Chancellor Steve Stafford of Dyersburg will represent the the state’s 178 trial and appellate court judges on a special joint committee of the General Assembly created to determine whether Tennessee’s 31 judicial districts should be revamped because of population shifts.
Stafford, who just completed a one-year term as president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, is among 16 committee members who will report back to the Legislature by Nov. 1, 2004. He and the other members will make recommendations and draft proposed legislation if they determine changes are needed.
A resolution establishing the committee was sponsored by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D- Covington, and Reps. Jere Hargrove, D-Cookeville; Randy Rinks, D-Savannah; Tommy Head, D- Clarksville; Joe Fowlkes, D-Pulaski; Frank Buck, D-Dowelltown; Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads; and Russell Johnson, R-Loudon.
Stafford also represents the judiciary on a new pro se committee exploring how to improve access to justice for litigants doing business in courts without the assistance of lawyers. The 50 members from throughout the state attended a summit in Nashville June 20, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which received a $20,000 State Justice Institute grant for the project.
“Tennessee is experiencing a tremendous increase in the number of self-represented litigants,” Stafford said. “It is necessary for us to begin providing services for pro se litigants and this is a first step toward doing that. It is an issue in judicial systems throughout the nation and all of us are attempting to ensure that equal justice applies to everyone using the court system.”
Stafford, 46, was appointed chancellor for Dyer and Lake counties - the 29th Judicial District - in 1993 and was elected in 1994 and 1998. He had practiced law and served as Dyersburg City Judge prior to becoming a state trial judge. In addition to serving as president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, which includes all of the state’s trial and appellate court judges, he has
served since 1999 on the Court of the Judiciary, which enforces the Code of Judicial Conduct for judges.
“Serving as president of the conference has been the high point of my judicial career,” Stafford said. “It was a wonderful year and I loved every minute of it, even when things were difficult. We have a truly outstanding group of judges in this state and I am proud to serve with them and call them my friends. I’m honored to have served as their president.”
Under his leadership, a new emphasis was placed on the conference committees and their missions, including long-range planning.
“The committees, under the able direction of their chairs, all began to meet, identify their goals and work toward the attainment of those goals. For instance, the Domestic Relations Committee introduced and passed legislation allowing judges to sentence defendants to picking up trash as an alternative to incarceration for failing to pay child support. Stafford said the end result should be “more parents paying their support as well as a cost reduction for the state and counties.”
He said other committees also initiated significant projects to benefit the state judicial system. Stafford cited the Long Range Planning Committee, which scheduled a program in conjunction with the National Center for State Courts on trends and issues facing the judiciary nationwide.
In addition to his judicial activities, Stafford is active in local civic and religious organizations, including serving as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church. He is a past president of the Dyersburg Breakfast Rotary Club and was selected Outstanding Young Tennessean by the Tennessee Jaycees in 1996. He has also served as a member and chairperson of the Dyersburg/Dyer County Young Life Committee.
Stafford, who earned his undergraduate degree at UT Martin and his law degree at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, AL, is married to Tempe Collins Stafford and has two children, Lynlee, 21, and Sydnee, 11.