The Oct. 1 retirement of Chancellor Irvin Kilcrease and the authorization by the General Assembly of two new Criminal Court judgeships and one additional Chancery Court position will add four new faces to the trial court bench in Davidson County, the 20th Judicial District.
A July 31 deadline has been set for the Administrative Office of the Courts to receive applications from attorneys hoping to succeed Kilcrease or serve in the three new positions.
The 17-member Judicial Selection Commission will meet Aug. 21 to conduct a public hearing and interview Criminal Court applicants. The two criminal Court vacancies will be filled from a single pool of applicants. The commission will meet the following day to conduct a public hearing and interview Chancery Court applicants. Locations for the meetings will be announced.
The commission will submit names to Gov. Phil Bredesen who will appoint the two judges and two chancellors. All four of the positions will be on the ballot in 2004, the next August biennial election, and again in 2006 for full eight-year terms.
The commission also will meet Aug. 23 to interview applicants for a seat on the state Court of Appeals. Judge Ben Cantrell will retire Sept 1 after a judicial career spanning three decades. Applications to succeed him must be submitted to the Administrative Office of the Courts no later than Aug. 5. The governor also will appoint a successor to Cantrell. The position then will be on the ballot in August 2004 and again in 2006 for an eight-year term.
Cantrell has been on the appellate bench since 1980 when he was appointed by Gov. Lamar Alexander. He was elected in 1982, 1990 and 1998, when he also became presiding judge of the Middle Tennessee division. In 1973, Cantrell was appointed to the Davidson County Chancery Court by Gov. Winfield Dunn. The following year he was elected to an eight year term.
Kilcrease, a graduate of the Nashville School of Law, has served as chancellor since1980. He has been a member of the Court of the Judiciary and is a past president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.
The legislature created the new Davidson County judicial positions based on the most recent Weighted Caseload Study. The study showed the average caseload per judge in the 20th Judicial District was higher than in other cities, in part because state law requires many types of lawsuits to be filed in Davidson County Chancery Court. The addition of three trial judges will bring the number to 18 for the district.