Former East Ridge Judge's Law License Suspended

Former East Ridge Municipal Court Judge J. Cris Helton’s law license was suspended by the Board of Professional Responsibility on Monday.

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the board cited Helton’s failure to file tax returns and his $400,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service.

The sanction by the board is a five-year suspension of his license. Helton could serve a fifth year on probation if he uses a practice monitor, an attorney designated by the by the board to supervise his practice.

Helton resigned from the bench in East Ridge in 2021, citing health reasons for his resignation. He was elected as East Ridge Municipal Court Judge in 2014.

Helton was the president and owner of Helton Law Firm.

According to a statement from the Board of Professional Responsibility, He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and argued that a lien on his law firm should be removed. The bankruptcy court determined the tax debt should remain, as his failure to pay was willful and intentional.

The TFP article stated that Helton was censured on two occasions: in 2003 he allegedly failed to deposit a retainer fee, and in 2008 he allegedly failed to properly administrate an estate and did not respond to orders about the estate.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.