NASHVILLE (AP) — A state legislative committee is planning to meet once again to scrutinize the commission that disciplines Tennessee judges.
The Tennessean reports Sen. Mae Beavers, a Mt. Juliet Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will lead the hearings next month concerning the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary.
A panel of senators conducted a similar review last year with members agreeing that they would like to consider legislation to make more of the court's work public, to alter how its members are appointed and to increase the number and severity of its disciplinary options.
Beavers had proposed legislation that would have reduced the court's membership to 12 people. Under the proposal, only five of the body's members would be judges and all members would be appointed by the speakers of the House and Senate. However, no reforms of the court passed the Legislature last year.
"I think we're just looking for a structure that works and that is accountable," Beavers said. "There have to be some changes. I'm not sure that the process they're following right now even complies with state law."
A total of 359 complaints were filed with the Court of the Judiciary last year. Of the 334 cases that were disposed of last year, 314, or 94 percent, were dismissed.
Rutherford County Circuit Judge Don Ash, the court's former presiding judge, said most cases are dismissed because they are complaints about a judge's rulings, over which the Court of the Judiciary does not have jurisdiction, or are without merit.
Since last year's review, however, the court has taken steps to address critics.
Nine of its cases resulted in public reprimands this year. There were only six public reprimands or censures in the previous two years combined.
Former federal prosecutor Tim Discenza, the court's new disciplinary counsel, has also revised the body's annual report to include more information than previous years, including a page that summarizes the ethical concerns that led to private punishments without naming the judges that received this form of discipline.
"I've tried to open up this report so that as the public gains access to it, they can understand our processes more," Discenza said.