Terry L. Butts

Terry Lucas Butts[1] (born February 15, 1944) is an Alabama lawyer, politician, and judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1994 to 1998.

Early life, education, and career

Born in Patsburg, Crenshaw County, Alabama,[2] to Ezra Lucas Butts and Nata Watson Butts,[3] Butts received a B.A. from Troy University, followed by a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1968.[2][4] He engaged in private practice for eight years.[4]

Judicial service and later life

He served a five-year term as a city judge in Elba, Alabama, and served as county judge for Coffee County, Alabama, before being elected as a circuit judge for Pike and Coffee counties three times, being the presiding judge of the circuit for the last several years.[2]

In 1994, Butts ran as a Democrat for a seat on the Supreme Court of Alabama vacated by the retirement of Justice Henry B. Steagall II, winning election to the office.[2][5] He was the first person from Crenshaw County to serve on the court.[6]

Butts retired from the court in 1998,[5] running for Attorney General of Alabama that same year, which he lost to William H. Pryor Jr.[4]

In 2004, when Justice Roy Moore was fighting his expulsion from a seat on the state supreme court, Butts was one of the leading members of Moore's legal team.[7] In 2017, it was speculated that Butts might run for a seat in the state senate,[8] though this did not materialize. In 2023, the Troy University Alumni Association announced that Butts would serve as legal counsel to its board of directors.[9]

Personal life

Butts married his wife Suzanne, with whom he had two children.[4]

References

  1. ^ Who's Who in American Law, 1996-1997. Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p. 104.
  2. ^ a b c d "Election '94 - Associate Justice", The Anniston Star (November 4, 1994), Election '94 special section, p. 11.
  3. ^ "Obituary for Ezra Lucas BUTTS", The Montgomery Advertiser (November 12, 2004), p. 23.
  4. ^ a b c d "Attorney General", The Huntsville Times (October 30, 1998), p. S-4.
  5. ^ a b "Alabama Appellate Courts: History of Supreme Court". Judiciary of Alabama. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  6. ^ Rodgers, Michael (January 17, 2013). "Butts served as county's first state Supreme Court Justice". The Greenville Advocate.
  7. ^ Kevin Taylor, "Moore starts last appeal", The Montgomery Advertiser (August 3, 2004), p. 9.
  8. ^ "Speculation has Judge Terry Butts running for Senate". November 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Ellis, Andy (February 27, 2023). "Troy University Alumni Association announces new board officers". Troy Today.
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