If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. -------- --------~ Tennessee Judicial Council Annual Report 1990-91 I . Tennessee Judicial Council Annual Report 1990-91 The Tennessee Judicial Council has prepared this annual report on Tennessee state courts for the fis­ cal year of 1990-91 pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 16-21-107(b), and Section 16-3- 502(3). The contents include caseload data for the appellate and trial courts and narrative sections relative to the state court system. By publication of these numbers, the Council in no way certifies that they are accurate or reliable. Additionally, please note that the filing and disposition figures in this report cannot, and should not, be viewed as a complete measurement of the judicial workload carried by any given judge in any given court. The sheer weight of numbers is not necessarily indicative of the effort a judge has put forth or of the hours she/he has expended in performing the duties of her/his office. For example, a judge might spend a week or more presiding over a jury trial where a defendant is charged with first-degree murder. In that same week, another judge might hear more than a hundred uncontested divorces, adoptions, or cases where the charge is minor, the jury trial is waived, and the plea is guilty. In this example, the first judge is credited for the disposition of one case while the second judge is credited with the disposition of more than a hundred cases. Each judge, however, has performed the duties of her/his office and fulfilled the judicial needs of the citizens of Tennessee. Therefore, this report does not undertake to evaluate which judge has rendered the greater service. 136433 NCJRS U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice MAY 4 '992 This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating it. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily ACQUtSI.Tl0N S represent the official position or policies of the National Institute 01 Justice. Permission to reproduce this copyrighted material has been granted by Tennessee Judicial Council to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permis­ sion of the copyright owner. ',j TABLE OF CONTENTS I. TENNESSEE JUDICIAL COUNCIL Report from the Secretary............... ...................... ...... ........ ....... ................ ... ............... ..... ....... ......... ... ... .... 3 II. SUPREME COURT Organizational Chart. ............... .............................. ............................ ........... .............. .................. ... .... .... .... 7 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Supreme Court Caseload Data..................................................................................................................... II III. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS Organizational Chart ........ : ........................................................................................................................... 15 Overview: COUIt of Appeals ........................................................................................................................ 17 Court of Appeals Caseload Data .............................. ...................................................... ............... ....... ....... 19 Overview: Court of Criminal Appeals ....... ......................................... ............................................ ............ 21 Court of Criminal Appeals Caseload Data .................................................................................................. 23 IV. STATE TRIAL COURTS Organizational Chart. ..... ................... ....... ..... ..... .......... ................ ..... ... ............... ........... ..................... ..... .... 27 Overview................... ................... ...................................................... ................ ........... .............. .... ...... ...... 29 Clerks of Court ..................................... ..................... ............. ........... .............. ............ ............. ........... ........ 30 Tennessee Judicial Districts-Map ............................................................................................................. 32 Circuit Civil Case load Statistics by District................................................................................................ 35 Criminal Court Caseload Statistics by District............................................................................................ 69 Chancery Court Caseload Statistics by District... ........................................................................................ 121 Explanation of TJIS Case Classification Categories ................................................................................... 153 Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Chart ........................................................................................................... 157 Overview ........................................................... :.. , ...................................................................................... 159 V. APPENDIX Twenty-Year Caseload Summary ................................................................................................................ 163 Tennessee Population Census ...................................................................................................................... 164 Trial Court Officials by Jurisdiction ............................................................................................................ 165 Trial Court Jurisdiction by County .............................................................................................................. 177 Tennessee. Judicial Council , . i. 1 . ,«' ." , 1. ., .' i Il TENNESSEE JUDICIAL COUNCIL 1990"91 .~... SELECTED BY THE EX OFFICIO MEM,BERS SELECTED BY THE GOVERNOR SUPREME COURT John S. Wilder Dan Buckner Robert E. Cooper, Chainnan Lievtenant Governor Dickson, Tennessee . (Retired 8/31/90) . (Tenn expired 6/24/91) E; Riley Anderson, Chairman;.' Ed Murray ; (TeIih began 9/1190) .' (Retired 8/31/90) Gary Simmons Jimmy Naifeh Justice, Tennessee Supreme So~rt McKenzie, Tennessee (Tenn began 9/1/90) JamesE. Beckner Speaker of the House Rheubin M. Taylor Criminal Court Judge .•~ Attorney at Law 3rd Judicial District Senator CurtisS. Person, Jr; Chattanooga, Tennessee Chainnan, Senate Thomas A. Greer, Jr. Judiciary Committee Penny White Circuit Court Judge Attorney at Law 12th 1udicial District Representative Frank Buck Johnson City, Tennessee "' (Tenn expired 8/31/90) Chainnan, House (Resigned after election ;;- . '"' "'" - Joseph S. Daniel . - J udiciaryConlmittee to Circuft COl,li't Judge Circuit Court Judge Charles W. Burson, Vice- 1st Judicial District, 16th Judicial District Chairman effective 9/1/90) (Tenn began 9/1/90) Attorney General Mary M. Fanner Attorney at Law Dewey C. Whitenton Cletus W. McWiliiams, Secretary Knoxville, Tennessee Chancellor Executive Secretary to the (Term began 3/19/91) 25th judicial District Tennessee Supreme Court William J. Faimon George R. Bonds General Sessions Court Judge Executive Secretary to the District Attorneys General SELECTED BY THE JUDICIAL Davidson County COUNCIL· (Tern1 expired 10/27/90) Conference Carol Catalano General Sessions Court Judge William A. Hardin Laffitte Howard Montgomery County . Executive Secretary to the Knoxville, Tennessee (Tenn began 10/28/90) District Public Defenders Conference Robert S. Brandt Chancellor 20th Judicial District SELECTED BY THE COURT OF APPEALS David Manning Commissioner, Department . of Finance and Henry F. Todd Administration (Tenn expired 10/27/90) Samuel L. Lewis (Tenn began 10/28/90) Judge, Court of Appeals SELECTED BY THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS John K. Byers (Term expired 8/31/90) Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. (Tenn began 9/1/90) Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Report from the Secretary This is the second year that the annual report division of the Office of the Executive Secretary has been published completely under the auspices but which is currently under the direction of the of the Tennessee Judicial Council. As established Tennessee Judicial Council, is the mechanism by statute, the Judicial Council consists of one used to survey the state courts of record and to justice of the Supreme Court selected by a major­ compile statistics reflecting their caseload. There ity vote of the judges on the Court; one of the are 197 court clerks who report caseload informa­ judges of the Court of Appeals selected by the tion to TJIS either by magnetic tape or on paper Court of Appeals; and one of the judges from the forms which are keyed into an IMS 1 database on Court of Criminal Appeals chosen by the judges the state's mainframe. of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Supreme During this fiscal year, the staff of the Judicial Court also selects by majority vote one chancel­ Council experienced several changes. It acquired lor, one circuit court judge, one criminal court a new staff director and the office was relocated judge, and one general sessions court judge. The to an office building in the downtown business speaker of the state senate, the speaker of the district of Nashville. The mailing address is state house of representatives, the