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Conservative Republican Judge Bill Filmore Announces Campaign for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2

Conservative Judicial Philosophy “Dedicated to Service, Guided by Faith”

January 26, 2023 – Daleville, Ala. – Conservative Republican Dale/Geneva County Presiding Judge Bill Filmore announced his campaign for Alabama’s Court of Criminal Appeals, Place No. 2.

“Dedicated to Service, Guided by Faith – just about everything you need to know about me, and what kind of Appeals Court judge I will be is contained right there.” Filmore said. “I have a strong conservative record as a prosecutor, a District Judge and a Circuit Judge. My experience on the bench at the trial level will give me a leg up when it comes to hearing the appeals of criminal cases.” 

Filmore has served as the Presiding Judge of the Thirty-Third Judicial Circuit soon after being elected in 2012. Before his service on the bench, Filmore spent eight years as Chief Assistant District Attorney for the Thirty-Third Circuit, and before that he was an attorney in private practice in Ozark.

Filmore holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and was a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Troy University. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and holds an LL.M. (Masters of Law) in Taxation from Alabama. Filmore is a member of the Alabama Association of Circuit Judges Executive Committee serving as Treasurer, Secretary of the Alabama Circuit Judges’ Scholarship Fund, and a Member of the Alabama Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Criminal Procedure. 

“I’ve practiced law and served as a Judge at the local level for almost 40 years,” Filmore said. “I don’t need any on the job training – I will be ready from day one to help protect Alabamians from criminal activity and those in our society who inflict harm on others.”

Filmore and his wife, the former Angelia Foreman from Brundidge, have been happily married for over 42 years. They have two sons, William and Ray, and four grandchildren, Will Davis, Aubrey, Frances and Posey. William and his wife Liz live in Pike Road and Ray and Danielle live in Leeds. 

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place No. 2 currently held by Judge Chris McCool (R-Gordo) will be an open seat in the 2024 campaign cycle after McCool announced he will seek a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court. A seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals is a statewide position and serves a 6-year term. 

4H AGO • INSIDE ALABAMA POLITICS, NEWS

If it seems early for candidate announcements to you, well, you’re not wrong. The confetti had barely been swept up from election night ballrooms as some 2024 candidates started making moves. 

If nothing else, we’ll have a whole host of candidates for high stakes, low name ID races for the courts that adjudicate the rules by which lower courts, state lawmakers and a host of other public officials work from and are held accountable by.

Professional court watchers were aware Chief Justice Tom Parker faced a mandatory retirement at the end of his term, owing to Alabama’s prohibition on judges being elected or appointed after the age of 70. The first dam broke six days before the inauguration when Associate Justice Sarah Stewart announced she would be running for chief justice. Stewart was elected to associate justice in 2018, and previously was appointed to the bench in Mobile in 2006, thrice winning subsequent re-election. Candidates from Mobile usually enjoy a “hometown” boost in both vote share and fundraising; along with her current perch and statewide tendrils, this puts her in a good position to lap the field before they even get their shoes on. She’ll no doubt corner the market on the trial lawyer money while the business community continues to search for a candidate (we has more about those potential candidates in the last edition of IAP). 

Next, Chris McCool, a judge serving on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, announced he would be running for Stewart’s seat. A former District Attorney from Northwest Alabama, McCool was a natural for a spot on criminal appeals. His pitch will be that service on that bench lends itself to the right kind of rulings and the judicial temperament to make him a strong contender for this race. 

And then just this past Thursday, Judge Bill Filmore, presiding judge of Alabama’s 33rdJudicial Circuit, which encompasses Dale and Geneva Counties in the Wiregrass announced that he would be seeking McCool’s spot on the Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge Filmore is a former Assistant District Attorney, has managed a private practice firm in Daleville, and has been a circuit judge since his first election in 2012. Filmore is the father of newly appointed head of government affairs for Troy University, William Filmore, and father-in-law of Ivey Chief of Staff Elizabeth Filmore. Filmore’s legal and political pedigree could give him a step up when it comes to marshaling the organization and the resources to win what is usually a sleepy, if not downright colloquial affair. 

Others who have been mentioned for Criminal Appeals are: Attorneys Rich Anderson and Thomas Govan. Both work for the Attorney General’s office, so that could make for some awkward office water cooler conversations. Given the already announced candidate, they might consider making another race altogether rather than go head-to-head against each other and Judge Filmore.