JACKSON (AP) — The conviction of Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter will give Gov. Haley Barbour an opportunity to appoint a black attorney to the bench, a lawyer’s group says.

Since taking office in 2004, Barbour has made 20 judicial appointments, but has yet to appoint a black attorney. The Magnolia Bar Association, a group comprised of black lawyers, has questioned the lack of diversity in his appointments.

Barbour has said few blacks are applying for judicial posts. ‘‘He can’t appoint someone who does not apply,’’ Barbour’s spokesman Dan Turner said.

But Gale Walker, president of the Magnolia Bar, said they’re many qualified black attorneys in Hinds County and ‘‘Gov. Barbour has made a choice not to appoint an African American to any judicial vacancy.’’

‘‘We are confident that the selection process for the person to fill the latest vacated position will be fair and open,’’ Walker said. ‘‘We expect that the applications of African-American applicants will be received and reviewed with an eye towards creating racial diversity in the appointment process.’’

The latest vacancy comes after DeLaughter resigned July 30 after pleading guilty to a federal charge of obstruction of justice.

Jackson attorney Ed Brunini Jr. who chairs the committee that will fill the vacancy said the committee received five or six applications in previous searches. And they tend to all be white, he said. Brunini said race isn’t considered in making a judicial recommendation and said he has personally tried to encourage more black applicants.

‘‘I just told someone today at lunch, we needed to get more black applicants,’’ Brunini said last week. ‘‘We are just not getting many applications from blacks.’’

Brunini said he has asked for help and has encouraged the Magnolia Bar to submit names.

Carlton Reeves, a former Magnolia Bar president, said the group has submitted potential nominees for previous vacancies.

Brunini said the committee received the names of two black nominees for a recent judicial vacancy in Vicksburg. He said the two people were from Jackson and Meridian and didn’t qualify for the Warren County judicial post.

Brunini speculated a possible factor is that experienced African-American lawyers would limit their earnings as a judge. He said most circuit, chancery and appellate judges are paid between $100,000 and $115,000 a year.

An experienced lawyer earns an average of $127,000 annually in the Jackson area, according to May 2008 salary study by the Mississippi Department of Employment Securities. The same report showed the average salary for experienced judges and magistrates was $69,060.

Several black judges over the years have given up their posts to return to private practice. Among them were former state Supreme Court justices Reuben Anderson and Fred Banks and former circuit judges Robert Gibbs and Barry Ford.

Brunini said the advisory committee tends to give more weight to applicants for judicial posts who have 15 to 20 years of experience as attorneys.

Walker said there are numerous African-American lawyers with that much experience.