Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas, who was the longest currently serving chancellor of the 5th Chancery Court, died Wednesday evening in his Byram home. He was 72.
His cause of death appeared to be from natural causes, according to a statement released Thursday by the court.
Thomas, who served 19 years on the bench, presided over several high-profile cases ranging from Election Day debacles to how much access the public should have to legislative debates.
“Judge Thomas leaves behind a legacy that extends far beyond the opinions he rendered or the cases he decided,” Chancellor Crystal Wise Martin said in a statement Thursday. “His legacy lives in the people he helped, the families he served, the attorneys and judges he influenced, and the example he set for those who were blessed to serve alongside him.”
Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas studies his notes at a hearing, Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson, Miss., where he heard arguments about a Mississippi law that would create a court system with judges who would be appointed rather than elected. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)During the 2023 statewide election, several Hinds County voting precincts ran out of ballots, causing chaos and leaving voters frustrated while they stood in line for hours attempting to cast a vote. This prompted Thomas to grant an emergency request from the state Democratic Party to extend in-person voting by an extra hour.
Thomas also was the trial court judge who decided whether the House Republican Caucus, a supermajority of House lawmakers, can meet behind closed doors to debate policy. It had long been the understanding that a majority of a public body could not discuss public business in private. But Thomas ruled the state’s Open Meetings Act didn’t apply to the Legislature.
He also presided over cases determining if a state law establishing a separate police force and court system within Jackson could go into effect and public records disputes with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
Prior to his judicial tenure, Thomas served in the Mississippi House of Representatives for nine years, serving as a representative for House District 71, according to the statement released by the court’s spokesperson, Beverly Kraft.
He also served as an assistant county attorney in Hinds County for 11 years.
Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 1977 and a juris doctor in 1980 from Mississippi College School of Law, now known as Mississippi Christian University School of Law.
Lakewood Funeral Home will oversee arrangements.
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