JACKSON, Miss. - One new justice and three returning ones are preparing to start their terms on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

A swearing-in ceremony takes place Jan. 3 at the court building near the state Capitol.

Circuit Judge Bobby Chamberlin of Hernando won a northern district Supreme Court race in November. He will succeed retiring Justice Ann Lamar of Senatobia.

The three justices re-elected in November are James Maxwell of Oxford, who holds another northern district seat; Jim Kitchens of Crystal Springs from the central district; and Dawn Beam of Sumrall from the southern district.

Justices serve eight-year terms.

Chamberlin has been a circuit judge since 2004 in DeSoto, Panola, Tallahatchie, Tate and Yalobusha counties. He won a Mississippi Senate seat in 1999, serving until Gov. Haley Barbour appointed him to the bench.