Smith only applicant, but not named interim judge
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According to Sue Allison of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the state of Tennessee, local attorney Bernard K. Smith was the only person to put in an application for the interim job by the April 22 deadline. He is also a probable candidate in the public election for the judgeship to be held Aug. 1.
Public hearings, which were to be held May 1 to discuss all of the possible candidates, have been delayed as the state re-opens the application process. The temporary appointment will run until Sept. 1 when the publicly elected judge will be installed.
Haston will officially retire May 1, although he will continue to hear some cases after that date to ease in his transition from office. He is resigning after more than 28 years on the bench, in the middle of his fourth elected eight-year term.
The interim judge, who the state is seeking to appoint, will fill the time between Haston’s retirement and Sept. 1.
Given there is only one candidate, the state will have to appoint special judges from out of the district to hear cases until an interim successor is chosen.
Normally, a judicial panel will consider the applications, hold a public hearing and then submit three names to the governor. The governor then can either appoint one of the people on the list or request a new list of names.
Allison was unsure what will happen if no further applications, other than Smith’s, are received.
As for reasons only one candidate has applied, some attorneys have mentioned they believe serving as interim judge would be political suicide in an election year. Others say it takes away valuable campaign time.
Another concern for attorneys is the fact most would have to interrupt their law practice for four months. This is not as much a problem for Smith, who is semi-retired.