The Hon. Caryln M. Hicks is a judge for the Hinds County Court in Mississippi. She was appointed to the bench by Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph in 2020 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Melvin V. Priester, Sr.
Prior to her appointment, Hicks was director of the Mission First Legal Aid Office since 2017, where she was tasked with overseeing the staff and volunteers who provide legal services to local low-income individuals. Hicks first joined the office as a student volunteer before becoming a staff attorney in 2010. During her tenure there, she is credited with founding the Mission First Parent Representation Program, through which she provided pro bono legal assistance to indigent families involved in child welfare cases, and was a member of the Parent Representation Task Force.
In addition, Hicks has taught as a clinical adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law Child Welfare and Family Justice Clinic and was a former instructor for the Jackson State University Department of Political Science. She is certified as a Child Welfare Law Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children and received certifications as a parent representation attorney, guardian ad litem, and juvenile defender.
Hicks earned a B.A. in business administration from Jackson State University in 2005. She then completed a J.D. at Mississippi College School of Law (2010) and an M.B.A. from Mississippi College (2012).
She sat as a member of the American Bar Association National Alliance for Parent Representation Steering Committee, the ABA Family Justice Initiative National Advisory Committee, and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute Advisory Board.
Hicks also chaired the Mississippi Bar Child Welfare and Child Advocacy Committee and the Pro Bono and Community Outreach for the Capital Area Bar Association and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division and the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association.
In addition, she has been involved with the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, the Mississippi Children’s Justice Commission Parent Representation Task Force, the Mississippi Court Improvement Program Multidisciplinary Team, CASA, and the Rankin County Department of Child Protective Services Multidisciplinary Implementation Team.
Among her many accolades, Hicks received the Distinguished Service Award from the Mississippi Bar and the Mississippi Commission in 2019 and was elected to The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation in 2017.
A native of Jackson, Mississippi, she and her husband, Derrick, have one daughter. The family attends Mt. Helm Baptist Church.