For the first time in Tennessee history, the Tennessee Supreme Court has made the names of all candidates available to the public.
The court lists the applications of William Edwin “Bill” Young of Brentwood, Jerome Cochran of Gallatin, Donald Q. Cochran Jr. of Nashville, and David Michael Dunavant of Covington as of 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Current Tennessee Attorney General Herb Slatery III is leaving office on August 31. He is not seeking reappointment.
According to his application, Young is currently employed as the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance executive director.
Cochran lists his current employment as an administrative law judge in the secretary of state’s office.
Cochran Jr. currently serves as a Belmont University College of Law law professor.
Dunavant is chief investigative counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.
According to the state Supreme Court’s website, “Interested candidates must submit an application by 12:00 p.m. CDT on Friday, July 29, 2022. The Supreme Court will hold a public hearing to interview candidates on August 8 and 9, 2022 at the Nashville Supreme Court Building. The hearings will be livestreamed to the TNCourts YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/user/TNCourts/featured.”
More applications are expected to be posted on or after Friday’s deadline.
The state Supreme Court additionally shared further details of materials that applicants need to review before submitting the application:
Interested candidates should review the Summary of the Applicant Process & Instructions and Duties & Responsibilities documents below.
The Tennessee Supreme Court, which appoints the attorney general, lists the duties as follows:
As the chief legal officer of the state, the Attorney General and Reporter represents state officers and agencies and manages a staff of approximately 340 employees working in five offices across Tennessee. The Office of the Attorney General represents the State in criminal appeals and defends the State in civil actions in state and federal court. The Office also has the authority to investigate and prosecute civil actions for environmental enforcement, antitrust violations, Medicaid fraud, and consumer fraud. The Office has four major divisions – Civil Litigation (Civil Law, Environmental, Real Property & Transportation), Criminal Justice (Criminal Appeals, Federal Habeas Corpus, Law Enforcement & Special Prosecutions), State Services and Litigation (Education & Employment, Financial, Health Care, Public Interest, Tax) and Public Protection (Bankruptcy, Consumer Protection, Tobacco Enforcement).
– – –
Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Cochran, Jr., the Belmont professor was Trump’s choice to be the US Attorney for the Middle District and Dunavant was Trump’s choice to be US Attorney for the Western District. I would think they would be the leading candidates?
Not a very impressive group. All of them are in what I would call political jobs. Figures. How about a real prosecutorial lawyer for a change? You know. Someone who is willing to lead challenges against big businesses and especially government overreach. Fat chance. Time for AG selection by popular vote like real states do it.