A quarter century ago, a 38-year-old Isadore W. Patrick Jr. quietly and humbly broke down what was once thought to be an almost insurmountable racial barrier.
In a federally mandated special election in 1989, Patrick became the first African-American in Mississippi elected as a circuit court judge. He was also the first black judge of any Mississippi court to win election to a seat not previously gained by appointment.
Patrick knew then that Mississippi had elected few African-Americans, but was unaware during his candidacy that he could be the first black circuit judge.
“I was made aware of that after the fact,” Patrick said. “I’m not trying to downplay the importance of it. It was very important, and I’m very proud that I could break that barrier so to speak.”
Before Patrick took office in July 1989, the state had four black judges: Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, Circuit Judges Fred L. Banks Jr. and Lillie Blackmon-Sanders and Chancery Judge Isaac Byrd. Each first became a judge by appointment. Anderson was elected to a full term on the Supreme Court in 1986.
Following a lawsuit by attorney Carroll Rhodes the U.S. Justice Department eventually ordered the state to redraw its judicial districts to give black voters fair representation.

“Blacks had been shut out of the judicial process,” said Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr., who was a state representative in 1989.
As a legislator, Flaggs pushed for new judicial district lines, and was among the first to encourage Patrick, who had been an assistant district attorney under Frank Campbell since 1981, to run for office.
“I took a lot of political heat over that,” Flaggs said.
Flaggs words of encouragement to Patrick were prophetic.
“I told him he wouldn’t have opposition and that he would be a senior judge one day,” Flaggs said.
Patrick became senior judge when Frank Vollor, who was elected in the same special election, retired in 2009. Though Patrick finished with 5,986 votes to Vollor’s 5,659, Vollor became senior judge because he had practiced law longer.
Patrick hasn’t faced an opponent in a general election since 1990 and will be unopposed again on the November ballot, essentially securing him a seventh four-year term in office.
“The main thing about an elected official is understanding that this is not your position. It’s owned by the citizens of whatever district you’re elected in. I make myself remember that. I don’t own this office,” he said.
A passion for law and public service has kept Patrick motivated after all these years as judge, though he admits he could have made a lot more money in his previous career.
After graduating from a private high school in Jackson, Patrick earned a degree in math from Jackson State University and went to work for IBM.
“I always had an interest in the law, but I was married at the time and had to make some money,” Patrick said.
While working at an IBM facility in Virginia, an attorney for IBM encouraged Patrick to go to law school.
Patrick enrolled in the University of Mississippi Law School in 1978, and he and his wife Deborah moved from Virginia to a small home in Oxford.
“We lived in a little house that me and my wife called ‘The Little House on the Prairie.’ Our next-door neighbor raised hogs and chickens. We didn’t have an air conditioner so all that aroma would come in every night, and my wife would say ‘Is this what you wanted me to come to?” Patrick said.
The result was worth it because it gave him an ability to make a difference in the “fabric of this county”, he said.
“The most beautiful thing about the law is that it’s always changing. It’s not static. The law changes to try to get some balance between what the law is how people in society react to the law and how the law is a part of their life,” Patrick said. “We are a nation of laws, and being a lawyer, you can have an input into that. … It is a part of the fabric of this county.”
Beyond the ever-changing nature of law, advances in technology have been the biggest shift since Patrick began in the profession 33 years ago.
“It makes the job easier, but it makes the job a little harder in learning how to handle the iPads and iPhones rather than just a computer,” Patrick said.
Patrick also praised the implementation of the Warren County Drug Court under Vollor, saying that it had made great impacts on people suffering from drug addition.
Transitioning from a prosecutor to a judge also took some time and help from understanding attorneys.
Patrick remembers a lawyer asking an improper question during the first civil trial he presided over.
“Before I knew it, I said ‘objection,’ and the lawyer said ‘judge, you’re not an advocate anymore.”
District Attorney Ricky Smith said that Patrick does a great job in his role of keeping the middle ground in the courtroom.
“We work well with Judge Patrick,” Smith said. “He keeps us on an even keel.”
Patrick has also played the role of teacher and mentor to a number of young people who expressed interest in the legal profession.
“We have a office allowance, and each year that I didn’t spend all my office allowance, I would offer that to a young guy or female that was in law school,” Patrick said.
Some alumni of internships in Patrick’s office are Ramel Cotton, Michael Warren, Kim Nailor and Chris Green, all of whom are currently practicing attorneys.
“You have to love what you’re doing, love the law, love the interaction with people and the opportunity that you have with helping people. You look back over the years at the judgments you give and some people might have been helped by that,” Patrick said.