Courts & rulings
Tennessee · highest court
Tennessee Supreme Court
Merit + retention
Chief: Elected by the justices from among their own members (peer vote) to a four-year term; the role has historically rotated among the justices.
Justices
All judges & justices →- Jeffrey S. Bivins
- Holly M. Kirby
- Sarah K. Campbell
- Dwight E. Tarwater
- Mary L. Wagner
Roster as of 2026-06-13.
Constitution of the State of Tennessee
Adopted 1870. Its declaration of rights sits in Article I (Declaration of Rights). This court has the final word on what the Tennessee constitution means.
Interstitial, departs when state-specific factors justify it
How a state reads its own rights provisions relative to the federal floor, lockstep vs departure.
State-court structure and selection methods are from official and reference sources; the justice roster is point-in-time. Civibrief carries each state's highest court (lower state courts are out of scope for now).