Longtime Tennessee Supreme Court administrator to step down next year
Tennessee's top courts administrator plans to step down from the role early next year.
Deborah Taylor Tate has served as the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Tennessee Supreme Court for the past seven years.
Tate made her career in support of the legal community, including twice being nominated by former President George W. Bush to serve on the Federal Communications Commission.
Tate received both her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and also studied at Vanderbilt University Law School while working as a law clerk to then-Gov. Lamar Alexander. She also served as assistant legal counsel and senior policy adviser to former Gov. Don Sundquist.
In recent years, Tate led an overhaul of the court's technical abilities, a huge help during the shift to virtual hearings under pandemic conditions, a release on her retirement noted.
“As we face the remainder of the pandemic and its impact on our courts, there will continue to be new challenges ahead," Tate said in the news release. "I believe that now is the time for fresh leadership and new ideas to carry the Judiciary to the next exciting decade of change and further improvement to our operations.”
She will be missed, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger A. Page said in the release.
“Her passion for those in need is palpable; but we have confidence in the capable team she has assembled to continue the high bar of success toward even greater impact ahead," Page wrote.
Details on her next steps were not included in the announcement.
State news: Legislation challenging Tennessee's 2020 election results unlikely to advance
Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Deborah Taylor Tate to step down from Administrative Office of the Courts
