Chancellor Steven Stafford of the 29 th Judicial District, including Dyer and Lake counties, has been reelected presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary. The 15-member panel, created by the General Assembly, receives complaints against judges and is authorized by state law to impose sanctions or recommend removal from office when appropriate.
“The Court of the Judiciary is an important component of the justice system in Tennessee ,” Stafford said. “It provides a forum for anyone who believes a judge may have violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. The work of the court helps instil public trust and confidence in the judicial system.”
Violations for which judges may be sanctioned include discourteous treatment of parties in court, conflicts of interest, receiving improper gifts, displaying obvious bias in court proceedings and abusing the powers of office. The Code of Judicial Conduct is a rule of the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Stafford , who has served on the Court of the Judiciary since 1999, is a past president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, which includes all of the state’s appellate, trial and senior judges. He also serves as dean of the Tennessee Judicial Academy and was a member of the statewide Public Trust and Confidence in the Courts Committee. He serves on a special joint committee of the General Assembly created to determine whether Tennessee ’s 31 judicial districts should be modified and also represents the judiciary on a committee exploring how to improve access to justice for self-represented litigants.
He has been chancellor in his district since 1993 and was part-time city judge for Dyersburg from 1988-93. He was in the private practice of law from 1983 until he became chancellor.
Stafford , who earned his undergraduate degree at UT Martin and his law degree at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham , AL , is married to Tempe Collins Stafford and has two children, Lynlee, 24, and Sydnee, 13.