Two seats currently held by judges on opposite professional trajectories would be moved out of Tennessee’s largest county and placed elsewhere in the state under a bill advancing the House.
The measure would move the Shelby County circuit court seat held by state Supreme Court designee Mary Wagner to the East Tennessee district composed of Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties, while the criminal court seat held by Melissa Boyd, whom the General Assembly is poised to oust over drug use.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton made the announcement at city hall in Memphis alongside the city’s mayor, police chief, the local district attorney and state lawmakers of both parties. The proposal isn’t without its critics, however, as some advocates said it wouldn’t solve issues around crime in the Memphis area or across the state.
Sexton said the Tennessee Constitution currently only allows judges to withhold bail for charges that could be punishable by death, which generally means first-degree murder.
Sexton, a Crossville Republican, said the amendment would expand judges’ discretion to deny bail to more violent crimes — such as second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping — and require judges to explain their reasons for denying or allowing for bail. The proposal is still being drafted, Sexton said.
The issue would not be on the ballot until 2026 at the earliest under Tennessee’s lengthy constitutional amendment process. Proposed changes must pass by a majority in both chambers during one two-year General Assembly, and then pass by at least two-thirds of the vote in the next. The amendment would then go before the voters in the year of the next gubernatorial election.
“We don’t have the tools to give — due to that limiting constitutional aspect — the judges and the DAs the capability of denying bail on those violent criminals,” Sexton said at the news conference.
The idea marks an area of agreement between a contingent of legislative Democrats — all of whom were from the Memphis area at the news conference — and Republicans on the topic of criminal justice, which has divided the two parties on recent major proposals. Many other Republican priorities on crime, such as a bill to toughen sentencing for certain juveniles, have been met with Democratic opposition.
