Memorial services are scheduled Tuesday for Tenth Circuit Court Judge Justin Miller Cobb, who died Saturday on his 43 birthday.

Visitation is planned at 9 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Meridian, with a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be for family only at the Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.

Judge Cobb was remembered by the legal community on Monday for a distinguished career. He was elected the Circuit Judge in November, 2016, after Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him in June of 2015 to fill a vacancy. He served as the Lauderdale County Prosecuting Attorney from 2003 until his appointment to the bench. 

According to his obituary, Cobb earned his nickname, “Mudcat,” when he arrived to school covered in mud on a rainy day, leaving a trail everywhere he went. He graduated from Meridian High School in 1993 and attended Mississippi State University, earning his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Mississippi in 2001.

Charles Wright, the former district attorney in Lauderdale County, said he’d known Cobb’s father, also a practicing attorney, and his grandfather, who worked as the Chancery Clerk previously.

“I felt like he was highly qualified, had the right judicial temperament and the academic qualifications to be a very good Circuit Judge,” Wright said.

Wright said he’d had a hearing with Judge Cobb last week and he’d been very accommodating of Wright’s schedule, a care he showed in many parts of his life.

“He contributed to the community both as a judge and a person. He was very strong in the First Baptist Church, Civic Clubs and in Boy Scouts,” Wright said. “To my chagrin, they were big Mississippi State fans.”

For other young attorneys in Meridian, Judge Cobb served as an inspiration.

“When I was first starting and practicing on my own I would have a number of cases that I would have to handle with him in the Justice Court when he was the county attorney,” Dustin Markham, a practicing attorney, said. “As a young attorney, it was very, very assuring and refreshing to have someone young to work with, kick things back and forth with.”

Markham especially remembered Judge Cobb’s willingness to openly discuss issues and listen to the needs of Markham’s clients.

“As a young attorney, there are so many things you have questions about,” Markham said. “And he would provide advice, direction and knowledge… with him being a young attorney, he was still very open to you approaching him and asking questions.”

When Markham decided to hold an expungement clinic in January of 2016, Judge Cobb signed the orders to remove felonies from the records of ex-offenders. 

“It was something I could not have done without him,” Markham said. “I sat down in his chambers and I asked him to please donate a day, and he did. He was just willing to help.”

Markham echoed the sentiments of other former and current attorneys, who all described Cobb as a fair judge who earned the respect of his peers.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a young attorney,” Markham said. “He’s going to be missed in the legal community, the City of Meridian and Lauderdale County.”