The State Supreme Court ruled last week that elected Municipal Court Judges must reside in the city where they were elected.
The ruling may effect East Ridge Municipal Court Judge Tracy Cox, who does not reside in East Ridge. According to a report by the Chattanoogan.com, two Sessions Court judges filled in for Cox on Tuesday night. General Sessions Court Judge Tori Smith heard custody and traffic cases, while Judge Larry Ables heard criminal cases.
East Ridge Municipal Court Judges were required to live in East Ridge up until a few years ago. In 2020, East Ridge citizens voted to amend the City Charter to allow candidates living outside the city but within the county to run for and if elected serve in the office. The rationale for the amendment was that there are not enough qualified people living within East Ridge who would be willing to run and to serve as judge.
According to an article on the Supreme Court’s Website, the court held in Robin M. McNabb v. Gregory H. Harrison, that Tennessee’s Constitution requires municipal judges to reside in the city where they will be assigned. Here, the candidate elected as Lenoir City Municipal Judge did not satisfy the constitutional residency requirement.
In 2022, Ms. Robin McNabb, Mr. Gregory Harrison, and a third candidate ran for Lenoir City Municipal Court judge. Mr. Harrison won the election, and the Loudon County Election Commission certified the results. Ms. McNabb challenged the results, arguing Mr. Harrison did not meet the residency requirement under the Tennessee Constitution.
Article VI, Section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution requires judges of “inferior courts” to be “elected by the qualified voters of the district or circuit to which they are to be assigned” and to “have been a resident . . . of the circuit or district one year.” Ms. McNabb and Mr. Harrison agreed that the Lenoir City Municipal Judge must satisfy this requirement but they disagreed on the meaning of the word “district.” Ms. McNabb argued that the judge must live within the city limits. Mr. Harrison argued that “district” means a larger territory; here, he argued that it meant the Ninth Judicial district, an area of several counties. Mr. Harrison conceded he did not reside within Lenoir City corporate limits in the year prior to the election.
The trial court found that “district” meant the Ninth Judicial District, so Mr. Harrison met the constitutional residency requirements. On appeal, the Court of Appeals agreed Mr. Harrison met the residency requirement but said “district” meant Loudon County. Ms. McNabb then appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court agreed that the Lenoir City Municipal Judge must comply with Article VI, Section 4, of the Tennessee Constitution. It then determined the original public meaning of the word “district” at the time the constitution was ratified by looking at dictionary definitions published around that time.
The Court declined to adopt Mr. Harrison’s expansive view of “district.” It found that the original public meaning of “district” referred to the geographic territory in which the judge had jurisdiction. Because the Lenoir City Municipal Court’s jurisdiction is limited to Lenoir City, the Court held, the Lenoir City Judge must reside in Lenoir City. Mr. Harrison did not reside within Lenoir City corporate limits in the year prior to the election, so he did not satisfy the constitutional requirement.
To read the Court’s opinion in Robin M. McNabb v. Gregory H. Harrison, authored by Justice Mary L. Wagner, go to the opinions section of TNCourts.gov.
