Not even two years ago, Judge Bill Lewis was presiding over court rooms in Elmore, Autauga and Chilton counties. On Tuesday, Gov. Kay Ivey appointed him to be the newest associate justice on the Alabama Supreme Court.
Lewis comes to the state’s hughes court to fill a vacancy as Justice Jay Mitchell resigned to campaign for Alabama Attorney General.
“Judge Bill Lewis continues demonstrating justice and fairness under the law, as well as a willingness to serve the people of Alabama,” Ivey said. “His decades of experience will serve the Supreme Court of Alabama well, and I am confident he is the best choice.”
Lewis is currently on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and was a presiding judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit in Elmore, Autauga and Chilton counties prior to moving to the Court of Civil Appeals in 2024. Lewis brings more than two decades of trial experience to the state’s highest court and one of the few judges in the state who’s practiced law as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney.
Lewis was the valedictorian of Wetumpka in 1996. At his investiture onto the Court of Civil Appeals, Lewis gave credit for his academic success and more to his parents Dorthy and Bill Lewis while joking about possible legal ramifications.
“If I had known about DHR when she was pushing me to get that last math problem or read that book in not so nice ways, I would have called them and now be in Tennessee or somewhere else,” Lewis said. “I realize the reason she pushed me was because she knew we had to fill all of our potential.”
Lewis attended the University of the South in Sewanee and went on to Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. He came back to Wetumpka in August 2003 to work as a law clerk for 19th Judicial Circuit Court Court Judge John Bush. Lewis’ law career almost ended just as it started. He was running with Bush across the circuit learning everything he could on handling criminal, civil and domestic relations cases on the bench.
“We got to December and (the office of courts) told me I had to fire him because we couldn’t have law clerks anymore,” Bush said at the investiture ceremony. “It was one of the most unpleasant things I have ever had to do in my life.”
But Lewis quickly landed in the 19th Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office and prosecuted cases. He left the DA’s office and became a defense attorney. He then campaigned for circuit court judge.
