James Edwin Bolin Sr. (August 26, 1914 – March 25, 2002) was an American

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as a judge of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal. He was a Democratic member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

from

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, the

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...

Webster Parish Webster Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Webster'') is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest city is Minden. As of the 2020 census, the Webster Parish population was 36,967. Pu ...

in northwestern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Legislator and soldier

Bolin was elected state representative when the one-term incumbent, Drayton Boucher of Springhill, ran successfully for the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

. In the legislative runoff election, Bolin defeated former representative and Minden mayor

J. Frank Colbert Jefferson Franklin Colbert, known as J. Frank Colbert (May 28, 1882 – May 20, 1949), was a Democratic politician and Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an e ...

, 3,161 (57.3 percent) to 2,358 (42.7 percent).

Judicial career

In 1956, Bolin defeated State Representative E. D. Gleason of Webster Parish, 2,503 to 912, for a seat at the proposed state constitutional convention. Because voters statewide rejected the calling of the convention, the election was moot.

Honors

Bolin died in 2002 at the age of eighty-seven in an assisted living facility in Shreveport. He is honored through the naming of Bolin Hall at the

Louisiana Army National Guard The Louisiana Army National Guard (; ) is a component of the Louisiana National Guard, and the state's reserve force within the United States Army. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal ...

installation at Camp Minden, formerly part of the

Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant The Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, formerly known as the Louisiana Ordnance Plant or as The Shell Plant, is an inactive plant to load, assemble and pack ammunitions items. During production from 1942 to 1994, the Army disposed of untreated e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolin, James E. 1914 births 2002 deaths Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Louisiana state court judges Circuit court judges in the United States Louisiana lawyers United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Louisiana Louisiana State University alumni Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana) alumni Politicians from Minden, Louisiana People from Springhill, Louisiana People from Webster Parish, Louisiana People from Shreveport, Louisiana 20th-century Louisiana state court judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature