Born in Malvern, Arkansas, Collins received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arkansas Polytechnic College (now Arkansas Tech University) in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona College of Law (now James E. Rogers College of Law) in 1975. He was a law clerk in the Pima County, Arizona Attorney's Office from 1975 to 1976, and then a trial attorney for that office until 1981. He was a city magistrate for the City of Tucson Court from 1981 to 1983, thereafter returning to Pima County Attorney's Office as a county attorney until 1985. He was a superior court judge pro tempore of the Pima County Superior Court from 1985 to 1988, and a superior court judge there from 1988 to 1998.
On January 11, 2011, following the death of Chief Judge John Roll in the 2011 Tucson shooting, Collins ordered that the judges of the District of Arizona, all of whom knew Roll well, could not preside over the prosecution of the alleged murderer.
.jpg)
