Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-102 (2024)
Written notice of judicial appointment by governor - Background investigations of appointees - Confirmation or rejection by general assembly
✓ Justia copy: laws through about 2024 (2025 and 2026 sessions missing)
- (a) Immediately upon making an appointment to the supreme court, the court of appeals, or the court of criminal appeals, the governor shall provide written notice of the appointment to the chief clerk of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives. The notice shall specify whether the appointment is for a full eight-year term or for the filling of a vacancy. Delivery of the notice of appointment to both the chief clerk of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives shall begin the appropriate sixty-day period established in accordance with § 17-4-103. Upon receiving the notice of appointment, the chief clerk of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives shall notify the members of their respective house and shall refer the notice of appointment to the appropriate standing committee of their respective house as provided by rule.
- (b) The Tennessee bureau of investigation shall perform appropriate financial and criminal background investigations of a judicial appointee and shall provide the results of the investigations and inquiries to the chair of any standing committee of the general assembly to which a notice of appointment pursuant to subsection (a) is referred.
- (c) The chair of any standing committee of the general assembly to which a notice of appointment pursuant to subsection (a) is referred may, in accordance with the rules of the applicable house, conduct a hearing, vote to recommend confirmation or rejection of the appointee, and submit a written report of the action taken to the applicable clerk.
- (d) Within the appropriate sixty-day period established in accordance with § 17-4-103, the general assembly shall meet in joint session for the purpose of voting either to confirm or to reject the governor's appointee. The votes of each house shall be made and tabulated separately. The governor's appointee shall be confirmed if both houses vote to confirm the appointee by a majority of all the members to which each house is entitled. The governor's appointee shall be rejected if both houses vote to reject the appointee by a majority of all the members to which each house is entitled or if one (1) house votes to reject the appointee by at least two-thirds (2/3) of all members to which the house is entitled. If a vote results in any other outcome, then no action is taken and both houses may vote again to confirm or reject, subject to § 17-4-103(b). No vote shall be taken pursuant to this subsection (d) except in joint session.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 528,s 10, eff. 1/28/2016.
Acts 2009, ch. 517, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5
cases, 2007–2016 · 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). “” Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-102(a) (1994). The Commission originally was comprised of fifteen individuals who were appointed by the Speaker of the State Senate and the Speaker of the State House of Representatives; in 2001, the General Assembly expanded the Commission to seventeen…”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam, 437 S.W.3d 409 (Tenn. 2014). “§ 17-4-102 through § 17-4-111. The Governor is then to select one of the three nominees to fill the vacancy.”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam, 382 S.W.3d 358 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). “If a vacancy occurs during the term of office of a judge of the Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals or Supreme Court, the judicial nominating commission entertains nominations for candidates to fill that vacancy.”
Sherrie L. Durham v. Bill Haslam, No. M2014-02404-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 1, 2016). “The selection process included vetting by a state judicial nominating commission,2 Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-102 (a), and appointment by the Governor from candidates nominated by the commission to fill a vacancy occurring during the term of office of a judge of the Court of…”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam, No. M2012-01299-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. Mar. 17, 2014). “Hooker initiated this litigation in February 2012 and when he amended his complaint in April 2012, the judicial nominating commission provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated sections 17-4-102 et seq. that Mr. Hooker challenged as unconstitutional were still in effect, as they…”
Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-102(a): 2 cases
Bredesen v. Tennessee Jud. Selection Comm'n, 214 S.W.3d 419 (Tenn. 2007). “” Tenn.Code Ann. § 17-4-102(a) (1994). The Commission originally was comprised of fifteen individuals who were appointed by the Speaker of the State Senate and the Speaker of the State House of Representatives; in 2001, the General Assembly expanded the Commission to seventeen…”
John Jay Hooker v. Governor Bill Haslam, 382 S.W.3d 358 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). “If a vacancy occurs during the term of office of a judge of the Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals or Supreme Court, the judicial nominating commission entertains nominations for candidates to fill that vacancy.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.