News
April 6, 2021
The Tennessee Judiciary is mourning the recent loss of two employees from the Appellate Court Clerk’s Jackson Office. Mia Ladonna Myles passed away after a brief illness on April 3, 2021, in Jackson, at the age of 54. She served as a deputy clerk in the Appellate Court Clerk’s Office Western…
April 1, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed McKenna Cox of Johnson City as an Access To Justice Commission Member for a three-year term, beginning April 1, 2021. Ms. Cox is a partner at Herndon, Coleman, Brading, & McKee, LLP. She graduated magna cum laude from Wofford College with a Bachelor’s…
April 1, 2021
The reprieve issued by Governor Bill Lee in the capital case matter of Pervis Payne is scheduled to expire on April 9, 2021. Upon expiration of the reprieve, the Tennessee Supreme Court has the authority to reset the execution on a future date. The execution would not take place on April 9, 2021.
April 1, 2021
When looking back at the history of women in the Tennessee judiciary, one often overlooked name is that of the state’s first woman county judge: DeKalb County’s Kate M. Drake. Overall, Judge Drake was the second woman to serve as a judge in the state, assuming the bench in 1931, 11 years after…
March 31, 2021
Judge Bernice Donald, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, recently co-wrote an article in the Commercial Appeal highlighting the powerful contributions of women to the Shelby County bench.Judge Donald is an integral part of that legacy, having become the first African…
March 30, 2021
The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee today held a confirmation hearing for Judge Jill Bartee Ayers for a seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals Middle Section. Judge Ayers is currently a circuit court judge in the 19th judicial district, which includes Montgomery and Robertson counties. …
March 30, 2021
The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is accepting applications for a Circuit Court Judge in the 14th Judicial District, which covers Coffee County. This vacancy was created by the retirement of the Honorable L. Craig Johnson, effective May 12, 2021.Qualified applicants must be licensed attorneys who…
March 29, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court has two cases set for its March 31, 2021 docket. One case will be heard using livestream video conferencing and can be viewed at www.youtube.com/tncourts/feature, starting at 9 a.m. The other case will be…
March 26, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that a sentence imposed in accordance with a statute that is later declared unconstitutional is voidable, not illegal, within the meaning of Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1.Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 allows the defendant or the state…
March 26, 2021
In honor of Women’s History Month, we are looking back at some of the historic trailblazers who became Tennessee’s first female judges.
While young people today know only a world where female judges are a regular part of the judicial system, it was not so long ago that women on the bench were a…
March 25, 2021
The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is accepting applications for a Circuit Court Judge in the 10th Judicial District, which covers Bradley, Polk, McMinn, and Monroe Counties. This vacancy was created by the retirement of the Honorable Lawrence H. Puckett, effective July 1, 2021.Qualified applicants…
March 16, 2021
Rhea County’s Circuit, Chancery, and General Sessions Courts officially have a new home now that work is complete on the state-of-the-art Rhea County Justice Center.
The 94,000-square-foot Justice Center replaced the historic Rhea County Courthouse as the center of the county’s judicial operations…
March 8, 2021
A new, cutting-edge court program in Tennessee is changing the way the judiciary interacts with at-risk children and their families.
Unlike other programs which connect with juveniles only after they have become involved in the child welfare or justice systems, the Family Preservation Initiative…
March 8, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility’s assessment of costs from a disciplinary proceeding to Memphis attorney Larry E. Parrish and ordered him to pay the costs within 45 days.Effective January 1, 2014, Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, which…
March 2, 2021
Several Tennessee Supreme Court justices and intermediate appellate judges joined other state leaders in a processional as the three State of Tennessee constitutions made their way to the new State Library and Archives on Bicentennial Mall. The three priceless documents were meticulously moved by…
March 1, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court today reinstated a jury’s verdict finding a Davidson County woman, Shalonda Weems, guilty of aggravated child neglect. The Court concluded that the evidence at trial could have led a reasonable jury to determine that the State successfully proved all of the necessary…
February 26, 2021
All judges have stories to tell about the people, places, and experiences that helped them get where they are. Given the level of ability and achievement that it takes to reach the bench, those stories often share common ingredients that are predictors of success: a robust work ethic, strong…
February 24, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that a lawsuit filed by Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. against the City of Memphis, Shelby County, and Memphis Basketball involving the construction of a 6,200-seat theater is not barred by the legal concept of res judicata. The case was remanded to the…
February 23, 2021
The Tennessee Supreme Court has three cases set for its February 24, 2021 docket. The first case will be heard using livestream video conferencing. It is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CST at: https://www.youtube.com/user/TNCourts/featured. The second and third cases will be submitted on…
February 23, 2021
In a unanimous opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court held the inevitable discovery rule, an exception to the exclusionary rule that applies when tainted evidence would have been inevitably discovered regardless of police misconduct, does not apply to a case when law enforcement merely…