SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 369 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 9, 2007 Commending Judge Ann Hunter Simpson. ---------- Patron-- Houck ----------

WHEREAS, Ann Hunter Simpson of Fredericksburg, admired and respected circuit court judge of the Fifteenth Judicial District, will retire in 2007 after many years of outstanding public service to the citizens of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, after graduating from the T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond in 1975,  Ann Hunter Simpson practiced real estate law in Smithfield; and 

WHEREAS, Ann Hunter Simpson returned to her hometown of Fredericksburg in 1988 and worked for two years for the Commonwealth's attorney before establishing a private practice of criminal defense and domestic relations law; and

WHEREAS, Judge Simpson honorably served as a substitute judge for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit from 1993 until 1995, when she was elected by the General Assembly to serve as a full-time judge; and

WHEREAS, on June 23, 1995, Judge Simpson was sworn in as judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, where she served the citizens of Fredericksburg and King George County until 1999; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, Judge Simpson was appointed to the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and served as the chief judge of the court from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Judge Simpson currently serves as a judge for the court jurisdiction of Spotsylvania County; and

WHEREAS, always committed to the well-being of her fellow citizens, especially young people, Judge Simpson was the co-founder and a former presiding judge of the Juvenile Division of the Adult and Juvenile Rappahannock Regional Drug Treatment Court; and

WHEREAS, over the course of her exemplary career, Judge Simpson has served numerous civic and professional organizations, as the chair and vice-chair of the Rappahannock Area Community Criminal Justice Board, president of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Bar Association, and president-elect of the Virginia Association of Women Judges; and

WHEREAS, Judge Simpson is a master of the bench in the George Mason American Inn of Court, an active member of the American Judges Association, an honorary member of the Fredericksburg Area Bar Association, a judicial fellow of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and a member of the Capital Area Regional Advisory Committee and the Special Committee on Bench-Bar Relations of the Virginia Bar Association; and

WHEREAS, Judge Simpson is greatly respected among her peers and was a distinguished recipient of the Women in Criminal Justice Award in 2000 from the Institute for Social Justice, Inc; and

WHEREAS, Judge Simpson has served the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit with dignity, profound wisdom, and compassion, and is well-known for her fairness as well as her sensitivity and concern for the welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly commend Judge Ann Hunter Simpson for her longtime service to the citizens of the City of Fredericksburg and the counties of Spotsylvania and King George; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Judge Ann Hunter Simpson as an expression of the General Assembly’s best wishes for a joyful and fulfilling retirement.