Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott have recommended to President George W. Bush that he nominate Justice Michael P. Mills of Fulton, Mississippi, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. The vacancy was created when Judge Neal Biggers recently took senior status on the court.

Mills is serving as a Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. For twelve years, Mills was a member of the Mississippi Legislature where he served as Chairman of the Judiciary "A" and Judiciary En Banc committees. He earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law and a master of law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Mills is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and a member of the American Bar Association.

Cochran said, "Judge Mike Mills has all the qualities and qualifications that will enable him to be an outstanding district court judge. I'm very pleased he has agreed to serve."

"Mike Mills is a distinguished jurist whose nomination by the Administration would be well received by my colleagues in the U.S. Senate," Senator Lott said. "His character and exemplary professional reputation will certainly be a credit to our nation's federal court system."