Tennessee local trial court judicial elections, 2016

Appellate judges were also on the ballot in 2016 for a handful of retention elections. Click here for more information about those elections.

HIGHLIGHTS

Division III of the Sumner County General Sessions Court and Part IV of the Nineteenth Circuit Court were up for election as newly created judicial seats.

The last regular judicial election in Tennessee was held in 2014; all terms up for election in 2016 were partial terms to fill the seats until the next regular election in 2022.

Judicial primaries were moved to March to align with the presidential primary.

2016 races

Opposed primary

Unopposed primary

General

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 To serve on the court, a judge must be:[4] 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.

General Sessions Courts

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.[7][8][9][10] Qualifications To serve on the court, a judge must be:[11] 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.

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 To serve on the court, a judge must be:[4] 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.

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 To serve on the court, a judge must be:[4] 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.

Recent news

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See also

• Judicial elections, 2016
• Tennessee judicial elections
• Judicial selection in Tennessee

External links

• Tennessee Secretary of State

Footnotes