Retired 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Henry L. Yelverton, 81, died Friday, July 31, 2009. He graduated from LSU in 1949 and, after service in the Air Force as an intelligence officer with the Strategic Air Command, entered LSU Law School in 1955 and earned his JD in 1957. He began his career in public service in 1961 when he became first assistant district attorney for the 14th Judicial District. In 1971, he was appointed to a district judgeship by Governor John McKeithen and was reelected to that post in 1972, serving until his election to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in 1982. He sat by appointment on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was a member of the Louisiana Law Institute, the American Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association, the ABA Appellate Judges Conference, the Louisiana Bar Foundation and the American Judicature Society. He was a founding member of the Criminal Benchbook Committee and for several years chaired the Uniform Rules Committee of the Louisiana Appellate Judges Conference. In 2002, Yelverton received the Distinguished Jurist award from the Louisiana Bar Foundation.