The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) provides support to the Tennessee Supreme Court and the entire state court system. The director, appointed by the Supreme Court, is administrative officer for the courts and oversees the AOC.
Duties of the office include:
·Preparing the court system’s annual budget
·Providing computers, other equipment, training, and technical support for judges and other court personnel
·Assisting judges with case assignments
·Administering payroll accounts for the court system
·Conducting orientation for new judges and staff members
·Administering the official state criminal court reporters system
·Providing assistance to judicial committees
·Compiling court data
·Managing and disbursing funds to court-appointed attorneys representing indigents
The latest episode of the Tennessee Court Talk podcast focuses on everything attorneys need to know about taking appointed case work in criminal defense, guardian ad litem…
Administrative Office of the Courts
511 Union Street
Suite 600
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 741-2687
(800)-448-7970
Fax: (615) 741-6285
Michelle Long is the Administrative Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, effective February 1, 2022. She was appointed Deputy Director in 2019 and has over 25 years of experience in private practice, government, and in-house counsel offices.
Prior to joining the AOC, Long served as the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Health Licensure and Regulation for the Tennessee Department of Health for seven years. She provided executive leadership in all aspects of licensure, discipline, and regulation of over 350,000 health care professionals in the state. She directed several critical information technology projects, including replacement of the licensure database and increased utilization of the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database to better track and monitor prescribing and dispensing in the state.
The AOC was not Long’s first interaction with the judiciary. In 2015, she was appointed by then Governor Bill Haslam to the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments, which recommends candidates for the appellate courts, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and the Tennessee Claims Commission.
Previously, Long served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Tennessee Hospital Association, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and Legal Counsel to former Governor Don Sundquist.
Long earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee and her bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University. She will begin her new position on February 1, 2022.