Six candidates will be considered by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments to fill the Tennessee Supreme Court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of the Honorable Roger A. Page.
Justice Page announced last month he will retire on August 31, 2024. He was first appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court by former Governor Bill Haslam in 2016.
When there is a vacancy to be filled on the appellate courts, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, or the Tennessee Claims Commission, the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments accepts applications from interested candidates, interviews the applicants, and then makes a recommendation to the Governor for consideration.
The Council will hold a public meeting on Thursday, January 4 to consider the following six candidates to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Page:
- Tony Childress, Chancellor of the Chancery Court of Tennessee sitting in the 29th Judicial District
- J. Ross Dyer, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge
- Van Douglas McMahan, McNairy County General Sessions Judge, McNairy County Juvenile Court Judge, and owner of McMahan Law Firm
- Camille R. McMullen, Presiding Judge of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
- Jeffrey C. Smith, Partner at Holland & Knight LLP (Memphis/Nashville)
- Mary L. Wagner, Circuit Court Judge for the 13th Judicial District at Memphis, Division VII
The Council’s meeting will be held at the Belmont College of Law, Randall and Sadie Baskin Center located at 1901 15th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212 at 9 a.m. CST.
The meeting is open to any member of the public to attend. In addition, the public may express, orally or in writing, objections concerning one or multiple candidates for the judicial vacancy.
The Council says it is expected to vote immediately following the interviews on January 4 and will then forward three names to Governor Bill Lee for his consideration.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
It is about time that the General Assembly changes how the state Supreme Courts justices are selected to being by a vote of the citizens. I do not trust these snobby hotshots who rule our state.
I suspect open campaigning would reveal a lot of secrets that now remain hidden in the closet.