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Establishment of Separate Judicial Districts Within a County

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 14, 2026

Court: TN Attorney General Opinions

Hearing Date: 12/16/2025

Opinion Number: 20

Question 1: Under the Tennessee Constitution, may a county be split into two separate judicial districts?

Opinion 1: Yes. The General Assembly has the authority to establish inferior courts, determine their jurisdiction, and allocate judicial power among them. We discern no constitutional bar to establishing separate judicial districts within a single county.

Question 2: If a county can be split into two separate judicial districts, can the districts share the same infrastructure such as a courthouse or jail?

Opinion 2: It might be possible for multiple judicial districts in the same county to share a courthouse, but doing so would involve a number of jurisdictional and logistical wrinkles that would have to be carefully negotiated. We do not perceive any limitation on two districts in the same county
sharing a jail.

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