Tennessee Court of Appeals

Tennessee Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	12
Judicial selection
Method:	Commission selection, political appointment
Term:	8 years
Active judges
Alan Highers  •  Patricia Cottrell  •  Charles Susano  •  Richard Dinkins  •  D. Michael Swiney  •  Andy Bennett  •  Holly Kirby  •  David Farmer  •  Frank Clement  •  Thomas R. Frierson  •  J. Steven Stafford  •  John McClarty  •

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The Tennessee Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court in Tennessee. It hears appeals of civil cases; the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals hears appeals of criminal cases.

Created by the General Assembly in 1925, the Court of Appeals hears appeals in civil—or non-criminal—cases from trial courts and certain state boards and commissions. The court has twelve members who sit in panels of three in Jackson, Knoxville and Nashville. All decisions made by the Court of Appeals may be appealed, by permission, to the Tennessee Supreme Court. As in all three appellate courts, Court of Appeals hearings do not include witnesses, juries or testimonies. Instead, attorneys present oral and written arguments.

Current judges

Tennessee Court of Appeals judges, seated (from left to right): David Farmer, Patricia Cottrell, Herschel Franks, Alan Highers, Charles Susano; standing (from left to right): Holly Kirby, Richard Dinkins, Andy Bennett, John McClarty, Frank Clement, D. Michael Swiney, and J. Steven Stafford.

There are 12 members of the Court of Appeals. They are elected on a “yes-no” ballot every eight years. When a vacancy occurs on the intermediate appellate court, the 17-member Judicial selection Commission interviews applicants and recommends three candidates to the governor, who appoints a new judge to serve until the next August general election.

As with the justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court and the judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals, judges of the Tennessee Court of Appeals must, by state law, be evaluated every eight years. The evaluations are then published in newspapers across the state to help voters decide whether the judges should be retained.

Judge	Term	Division	Appointed by	Party
Judge Alan Highers	1982-2014	Western Section
Judge Patricia Cottrell	1998-2014	Middle Section
Judge Charles Susano	1994-2014	Eastern Section
Judge Richard Dinkins	2008-2016	Middle Section
Judge D. Michael Swiney	1999-2014	Eastern Section
Judge Andy Bennett	2007-2016	Middle Section
Judge Holly Kirby	1995-2014	Western Section	Gov. Don Sundquist
Judge David Farmer	1986-2014	Western Section
Judge Frank Clement	2003-2014	Middle Section	Gov. Phil Bredesen
Judge Thomas R. Frierson	2013-Present	Eastern Section	Gov. Bill Haslam
Judge J. Steven Stafford	2008-present	Western Section
Judge John McClarty	1995-2014	Eastern Section	Gov. Phil Bredesen

Former judges

• William Frank Crawford
• Herschel Franks

External links

• Tennessee Court of Appeals

References