Kenneth R. Melvin

Kenneth Ronald Melvin (born September 18, 1952) is an American politician, lawyer and jurist.

Career Melvin was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

He served as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Portsmouth from 1986 to 2009. Melvin was also a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and a mentor to Virginia state senator Louise Lucas. On April 7, Governor Tim Kaine appointed Melvin to judgeship on the Virginia Circuit Court in Portsmouth, effective May 1, 2009. On May 1, 2009, he retired from the House and became a judge of the Portsmouth Circuit Court.

On March 4, 2016, Melvin was named as the possible successor to Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the Court of Appeals of Virginia if Alston were to be elevated to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The vote to appoint Alston to the Supreme Court of Virginia failed.