[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 45 (Friday, March 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO JUDGE WILLIAM HUTCHINS COLE

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, former Jefferson County, AL, Circuit Judge 
William Hutchins Cole, who served 18 years on the bench, passed away on 
February 12, 1995, at the age of 76. Judge Cole served as county 
circuit criminal judge until 1988, when he reached his 70th birthday. 
Under Alabama's judicial article, judges must retire when they turn 70. 
However, they may stay on as supernumerary judges--hearing cases as 
needed--as Judge Cole did until 1991.
  During his tenure, Judge Cole presided over some of the most 
notorious criminal trials in Jefferson County. He was known for his 
sometimes stern demeanor in court. He was also known as one of the most 
conscientious and hard-working jurists in Alabama.
  Judge Cole was a native of Towson, MD, and a graduate of the 
University of Maryland School of Law. He served as an FBI agent during 
World War II, beginning law practice in Birmingham in 1946 where he was 
a founding partner of the firm Jenkins, Cole, Callaway, & Vance.
  Judge William Cole was an outstanding judge who contributed much to 
the legal community throughout his career and will be greatly missed. I 
extend my sincerest condolences to his wife Susan and the rest of his 
family in the wake of their tremendous loss.


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