Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 3, 1992 TAG: 9203030208
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Southwest bureau
DATELINE: HILLSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Turner, 48, received the oath from Circuit Judge Duane Mink. He will preside over General District courts in Carroll, Floyd and Pulaski counties and the city of Galax.
Among judges attending the Monday afternoon ceremony was Daniel Bird Jr. of Wytheville, who was sworn in Jan. 31 as the other new judge for the district.
Other localities in the circuit are Wythe, Grayson, Bland, Montgomery counties and the city of Radford.
Bird succeeded James Joines of Grayson County. On Friday, Judge George B. Cooley also retired from the bench, after almost 14 years.
Turner said his foot size is 13, but it still will be hard for him to fill Cooley's shoes.
"George Cooley has been my friend. He has been my mentor. He has been my model," Turner said.
A 1961 graduate of Hillsville High School, Turner went to the University of Virginia where he commanded the ROTC Cadet Corps in his senior year. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam, flying 161 combat missions, and retired Dec. 31 from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He is also a 1975 graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. He returned to his native Carroll County to practice law, and has been president of the Carroll County and 27th Judicial Circuit bar associations.
James Webb, the current Carroll bar president, presented a gavel to Turner on behalf of the bar.
Turner and his wife, Susan, were accompanied at the ceremony by their three children, Ted, Sam and Anne. Also in the standing-room-only crowd in the Carroll courtroom were Turner's parents.
Turner practiced law in Hillsville for 15 1/2 years. He recalled that his first job was defending a reckless driving case, as was the last case he handled "so I've come full circle."
by CNB