Kristi Haskins Johnson

Johnson earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi in 2003 and her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the Mississippi College School of Law in 2008, where she served as an editor for the Mississippi College Law Review.[1][2]

Upon graduation from law school, Johnson served as a law clerk to Judge Leslie H. Southwick of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and to Judge Sharion Aycock of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. She then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and was previously in private practice at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart.[1] On February 24, 2020, she was named by Attorney General Lynn Fitch as the first Solicitor General of Mississippi.[3]

March 30, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Johnson to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. On May 4, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Johnson to the seat vacated by Judge Keith Starrett, who took senior status on April 30, 2019.[4] Her nomination is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Johnson is a member of the Federalist Society, Federal Bar Association and the Charles L. Clark Chapter of the American Inns of Court.[3]