Tennessee Supreme Court Announces Public Hearing For Attorney General Applicants

The Tennessee Supreme Court will begin a public hearing on August 8, 2022, that will include formal interviews of the six applicants for Attorney General and Reporter. Under the state constitution, the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter is appointed by the state Supreme Court and serves an eight-year term.

The August 8 hearing will be held in the Nashville Supreme Court Building starting at 9:30 a.m. CDT. The hearings will be livestreamed to the Court’s YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/TNCourts/featured

After a general overview of the process, each applicant will introduce himself to the Court for a period of no longer than 10 minutes. Applicants may have others speak on their behalf, but the total introductory time cannot exceed 10 minutes.

After introductions, members of the public present at the Nashville Supreme Court Building may speak in opposition to any applicant. Anyone who wants to speak in opposition to an applicant is limited to three minutes. Applicants will then have three minutes to respond.

The Court will then conduct formal interviews of each of the applicants. These interviews are not time limited. When all applicants have completed their formal interviews, the Supreme Court will deliberate on next steps, including reducing the pool of applicants and conducting informal discussions with one or more applicants. The process is expected to conclude on Tuesday, August 9, pending completion of the required background checks.

The applicants for Attorney General are:

Donald Q. Cochran, Jr.

Jerome Cochran

David Michael Dunavant

R. Culver Schmid

Jonathan Thomas Skrmetti

William Edwin "Bill" Young

The term for the new Attorney General will begin September 1, 2022.