and the National District Attorneys Association.

He  has served as an instructor in constitutional law for police cadets at the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy and Mississippi Justice Court Judges Professional Judicial Development courses. He has been a member of the Project Safe Childhood Task Force. He was a founding member of two multi-disciplinary task forces on child abuse.

He has served on the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions since January 2009. Before  going on the bench, he was a Mississippi Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution mediator and a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel of Neutrals for the U.S. District Court.

Judge Murphey is a member of the Batesville Rotary Club and the Panola Partnership. He is  a long-time volunteer at the Panola County Food Pantry.  He  has served as an elder, deacon, and trustee for the Batesville Presbyterian Church.

When not on the bench, Judge Murphy is known as “The Man with Two Last Names” at local football games and as assistant Scoutmaster for Batesville’s Boy Scout Troop 478.

Judge Murphey earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. He served for two years as a law clerk for former Supreme Court Justice James L. Roberts Jr. of Pontotoc.