Two New Criminal Court Judgeships for Shelby County, Four Names, One Signature

August 25, 2026

Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission nominated four Memphis attorneys August 17 for two newly created Criminal Court judgeships in the 30th Judicial District. Governor Bill Lee will pick the two judges, per the Daily Memphian.

Three attorneys standing in a wood-paneled courtroom, two in suits with arms crossed and one gesturing with a raised finger.

Paul Hagerman, Deputy District Attorney General, Shelby County District Attorney General's Office; Melanie M. Headley, Chief Prosecutor, Shelby County District Attorney General's Office; and Jessica Van Dyke, Legal Director and Co-Founder, Tennessee Innocence Project. Marques Young, Deputy Criminal Chief and Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, is also a finalist but is not pictured.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Shelby County is getting two new Criminal Court judges, and the choice now sits with one person.

Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission on Monday, August 17, 2026 nominated four Memphis attorneys for two newly created Criminal Court judgeships in the 30th Judicial District, which covers Shelby County, sending the names to Governor Bill Lee for appointment, the Daily Memphian reported.

The nominee named in that report is Paul Hagerman, a Shelby County Deputy District Attorney General; the report describes the slate as three prosecutors and an attorney with the Tennessee Innocence Project. The commission had ten applicants under consideration for the two seats, per a July 15, 2026 notice from the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts.

The composition of the slate is itself a fact worth reading plainly: per the reporting, three of the four nominees for Shelby County's two newest criminal benches are prosecutors, and the fourth works for an organization that litigates wrongful convictions. Whichever two the Governor picks, criminal defendants in Shelby County will stand before a bench shaped by that choice for years, and the appointees will later stand for election with the advantages of incumbency.

The process is worth reading plainly too. These judgeships were created by statute and are being filled by appointment rather than election: a state commission screens, a Governor signs, and Shelby County receives its judges. That is the lawful process, and it is also a process in which the county's voters get their first direct say only after the appointees have taken the bench.

This is the second Shelby County judicial selection process running this month, and the two should not be confused. A General Sessions Civil Court vacancy, created when Judge Lonnie Thompson won election to Chancery Court, will be filled by the Shelby County Commission, with applications due August 28, 2026. The Criminal Court seats are new positions, filled by the Governor from the commission's four nominees.

Why It Matters for Memphis

Criminal Court is where Shelby County's felony docket lives, from bail decisions to murder trials, including the accountability cases this newsroom tracks. Two new benches change the court's capacity and its composition at once, and the four-name shortlist is the whole field from which both judges will come.

The Transparency Gap

Who holds the authority here. The General Assembly created the judgeships by statute. Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission screens applicants and forwards nominees. The Governor appoints, and his signature is the entire decision. Shelby County's voters have no role until the appointees stand for election later, and the Shelby County Commission, which is filling a different judicial vacancy this same month, has nothing to do with these two seats. Four bodies touch the process and the one closest to the affected public comes last.

What has not been disclosed. Only one of the four nominees has been named in edited copy. The commission's applications, interviews, and the votes that narrowed ten applicants to four have not been published. The act that created the judgeships and their effective date have not been identified in the coverage. The Governor has announced no timeline. And the election cycle in which the appointees must stand has not been stated.

Why the gap matters, and what we are requesting. Two judges who will preside over Shelby County felony cases for years are being chosen from a list of four, by one person, on a record the public has not seen. The appointment process is lawful and ordinary, which is exactly why the paper trail matters: a commission that screens in private and forwards names produces a shortlist whose reasoning is invisible unless someone asks for it. The 901 Report is requesting the Administrative Office of the Courts announcement naming all four nominees, the commission's applicant list and interview record, the vote by which ten applicants became four, and the act creating the judgeships with its effective date. We will report what those records show.

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Two New Criminal Court Judgeships for Shelby County, Four Names, One Signature

Why It Matters for Memphis

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