Circuit Court

Circuit Court is the venue for a variety of cases that are civil in nature. They include but are not limited to divorces, medical malpractice and workers' compensation cases. The judges who hear Circuit Court cases include Suzanne Cook and James Edwin Lauderback.

Circuit Court Clerk

The Circuit Court Clerk's role in the Tennessee Court System is very broad. Most of it is outlined in Title 18 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. Some duties include but are not limited to:

• Attending court sessions
• Administering oaths in absence of the judge
• Keeping court minutes
• Maintaining dockets of court judgments and decrees and indexing those
• Investing funds and collecting litigation taxes
• Retaining, preserving and filing in order all civil case documents

In Washington County, Circuit Court Clerk Brenda Downes has civil and criminal jurisdiction. She works with a total of six judges. She is clerk for Circuit, Criminal, General Sessions and Juvenile courts, and also oversees jury service.

Docket Information

To check the status of an upcoming Circuit Court case, please contact the Clerk at 423-788-1425.  For Court Information, etc. click the following link, www.tncrtinfo.com