Leon P. Miller

Leon Parker Miller
Portrait of Miller, published in the St. Paul Recorder, 1954
Judge of the Criminal Court of McDowell County, West Virginia[a]
In office 1968–1968
Preceded by	L. R. Morgan
Succeeded by	Harry G. Camper
In office 1968–1972
Preceded by	Harry G. Camper
Succeeded by	Rudolph J. Murensky
United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands
In office 1954–1962
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Cyril Michael
Succeeded by	Almeric L. Christian
Member of the City Council of Welch, West Virginia
In office 1944–1948
Preceded by	William Gannaway
Succeeded by	Joseph G. Travis
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for McDowell County, West Virginia
In office 1928–1936
Succeeded by	Joseph G. Travis
Personal details
Born	(1899-04-27)April 27, 1899 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	February 4, 1980(1980-02-04) (aged 80) Welch, West Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Restlawn Memorial Gardens, Bluefield, West Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mildred Elizabeth Foster Miller
Children	3
Alma mater	North Carolina A&T State College University of Pennsylvania Law School (LL.B.)
Profession	Lawyer, politician, and judge

Leon Parker Miller (April 27, 1899 – February 4, 1980) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Miller served as U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands from 1954 to 1962. He was appointed the first African-American judge in West Virginia in April 1968, and became the state's first elected African-American judge in November 1968.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1899, Miller was raised in Roanoke, Virginia. He attended North Carolina A&T State College, and in 1922, he graduated from University of Pennsylvania Law School with a Bachelor of Laws. Miller commenced his career in law in Williamson, West Virginia, in 1922, and in 1924, he relocated to Welch, West Virginia, and established a law firm with former West Virginia House of Delegates member Harry J. Capehart and Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, Arthur G. Froe. He served as assistant prosecuting attorney for McDowell County from 1928 to 1936, and as a member of the Welch city council from 1944 to 1948.

Miller was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as the United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands in 1954, and he was reappointed to the position in 1958. He served as U.S. attorney until 1962, and then returned to his law practice in Welch. In 1968, he was elected as a write-in candidate as judge of the criminal court,^[a] becoming the first elected African-American judge in West Virginia, and the first Republican elected to major office in McDowell County since the 1930s. He retired from the bench in 1972 and continued the practice of law until his death in Welch in 1980.

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