Coffee County legislative committee forwards proposal to make judicial-commissioner appointments annual

The Coffee County Legislative Committee on May 21 voted to forward to the full commission a law-enforcement recommendation to reappoint judicial commissioners on one-year terms rather than the four-year cycle the county has typically followed.

Committee members said the change would enable annual evaluations and create an administrative structure so judicial commissioners could be supervised and report on activities such as warrants and training. A member noted that Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) permits reappointments up to every four years, but the county lacks written policy specifying the practice, and the committee wants a codified process.

"This comes from a recommendation from law enforcement on the judicial commissioners," the chair said, explaining the proposal was prompted by consideration of creating a supervisor position for the commissioners. The committee cited an evaluation process as the reason for proposing one-year reappointments; CASS was also referenced as recommending yearly reappointments.

Commissioner Roger moved to forward the recommendation to the full commission and to place the one-year appointment language into the job description; Commissioner Miller seconded. The committee voted by voice and the motion carried. The minutes and prior meeting items were also confirmed earlier in the session.

Members thanked Missy from law enforcement for attending the meeting and said the recommendation would help structure the judicial-commissioner office. The committee adjourned after completing the item.

The forwarded recommendation will next be considered by the full Coffee County commission; no timeline for full-commission action was specified in the meeting record.