Chairman Jim Herring | The Mississippi Republican Party

James H. Herring of Canton, Mississippi has served as the Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party for over six (6) years and was recently appointed by Chairman Mike Duncan as Chairman of the State Chairman for the Republican National Committee (RNC). Chairman Herring is a native of Canton, where he resides with his wife, Beverly. He and Mrs. Herring have a son, James, and two daughters, Caroline and Christine, as well as six (6) grandchildren.  He is also currently serving as an Elder at Grace Chapel Presbyterian Church of Madison, and is a former member of the Presbytery Judicial Council.

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi, Chairman Herring did graduate study in tax law at New York University while serving in the U. S. Army, stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.   He attended The Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia and attained the rank of Colonel (O-6) as a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He served three years on active duty and twenty-one years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

After leaving active duty, he returned to Canton, Mississippi, where he was elected County Prosecuting Attorney and then District Attorney, for a total of ten (10) years of prosecutorial service.  His years of legal practice include extensive experience in criminal law, general trial practice in State and Federal Courts in Mississippi and elsewhere; Mississippi Public Service Commission litigation involving franchise rights and rates charged by utilities; municipal annexation litigation; and other litigation involving public and private water and wastewater companies and natural gas companies.

After being appointed by Governor Fordice to the Mississippi State Personnel Board in 1996, Governor Fordice then appointed Herring to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1997. While serving on the Court of Appeals, Judge Herring participated in over 1,000 decisions on the merits and personally authored numerous majority opinions, a number of which were published.

In 2004, Chairman Herring was a Delegate at the Republican National Convention in New York, serving in his capacity as State Party Chairman.  That same year, he was named Chairman of the RNC Southern States Chairmen.   Since 2005, Chairman Herring has served on the Republican National Committee’s Standing Committee on Rules.  In 2007, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as a member to the Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation.

Chairman Herring currently maintains his legal practice, with the firm of Herring, Long and Crews, P.C., in Canton, Mississippi.