Photo courtesy of County of Brunswick, Virginia

MIAMI – Cleo E. Powell was elected unanimously the next chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, becoming the first Black woman to hold the top position on the state’s highest court.

Powell will succeed Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn who is retiring effective January 1, 2026.

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.

Powell earned her undergraduate degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.