The 76-year-old retired circuit judge Lee Howard IV sits in his former chambers at the Oktibbeha County Court Annex. This time, he is on the other side of the desk.

Serving as the 16th District circuit judge, Howard decided to lay down the gavel after more than 33 years on the bench.

The person filling the seat opposite him is no stranger though. In fact, it is his flesh and blood. His son, Lee “Jay” Howard V, was elected unopposed in November to replace his father.

Jay taking office was a special occasion for the two men, but it was even more so because Lee swore in his son, on Dec. 29, as one of his final acts in office.

“One thing I wanted to do, before the first of the year when my term expired, I wanted to be the one to swear (Jay) in,” Lee said. “I knew he didn’t have an opponent, so I wanted to swear him in.”

This wasn’t necessarily what Jay envisioned for his career. He said it was mere coincidence that it happened the way it did.

“I never intended to follow in his footsteps, that wasn’t a plan I had,” Jay said. “I enjoyed the law, that’s why I went to law school.”

Following his graduation from law school, Jay found a job as a law clerk for the circuit clerk judges of Madison and Rankin counties. After that, he found his way back to Starkville and he took a job as an assistant district attorney for the 5th district circuit court. From there, the pieces fell into place for him to take over for his father.

Regardless of how he got there though, Lee is happy to see his son not only follow his example, but take over his post.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” Lee said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything different. I had a meeting, sort of a family deal, and I said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to run again. Thirty-two years on the bench is enough.’ When I did that, Jay was there and he asked me, ‘Daddy, would it be all right with you if I ran?’ I said, ‘It would be fine with me. Run.’ That was a year before this past December.”

Even more coincidental is the fact that Jay is the same age now his father was when he took the bench in 1989.

For the family, the torch-passing wasn’t all that surprising.

“He and his daddy are just alike,” said Mary Howard, Lee’s wife and Jay’s mother. “They both love being in the courtroom trying cases.”

While he is ready to step into his role as judge, he admits he will miss being on the prosecuting side. He said the time was right to take the step though.

“He decided to retire and I said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 12 years, I think I’ve put in the time,’” Jay said. “I waited until I had the circuit court experience. I was very fortunate.”

Lee was happy to hand over the reins to his son.

“It was time to let someone else have it,” he said.

Honoring Judge Howard
Lee was presented with a surprise on the day he swore Jay in.

Members of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors presented him with a resolution that named the courtroom he had spent so many years in, and which his son would now occupy, in his honor.

“That was a surprise,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about that until it happened that day. I had suspected the resolution, but I knew nothing about the naming of the courtroom or anything like that. That was a shocker. They hung a picture out there and then they put a little plaque outside the door coming into the courtroom talking about it being named after me.”

The board voted on Nov. 7, following a motion by District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer, to name the courtroom “The Lee J. Howard IV Courtroom.”

“It was a pretty simple and easy decision,” Trainer said. “The idea came up to the board that it would be a good thing to do to remember him, based upon the years of service he had rendered to the county. That was the least that we could do.”

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