General Sessions Judge James Hunter of Sumner County has completed an intensive four-day Judicial Academy conducted Nov. 17-20 by the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
Hunter was among 14 trial and general sessions judges from across the state who attended the academy in Nashville. He was appointed by the Sumner County Commission to succeed Judge John Wesley Jones, who retired June 30.
Courses for judges elected or appointed since the last academy in 2000 included transition from bar to bench; dealing with stress; docket control; civil and criminal jury instruction; how to handle juries; reversals; contempt of court; and judicial writing. They also completed courses on workers compensation; ethics; evidence; criminal law; procedure, search warrants and sentencing; domestic relations; and Supreme Court Rule 13 dealing with the appointment of attorneys for indigent defendants.
Chancellor Steve Stafford of Dyersburg served as the academy’s dean and current and former Tennessee judges taught the courses.