Judge Frank Vollor, a 20-year veteran of the 9th Circuit Court and third-generation Warren County lawyer, has announced he will retire from the bench May 31 and return to private practice.

Vollor said his reasons are economic and family-centered.

“I had intended to wait until I turned 65, about five more years,” Vollor said Tuesday. “But I have a daughter who is graduating from Warren Central. She’s done well and worked hard, and I want to give her the education she deserves.”

Vollor’s plans are to go into private practice with a nephew, Austin Vollor, a Starkville attorney. The two are setting up The Vollor Law Firm and will maintain two offices, one in Vicksburg and one in Starkville, working together and each traveling to the other’s office as necessary.

After putting his four other children through college and one through graduate school, Vollor said student loans for which he is responsible amount to more than his mortgage. Tuition waivers and scholarships help, but books and other collateral expenses are high. “College is just killing me,” he said. “With all of that, I have got to get back to the practice of law.”

Judicial salaries are set by the Legislature and remain at $104,170 annually for all Mississippi circuit and chancery court judges, the lowest in the nation despite years of requests for increases. “Lots of first-year lawyers just admitted to the bar make more than we do,” Vollor said.

“The Mississippi Lawyer,” a bi-monthly legal journal, explored the problem in its November-December issue with a cover story, “Pay Crisis: Time for a Raise for Judges and Prosecutors.” The issue included an article by Mississippi Bar Association President H. Rodger Wilder and others, detailing problems the state faces with experienced judges like Vollor leaving the bench and qualified attorneys not running for judgeships because of the pay.

Circuit judges are elected to four-year terms, and Vollor’s term would have ended in December 2010. Gov. Haley Barbour will appoint a successor from the 9th District, which includes Warren, Sharkey and Issaquena counties, to fill the vacancy.

Fellow 9th Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick said the appointee will have “big shoes to fill.”

“Obviously, it’s going to be a loss to the court system,” Patrick said of Vollor’s departure. “We came on the bench together in 1989 and we have worked well together, sharing the caseload, but I’m confident someone will be appointed who will get the work done.”

Circuit judges preside over lawsuits seeking monetary damages and felony criminal cases. Vollor and Patrick also preside over the 9th Circuit Drug Court, a program Vollor was instrumental in creating about five years ago, which provides treatment rather than incarceration for people accused of felonies if they identify drugs as the cause of their criminal behavior and agree to a lengthy period of intensive testing and rehabilitation overseen by the judge personally.

“Drug Court will definitely be a legacy for him,” Patrick said. “Not just in the future but already it has shown itself as a very useful tool to the community. It has changed lives and had a tremendous impact. Frank should be very proud of his work creating the Drug Court.”

Vollor said he is concerned about the program continuing after he steps down, but hopes his replacement and Patrick will keep it viable.

“Judge Vollor has been a bright spot as far as judges are concerned,” said District Attorney Ricky Smith, who maintained a private law practice for 15 yeas before being elected district attorney late in 2007. “I’ve practiced in courts throughout the state and I know that Judge Vollor was one of the top judges I have been able to observe.”

“I loved the job,” he said. “I loved every minute on the bench these last 20 years. People have been good to me, very supportive here in Warren County. I want to thank them.”

In his last re-election in November 2006, Vollor ran against then-Assistant District Attorney John Bullard, winning by 9,493 to 2,060 votes, or 70 percent to 30 percent. It was one of just three contested races for the longtime judge, who faced competition in his first two elections.

A native of Vicksburg, Vollor earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves and a former law clerk for the Mississippi Supreme Court. He once campaigned for a state Supreme Court seat, but lost that election to former Supreme Court Justice Jim Smith, who was defeated in his own re-election bid in 2008.

Before being elected, Vollor was county prosecutor in Warren County for 5 1/2 years in addition to his private practice. His father and grandfather were both Warren County attorneys.

Patrick said he plans to run for re-election next year.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com.