Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Tennessee local trial court judicial elections, 2016
2017 →
← 2015
|
 |
Poll opening and closing times |
Tennessee held general elections for unexpired local judicial terms and newly created judicial seats on August 4, 2016. Republican primary elections were held on March 1, 2016.
No Democrats filed for any of the partisan races, meaning that no primary was necessary for the party. Independent candidates who filed for partisan seats did not face a primary race but appeared on the general election ballot. Write-in candidates were also allowed to run in the general election.
Appellate judges were also on the ballot in 2016 for a handful of retention elections. Click here for more information about those elections.
| HIGHLIGHTS | |
2016 races
Opposed primary
19th Circuit CourtPart III☑ Ted Crozier Jr. Part IV☑ Jill Ayers |
Hamilton County Criminal Court☑ Tom Greenholtz |
Unopposed primary
1st Circuit Court
Part I
☑ James Edwin Lauderback 
(i)
3rd Circuit Court
Part III
☑ Beth Boniface (i)
22nd Circuit Court
Part I
☑ David Lee Allen (i)
Part II
☑ John Russell Parkes (i)
Loudon County General Sessions Court
Division II
☑ Hank Sledge (i)
Sumner County General Sessions Court
Division III
☑ Mike Carter (i)
21st District Chancery Court
☑ Deanna Bell Johnson (i)
General
1st Circuit CourtPart I☑ James Edwin Lauderback 3rd Circuit CourtPart III☑ Beth Boniface 19th Circuit CourtPart III☑ Ted Crozier Jr. Part IV☑ Jill Ayers 22nd Circuit CourtPart I☑ David Lee Allen Part II☑ John Russell Parkes 30th Circuit Court☑ Valerie Smith (i) |
21st District Chancery Court☑ Deanna Bell Johnson 30th District Chancery Court☐ James Newsom III (i) 9th Judicial District Criminal Court☑ Jeffery H. Wicks (i) Hamilton County Criminal Court☑ Tom Greenholtz Loudon County General Sessions CourtDivision II☑ Hank Sledge Sumner County General Sessions CourtDivision III☑ Mike Carter Roane County General Sessions CourtPart I☑ Terry Stevens (i) |
In context
Analysis
- See also: Tennessee judicial elections, 2014
The last regular election for trial judges in Tennessee was held in 2014. Regular elections for all judicial seats are held concurrently; every eight years, all of the state's judicial seats are up for election.
In 2014, the state had 443 court seats up for election in its circuit, chancery, criminal and probate courts. Most of these seats saw unopposed elections, with just 46 percent seeing more than one candidate on the general election ballot. A total of 184 incumbents chose not to seek re-election in 2014, leaving their positions open to newcomers. Only 24 incumbents lost re-election in 2014, while the remaining 235 that sought re-election won new eight-year terms.
| Competitiveness | Open seats | Incumbent re-election |
All of the 2016 local court elections in Tennessee were special elections in that they were for less than full eight-year terms. As only a sampling of seats were up for election, these elections were not entirely comparable to those of the 2014 general election cycle.
Two new seats up for election for the first time
Division III of the Sumner County General Sessions Court and Part IV of the Nineteenth Circuit Court were unique races, as they were the only two local judicial seats up for election in 2016 not due to vacancies. Both of the seats were created in 2015. The terms won in this election were shortened to six years to bring the seats into alignment with the regular eight-year election cycle for judges.[1]
Election rules
Primary moved to align with presidential race
- See also: Presidential election in Tennessee, 2016
Typically, local judicial offices see primaries in May of even-numbered years. As the 2016 elections coincided with a presidential election year, counties had the option to change their local primary dates to align with the presidential primary date in March. In order to file for these primary races, candidates were required to file by December 10, 2015. For seats that do not require a primary election, the candidate filing deadline was April 7, 2016.
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.[2]
The candidate who wins the county primary election in March will then move on to the county general election in August and run against other party candidates that won their respective primaries. Because no Democratic candidates filed for these partisan races, Republican primary winners will face only independent and write-in challengers on the general election ballot.[3]
Selection requirements by court type
Click [show] on the right of each court type below to read about its selection requirements:
| Circuit Courts |
|---|
| Judges of the circuit court are elected in partisan elections. Each county may opt to hold nonpartisan elections instead. Judges serve eight-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[4][5]
The presiding judge of each court is elected to a one-year term by peer vote.[6] Qualifications
|
| General Sessions Courts |
|---|
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.[7][8][9][10] Qualifications
|
| Criminal Courts |
|---|
| Judges of the criminal court are elected in partisan elections. Each county may opt to hold nonpartisan elections instead. Judges serve eight-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[4][12]
The presiding judge of each court is elected to a one-year term by peer vote.[13] Qualifications
|
| Chancery Courts |
|---|
| Judges of the chancery court are elected in partisan elections. Each county may opt to hold nonpartisan elections instead. Judges serve eight-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[4][14]
The presiding judge of each court is elected to a one-year term by peer vote.[15] Qualifications
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tennessee judicial election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Carter sworn in as new Sumner County judge," July 1, 2015
- ↑ Information emailed to Ballotpedia by the director of communications for the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts on March 24 and April 3, 2014.
- ↑ Hamilton County, Tennessee Election Commission, "Differences Between Primary Elections & General Elections," accessed May 4, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Tennessee," archived September 11, 2014
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "16-15-202. Election Term," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "Understanding Your Court System: A Guide to the Judicial Branch," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Tennessee; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived September 11, 2014
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "37-1-207 - Special juvenile courts Judges," accessed July 22, 2015
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "16-18-203 - Term of office," accessed July 22, 2015
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "16-15-202 - Election Term," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Tennessee," archived September 11, 2014
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "16-15-202. Election Term," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "Understanding Your Court System: A Guide to the Judicial Branch," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Justia - Tennessee Code, "16-15-202. Election Term," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "Understanding Your Court System: A Guide to the Judicial Branch," accessed September 11, 2014
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee
State courts:
Tennessee Supreme Court • Tennessee Court of Appeals • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals • Tennessee Circuit Court • Tennessee Chancery Courts • Tennessee Criminal Court • Tennessee Probate Court • Tennessee General Sessions Court • Tennessee Juvenile Court • Tennessee Municipal Court
State resources:
Courts in Tennessee • Tennessee judicial elections • Judicial selection in Tennessee
| ||||||||||
