James B. Paslay was born in Spartanburg on December 26, 1945, and has remained a lifelong resident. He attended the local public schools and was elected student body president of Spartanburg High School in 1963. Other honors achieved in high school included NROTC Semi-finalist, National Merit Scholar Semi-finalist, and representative to Palmetto Boys State. Receiving a B.A. in history from Wofford College in 1968, he was also commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. He retired at the rank of captain and received an honorable discharge.  Paslay received his J.D. degree from the U.S.C. School of Law in 1971. While in law school he won the Samuel Prince Moot Court Competition, served on the law school national moot court team, worked as a research assistant to Dean Robert Foster, and was elected to the Law Review.

After law school, James joined his father in the firm of Paslay and Paslay for the general practice of law. In 1973, at age 27, he was appointed a judge of the Civil and Criminal Court of Spartanburg. This court became the City of Spartanburg Magistate Court in 1979. Judge Paslay has continuously served on that court since it’s creation.

During his judicial tenure, Paslay has been the supervising judge in the traffic, civil, and criminal divisions of the multi-judge court. Since July, 2000, he has served as Spartanburg County’s Chief Summary Court Judge.

Hobbies enjoyed by Paslay include photography, first day cover creation, and computing. He is an instructor in the Converse College Paralegal Assistants Program teaching contracts, torts, and criminal law. Fran and James Paslay recently celebrated their thirty-first wedding anniversary.