Circuit Court Judge Ross H. Hicks of the 19th Judicial District, including Montgomery and Robertson counties, has completed an intensive four-day Judicial Academy conducted Nov. 17-20 by the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
Hicks was among 14 trial and general sessions judges from across the state who attended the Nashville academy. Gov. Don Sundquist appointed Hicks in 2002 to fill a vacancy created by the death of Judge James Walton.
Courses for judges elected or appointed since the last academy in 2000 included transition from bar to bench; dealing with stress; docket control; civil and criminal jury instruction; how to handle juries; reversals; contempt of court; and judicial writing. They also completed courses on workers compensation; ethics; evidence; criminal law; procedure, search warrants and sentencing; domestic relations; and Supreme Court Rule 13 dealing with the appointment of attorneys for indigent defendants.
Chancellor Steve Stafford of Dyersburg served as the academy’s dean. Courses were taught by current and former Tennessee judges, including Criminal Court Judges Cheryl Blackburn and Steve Dozier and Circuit Court Judge Tommy Brothers, all of Nashville. Other instructors from Middle Tennessee were Cornelia Clark, administrative director of the courts and a former Circuit Court Judge, of Franklin, and Circuit Court Judge Don Ash of Murfreesboro.