The Supreme Court of Virginia has elected Justice Cleo E. Powell as its next chief justice, the Virginia State Bar announced on Tuesday. Powell becomes the first African American woman to hold the post in the court’s history and will succeed Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, who is set to retire effective January 1, 2026.
“Chief Justice-elect Powell is a dedicated jurist who exemplifies integrity, civility, and professionalism, and I am confident that she will serve the Court as Chief Justice with the highest distinction,” Goodwyn said, according to the Virginia State Bar.
The court’s justices unanimously chose Powell for the position on Friday. Powell earned her undergraduate degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
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The Virginia State Bar said Powell was first elected by the General Assembly to the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2011 and was re-elected in 2023. Before that, she was a judge on the Court of Appeals of Virginia, as well as the 12th Judicial Circuit Court and the Chesterfield General District Court.
Before joining the bench, Powell practiced labor and employment law, served as corporate counsel and director of employee services for an energy company, and was a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, according to the bar.
She is chair of the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee and serves on the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia.
Powell has received numerous professional and civic honors, including the Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference Jurist of the Year Award, the YMCA of Greater Richmond’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award for Legacy, and the Virginia State Bar’s Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award.
The Chief Justice-elect is also a faculty member on New York University’s Institute of Judicial Administration’s Appellate Judges Seminar, according to the bar. She is the Diversity Mentor, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, and The L. Anthony Sutin Endowed Lecturer at the Appalachian School of Law.
Powell will assume her new role on January 1, 2026.
