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February 10, 2016
Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Dawn H. Beam of Sumrall will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Feb. 16 as the newest member of the state’s highest court. She will take the oath of office in the En Banc Courtroom at the Mississippi Supreme Court in Jackson.
Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. will administer the oath of office.
A formal investiture will be held on March 7 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Gulfport and at 3 p.m. at Bennett Auditorium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Justice Beam to fill the unexpired term of Justice Randy Pierce, who became director of the Mississippi Judicial College on Feb. 1. The Supreme Court term for District 2, Position 2, is set to expire Dec. 31. An election will be held in November.
Justice Beam, 52, will be the fourth woman to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court. She will become the second woman on the current court.
She previously served for five years as a chancellor of the Tenth Chancery District, which includes Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River and Perry counties. She served for four years as County Prosecutor for Lamar County. She worked for the Department of Human Services 1989-1993, and for Maximus Inc. 1993-1995. Maximus contracted to do child support enforcement services for the Mississippi Department of Human Services. She engaged in private law practice for 16 years, having been admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1989.
Justice Beam’s work as a chancellor and as a county prosecutor included protection of abused and neglected children. In her new position on the Supreme Court, she will take up Justice Pierce’s work on the Commission on Children’s Justice.
Justice Beam earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from the University of Mississippi, and a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. She is a member of the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.
She is married to Dr. Stephen Beam. They have five children. She is a member of Sumrall United Methodist Church in Lamar County.
