Shelby County losing two judge seats
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County is set to lose two criminal court judges’ seats under a bill that passed the Tennessee legislature Wednesday, as the local court system strains under a backlog of cases.
SB2517 eliminates the seats held by former judge Melissa Boyd, who resigned after pleading guilty to criminal charges earlier this month, and Judge Mary Wagner, who recently was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
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Before the vote, Democratic Senators London Lamar and Raumesh Akbari teamed up with Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, begging their colleagues to block the bill as it was being debated in Nashville.
“We need the judge — the criminal court judge, at least — in Shelby County,” Taylor said. “You can just look out the window and turn on the evening news. You can go outside and hear the bullets ricocheting, and the sound of bullets in the air.”
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But there were too many questions about the lack of cases being brought to judges in Memphis.
Data from the state shows that only a few dozen cases are brought to trial each year in Memphis. In recent months, more than half the charges against homicide suspects were dismissed. Most of the others resulted in plea deals.
“The judges in Memphis are handling half the cases they were handling 10 years ago,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Frank Nicely (R-Strawberry Plains). “They’re clearly over-judged. These other districts are under-judged. And that’s the bottom line.”
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Taylor said in 2023 there were 14,000 fewer cases than in 2019 when the study was done.
“That’s hard for those of us in Shelby County to overcome in this short amount of time,” he said.
According to a study by a retired judge that was released in December, there were more than 300 murder cases pending in the county’s 10 criminal courts. Meanwhile, the number of trials had dwindled from 200 a year to a few dozen, the report stated.
The bill would also move the judgeships out of Shelby County into the 4th and 19th Judicial Districts covering counties in East Tennessee, West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee.
Some lawmakers said the judges were needed more in other parts of Tennessee than in Memphis.
“If the judge there is going to help solve the crime why has Memphis become almost the crime center, almost, of the universe?” asked Chattanooga Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire.
But local attorneys said taking away judges would worsen the backlog of criminal cases in Memphis.
“Yes, there are a number of factors contributing to the low number of trials, but removal of a court will only make matters worse,” said Justin Joy with the Memphis Bar Association.
“To simultaneously complain about the backlog then take away ten percent of our ability makes no sense to me,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said.
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