Circuit Court Judge J.S. “Steve” Daniel of Murfreesboro will step down from the 16 th Judicial District position he has held for 24 years to take senior judge status effective Sept. 1. Retired Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Scott also has been granted senior judge status effective July 1 and will leave his Murfreesboro law practice and no longer will serve as chief disciplinary counsel for the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary.
Senior judges are appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court and may be assigned on a temporary basis to hear cases in any state court. With the addition of Judges Daniel and Scott, there will be five senior judges statewide.
A successor to Daniel will be appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen to serve until 2006 when the office will be on the ballot. Applicants seeking the appointment will be screened by the state Judicial Selection Commission and three names will be presented to the governor for consideration.
Daniel, who retired from the United States Army Reserve as a military judge, was elected circuit court judge in the 16 th Judicial District in 1980. In addition he teaches as an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University and the Nashville School of Law. He is a member of the faculty of the National Judicial College and has been an instructor at the Tennessee Judicial Academy, the Tennessee Judicial Conference, the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and other legal organizations.
He is past president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and the Tennessee Trial Judges Association. He currently serves as the presiding judge of the Court of the Judiciary and is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He is a member of the Judicial Evaluations Guidelines Commission and the Tennessee Judicial Council.
Scott, a member of the judiciary for more than two decades, retired from the state Court of Criminal Appeals in 1995 after 16 years on the intermediate appellate court, where he was presiding judge.
Scott has been chief disciplinary counsel for the Court of the Judiciary since 1995 when the position was created. He receives, evaluates and investigates complaints against judges alleging violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. In more serious cases, he acts as prosecutor before the Court of the Judiciary.
He served on the faculties at the Nashville School of Law, the National Judicial College and Columbia State Community College and retired with the rank of brigadier general from the United States Air Force Reserve.