Innes was admitted to the Virginia bar. In 1780, voters in James City County near Williamsburg elected him as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served alongside William Norvell. The following year, the district was split, and Innes became Williamsburg's sole representative to the House of Delegates. In 1785, the Virginia General Assembly elected Tazewell as a judge, so Innes filled the remainder of his term, then won election in his own right.Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 138, 143, 158, 162 In the 1786 Williamsburg City tax list, Innes owned seven adult slaves and eight slaves under 16 years of age, three horses, a cow and a 2-wheeled carriage.Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love, The 1787 Census of Virginia (Springfield, Virginia: Genealogical Books in Print) Vol. 2 p. 1449
