Odell Horton Jr. named next MSCS general counsel, chief legal officer

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is set to have a new legal chief.

Kenneth M. Walker II, the district’s general counsel and chief legal officer, is stepping down from his position to become general counsel at the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. His last day will be Sept. 4.

“We are proud of the legacy Kenneth – himself a proud District graduate – leaves behind at Memphis-Shelby County Schools,” said interim Superintendent Toni Williams, in a press release. “He is a passionate advocate for students and a consummate professional. Austin Independent School District is gaining a tremendous value in Kenneth.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Walker joined MSCS as associate general counsel in July 2016. In February 2019, he was named deputy general counsel. He was then named interim general counsel and chief legal officer in January 2020, before scoring the permanent post in April 2020.

Taking the reins from Walker at MSCS is Odell Horton. Jr., a longtime Memphis attorney who’s held high-level roles. Horton Jr. was the assistant attorney general with the State of Tennessee from 1987 to 1990. From 1990 to 2000, he was an assistant and associate general counsel with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and from 2000 to 2005 he was its vice-chancellor. He was then vice president and general counsel with Memphis Light, Gas and Water from 2005 to 2007, before becoming a partner at the law firm Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.

Horton is a graduate of Wooddale High School, Morehouse College, and the University of Tennessee College of Law.

He's also active in the community. Horton has served on the Pink Palace Family of Museums Board of Trustees, as a member and secretary of the board of the Memphis Urban League and is the former chairman of the University of Memphis Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. In addition to this, he is a member of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce board of directors and a board member at Elmwood Cemetery.

Horton is the son of the late Odell Horton, who, when named to the bench, became the first Black judge in West Tennessee since Reconstruction. The federal building at 167 N. Main St. was renamed the Odell Horton Federal Building last year.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Odell Horton Jr. named Memphis-Shelby County Schools general counsel