Career
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Barnes received a Bachelor of Surgery from United States Naval Academy in 1956 and was in the United States. Marine Corps from 1956 to 1961. He was also in the United States. Marine Corps Reserve from 1964 to 1986. He was a municipal judge for Camden and Ouachita County, Arkansas from 1975 to 1982, and a Circuit judge, Thirteenth Judicial District, State of Arkansas from 1982 to 1993.
On October 27, 1993, Barnes was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas vacated by Morris Sheppard Arnold, whom Clinton had elevated to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Barnes was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 20, 1993, and received his commission on November 22, 1993. He assumed senior status on November 1, 2008.
