Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Dewayne Thomas died at the age of 72 in his Byram home on Wednesday.
Although Thomas’ death was unexpected, he appears to have died from natural causes, Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard told the Mississippi Free Press. He leaves behind his wife, Linda Thomas, with whom he had two sons, David and Ryan.
Thomas was a University of Mississippi and Mississippi Christian University School of Law alumnus who began practicing law after graduating in 1980.
Residents elected Thomas into the Hinds County Chancery Court in 2006, with him taking office in 2007. Prior to his judicial election, Thomas served as the county’s assistant attorney for more than a decade.
“His courtroom was a great place to practice law,” current attorney for Hinds County Damon R. Stevenson said on Thursday. “Most cases could be settled with a conference in his office. (He spent) over twenty years dedicated to the citizens of Hinds County.”
Thomas’ Judicial History
This year, Thomas was running unopposed for re-election. Gov. Tate Reeves will set a date for the special election for his seat, which will no longer appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, Mississippi Secretary of State Communications Director Elizabeth Jonson told the Mississippi Free Press.
Thomas’ court handed down a variety of news-worthy decisions over the years.
He presided over litigation regarding the Jackson Water system in 2010, the legal conflicts over which remain ongoing.
Thomas blocked the shutdown of Mississippi’s largest pay day loan business, All American Check Cashers, in 2017. His decision came after the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance ordered All American to close, pay $1.58 million in fines, and refund at least 700 customers. Federal and state regulators accused the company of breaking state law as far back as 2014.
In 2018 Thomas upheld Mississippi’s charter school law, allowing public funds to go to charter schools and operate without oversight from a local or state government.
Thomas later upheld the implementation of H.B. 1020, which would mandate Mississippi’s white Supreme Court chief justice to appoint unelected judges to serve in majority-Black Hinds County, in 2023. The Justice Department described the law as racially discriminatory toward residents.
Later that same year, Thomas granted an extension to voting hours in Hinds County after ballot shortages were reported in at least nine precincts throughout the county.
Thomas ruled that the Mississippi Legislature is not a public body and not subject to the state’s Open Meetings Act in 2025, meaning Mississippians do not have the right to public access to its proceedings. The case followed the barring of a Mississippi Free Press reporter from a GOP caucus meeting in 2022.
‘Mississippi Loved Him Back’
Hinds County Judge Carlyn M. Hicks reflected on both her time before Thomas as a lawyer and her time beside him as a peer.
“As a practicing attorney appearing before him, I learned the importance of humility and compassion as counsel-opposite,” Hicks said. “… If there were ever a judge who gave litigants the fullness of their ‘day in court’ it was Judge Thomas.”
As judges, Thomas and Hicks collaborated on and discussed important issues in Hinds County.
“His ideas were always measured, tempered in wisdom and foresight, and with the citizens of Hinds County at the forefront,” Hicks said in her post. “His quiet and steady judicial leadership were deeply appreciated by those who witnessed and/or had opportunities to experience it. … We all mourn his loss and remember his legacy.”
Thomas served in the Mississippi House of Representatives between 1984 and 1992, before taking a position of assistant attorney to Hinds County in 1994.
Former State Rep. Oscar Diaz shared a desk with Thomas in the Mississippi House of Representatives for years, sparking a life-long friendship, Diaz said in a post mourning Thomas’ death.
“Dewayne was smart, kind, compassionate, and didn’t have an enemy in the world,” Diaz said. “He loved Ole Miss football, playing tennis, and he loved serving the people of Mississippi. Mississippi loved him back.”
Mississippi Senator Bradford Blackmon reflected on his life-long family friendship with Thomas following his death.
“Judge Thomas was a genuinely good person and his loss will be felt,” Blackmon said. “ … When asked if he would do the honor of swearing me in to practice law, he said yes before the sentence could be finished.”
Lakewood Funeral Home will be handling Thomas’ memorial services, but plans have not yet been solidified, they told the Mississippi Free Press. Further information will be available on the business’ website as plans are confirmed.
Byram City Hall flew the American flag at half staff on Thursday out of respect for Thomas following his death.
Mississippi Free Press stories are always free because we believe everyone should have access to quality journalism. Donations from readers like you make that possible. Please click here to give to help sustain and grow vital, people-over-power journalism for Mississippians.
Readers can sign up for our free newsletters here.
