Lyonel Thomas Senter, Jr.

Who was Lyonel Thomas Senter, Jr.?

Lyonel Thomas Senter, Jr. was a United States federal judge.

Born in Fulton, Mississippi, Senter received a B.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1956 and an LL.B. from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1959. He was in private practice in Aberdeen, Mississippi between 1959 and 1968, also serving as a Monroe County prosecuting attorney from 1960 to 1963. He was a U.S. Commissioner for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi from 1966 to 1968. He was a circuit judge for the state of Mississippi, on the First Judicial District of Mississippi, from 1968 to 1979.

On October 11, 1979, Senter was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi vacated by Orma R. Smith. Senter was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1979 in a 43-25 vote, and received his commission on December 21, 1979. He served as chief judge from 1982 to 1998. He assumed senior status on July 30, 1998 and retired on April 8, 2011. He attended the National Judicial College, University of Nevada at Reno.

Senter died in the emergency room of a hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi on May 18, 2011.