Governor Bentley Appoints Shelby County Circuit Judge to Court of Criminal Appeals

MONTGOMERY—Governor Robert Bentley Friday appointed Shelby County Circuit Judge Michael Joiner to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Joiner fills a vacancy on the court left by Judge Jim Main.

 

“I am pleased to appoint Judge Joiner to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals,” said Bentley. “He brings a wealth of experience and sound judgment to the Court, and I believe he will be an asset to our state’s judicial system.”

 

Judge Joiner graduated from Indian Springs High School.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Samford University in 1979.  In 1982, he graduated from Cumberland School of Law where

he served as an Editor of the Cumberland Law Review and was a member of the Cumberland Moot Court Board. After graduating from Cumberland, Judge Joiner practiced law in Shelby County

for 10 years.  While practicing law, he served as Secretary of the Shelby County Republican party, President of the Alabaster/Pelham Rotary Club, member of the Shelby County

Economic Development Council and North Shelby Chamber of Commerce.  In 1992, he was elected as a Circuit Judge.  In November 2005, Judge Joiner was elected by his fellow

Shelby County Judges as Presiding Circuit Judge. 

 

As a Circuit Judge, Judge Joiner has handled thousands of civil, criminal and domestic cases.  As a result of handling criminal cases, especially death penalty cases involving drug abusing teenage defendants,

he saw the dire need for a change in the way the criminal system deals with addiction.  In 2002, he created the Shelby County Drug Court which has become a model statewide.  In 2007, he was appointed

by Chief Justice Cobb as co-chair of a statewide Drug Court Task Force to implement Drug Courts in all 67 counties in Alabama.  He is responsible for training all Drug Court judges and staff around

the State.  Judge Joiner’s Drug Court program has over 1,000 graduates and 200 current participants.

 

Joiner, a lifelong Shelby County resident, and his wife Cathy have one daughter.