Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-101 (2026)
Appointment by governor - Length of term - Vacancy - Confirmation
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The governor shall appoint a qualified person to the supreme court, the court of appeals, or the court of criminal appeals:
- (1) For a full eight-year term whenever an incumbent judge of the supreme court, the court of appeals, or the court of criminal appeals fails to file with the state election commission a written declaration of candidacy or withdraws a declaration of candidacy within the deadlines established by § 17-4-106 or is not retained in a retention election held at the end of an eight-year term; or
- (2) To fill a vacancy occurring as a result of death, resignation, retirement, failure to be retained at a retention election held any time other than the end of an eight-year term, or otherwise.
- (b) The governor's appointee shall not take office until the appointee has been confirmed by the general assembly by vote or by default as provided in this part.
- (c) Upon notice of an impending vacancy, the process of appointment and confirmation in accordance with this part may proceed; however, a confirmed appointee shall not take office until the vacancy actually occurs.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 528,s 9, eff. 1/28/2016.
Acts 2009, ch. 517, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1996–2026 · leading case: Bredesen v. Tennessee Jud. Selection Comm'n, 214 S.W.3d 419 (Tenn. 2007).
Bredesen v. Tennessee Jud. Selection Comm'n, 214 S.W.3d 419 (Tenn. 2007). “The issues in this case involve the proper interpretation of sections 17-4-101 to 17-4-118 of the Tennessee Code Annotated (“the Tennessee Plan”) and matters of constitutional law.”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam, 437 S.W.3d 409 (Tenn. 2014). “We granted permission to appeal to determine whether certain provisions of the Tennessee Plan, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 17-4-101 through 17-4-109 (2009), which governs the way in which Tennessee appellate judges are initially selected and thereafter stand for reelection, violate the…”
Holder v. Tennessee Jud. Selection Comm'n, 937 S.W.2d 877 (Tenn. 1996). “The election proceeded on August 1, 1996, as a retention election under the Tennessee Plan, Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-101, et seq. A majority of those casting ballots voted against retaining Justice White as a justice of the Supreme Court, and her term expired on August 31, 1996,…”
State Ex Rel. Hooker v. Thompson, 249 S.W.3d 331 (Tenn. 1996). “Thompson informed appellants that pursuant to T.C.A. § 17-4-101, et seq. (popularly known as the “Tennessee Plan”), Justice Penny J.”
Hooker v. Haslam, 393 S.W.3d 156 (Tenn. 2012). “Bivins, challenging the gubernatorial appointment of Judge Bivins to the Court of Criminal Appeals under Tennessee Code Annotated sections 17-4-101 through 17-4-119 (2009) (the “Tennessee Plan”) and asserting that the impending August 2, 2012 retention election violates article…”
Moncier v. Haslam, 1 F. Supp. 3d 854 (E.D. Tenn. 2014). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-101 et seq.; see also State of Tennessee Executive Order No.”
John Jay Hooker, on behalf of himself & others v. Governor Bill Haslam, 382 S.W.3d 358 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). “1 Plaintiff filed this action in Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the Tennessee Retention Election Statutes, Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-101 et seq. The Trial Judge held the statutes were constitutional, but concluded that intermediate appellate judges are subject to…”
Lillard v. Burson, 933 F. Supp. 698 (W.D. Tenn. 1996). “The complaint alleges that at the time of plaintiffs’ appointment as judge, the process and procedures for the selection of appellate judges in the State of Tennessee were controlled by Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-101, et. seq., a newly established statutory scheme of judicial…”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam (Tenn. 2014). “M2012-01299-SC-R11-CV – Filed March 17, 2014 We granted permission to appeal to determine whether certain provisions of the Tennessee Plan, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 17-4-101 through 17-4-109 (2009), which governs the way in which Tennessee appellate judges are initially selected and…”
Sherrie L. Durham v. Bill Haslam (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “The Tennessee Plan is codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 17-4-101 et seq. Those statutes established the method for the selection and election of appellate court judges in Tennessee, as described in more detail in Hooker v.”
Hochhalter (M.D. Tenn. 2026). “at 1–2), the Complaint asks the court to (1) declare that “the Constitution of Tennessee, article 6 § 3&4 and the Tennessee Plan, as codified in Tennessee Code Annotation §17-4-101 et seq.,” deprives many Tennessee citizens of a fair trial, and (2) “award[] judgment against the…”
State of Tennessee, ex rel., John Jay Hooker v. Brook Thompson, State of Tennessee Lewis Laska v. Brook Thompson (Tenn. 1996). “Section 17-4-101 et seq. does not violate the Tennessee Constitution.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-101(a) — 2 cases
Bredesen v. Tennessee Jud. Selection Comm'n, 214 S.W.3d 419 (Tenn. 2007). “The issues in this case involve the proper interpretation of sections 17-4-101 to 17-4-118 of the Tennessee Code Annotated (“the Tennessee Plan”) and matters of constitutional law.”
State Ex Rel. Hooker v. Thompson, 249 S.W.3d 331 (Tenn. 1996). “Thompson informed appellants that pursuant to T.C.A. § 17-4-101, et seq. (popularly known as the “Tennessee Plan”), Justice Penny J.”
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