Shelby County General Sessions Court, Tennessee

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The Shelby County General Sessions Court resides in Tennessee. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...

Jurisdiction

This court holds the following jurisdiction:[1]

General Sessions Court jurisdiction varies from county to county based on state laws and private acts. Every county is served by this court of limited jurisdiction, which hears both civil and criminal cases.

Civil jurisdiction is restricted to specific monetary limits and types of actions. Criminal jurisdiction is limited to preliminary hearings in felony cases and misdemeanor trials in which a defendant waives the right to a grand jury investigation and trial by jury in Circuit or Criminal Court.

General Sessions judges also serve as juvenile judges except in counties in which the legislature has established separate Juvenile Courts. General Sessions judges are elected to 8-year terms.[2]

Judges


Office Name Party Date assumed office
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 1 Lynn Cobb Nonpartisan May 20, 1997
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 2 Phyllis B. Gardner Nonpartisan 2002
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 3 Danielle Mitchell Sims Nonpartisan 2021
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 4 Deborah Means Henderson Nonpartisan September 1, 2006
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 5 Betty Thomas Moore Nonpartisan September 1, 1998
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 6 Lonnie Thompson Nonpartisan 1998
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 7 Bill Anderson Jr. Nonpartisan September 1, 2010
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 8 Lee Wilson Nonpartisan September 1, 2022
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 9 Sheila Bruce-Renfroe Nonpartisan September 1, 2022
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 10 Greg Gilbert Nonpartisan September 1, 2022
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 11 Karen L. Massey Nonpartisan September 1, 2006
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 12 S. Ronald Lucchesi Nonpartisan September 1, 2014
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 13 Louis J. Montesi Nonpartisan 1990
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 14 Patrick Dandridge Nonpartisan 2018
Shelby County General Sessions Court Division 15 Christian Johnson Nonpartisan September 1, 2022


Elections

Tennessee is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in Tennessee, click here.

Selection method

See also: Judicial selection in the states
See also: Nonpartisan election of judges

Judges of the general sessions court are elected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. Individual towns or cities may establish varying ordinances for the election of their municipal judges—e.g., ordinances that allow for some positions to be elected by popular vote and some to be selected by other methods.[3][4][5][6]

Qualifications
To serve on the court, a judge must be:[7]

  • authorized to practice law in state;
  • a district resident for at least one year;
  • a state resident five years; and
  • at least 30 years old.

Judicial elections in Tennessee

See also: Tennessee judicial elections

Tennessee is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.

Primary election

Primary elections may be held for trial court judges. The political parties in each county determine whether or not there will be a primary election in their respective counties.

County primary elections

Counties that are having a primary election will have them on a Tuesday in May. The candidate who wins the county primary election in May will then move on to the county general election in August and run against other party candidates that won their respective primaries.[8]

Primary elections in Tennessee serve to designate a party's nomination and narrow the field down to one candidate from that party for a specific office. A candidate who wins their primary nomination will move on to the general election.[8] It is not uncommon for a candidate to run unopposed in their party primary and then go on to run unopposed in the general election as well. Similarly, candidates may win their primary and go on to run unopposed in the general election.

Voters do not need to declare their party affiliation when they register to vote. However, primary voters must declare whether or not they will be voting in the Democratic or Republican primary.[8]

See also

External links

Footnotes