Circuit Court Judge Don Ash of the 16th Judicial District, including Rutherford and Cannon counties, has been elected presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary. The 15-member panel receives complaints against judges and imposes sanctions for violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
Ash succeeds Chancellor Steven Stafford of Dyersburg who has been a member of the Court of the Judiciary since 1999 and was presiding judge since 2004.
“I am both grateful and humbled by this opportunity given to me by the other members of the Court of the Judiciary,” Ash said. “Over the past 13 years, I have been so impressed with the quality of the men and women who serve our state as judges. With the other members of the Court, I am confident these high ethical standards will continue to be met.”
Ash, of Murfreesboro, has been a Circuit Court judge since 1994. He previously served as city judge in LaVergne and was in the private practice of law. His a past-president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, which includes all of the state’s appellate, trial and senior judges, and has been a member of the Court of the Judiciary since his 2003 appointment by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
He was instrumental in drafting Tennessee’s Parenting Plan, which became state law in 2001. Ash also drafted successful legislation dealing with drug court treatment and was involved in the creation of the 16th Judicial District Drug Court.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1980 from Memphis State School of Law. In 2000, he became the first Tennessee judge to obtain a Masters Degree in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada in Reno.
He is married to Rita Ash and has four children.
