John S. Edwards, born October 6, 1943, in Roanoke, Virginia, is the son of the late Judge Richard T. Edwards and Augusta Saul Edwards Farrier. He is married to Cathye Dabney Edwards and they have three children, Jack, Dabney and Catherine, and seven grandchildren. They are members of Christ Lutheran Church in Roanoke.
Edwards attended Roanoke City public schools graduating in 1962 from Patrick Henry High School, where he was the first president of the student government. Edwards graduated from Princeton University in 1966 cum laude. Upon graduation, he attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City for a year a Rockefeller Brothers Theological Fellowship. He graduated in 1970 from the University of Virginia Law School where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review. He was writing instructor assistant to Professor Antonin Scalia, later
Supreme Court Justice. Edwards has also been an adjunct professor in trial advocacy at UVA Law School.
Edwards served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Captain from 1971 through 1973. He served as a JAG Officer with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Iwakuni, Japan, and Futema, Okinawa, and with the 2d Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Edwards practiced law with Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C., in 1970 and 1974-76. Edwards was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia in 1980 by President Carter. There he prosecuted the largest bank robbery in Virginia history, had the best record in the country enforcing criminal provisions of the Mine Safety and Health Act, prosecuted public corruption in the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and prosecuted the first Criminal Civil Rights case in Virginia. He is currently practicing in the Edwards Law Firm. He chaired the Roanoke Valley Young Democrats, the Roanoke City Democratic Committee, and the Sixth Congressional District Democratic Committee, In November 1993, Edwards was appointed to fill a vacancy on Roanoke City Council and was elected to a four year term and as Vice-Mayor in May1994. In November of 1995, Edwards unseated a Republican incumbent to win a seat in the Senate of Virginia, representing the 21st District. He was re-elected in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
He became Chair of the Judiciary Committee, which had previously been called Courts of Justice, in 2020. Since that time he has also served on the Finance, Commerce & Labor, Education & Health, and Rules Committees. Edwards currently is Chair of the Virginia Code Commission, Chair of the Virginia Crime Commission, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority. He has been a leader in improving transportation, including bringing Amtrak service to western Virginia. He has strongly supported environmental protection and renewable energy.