TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

House and Senate Committees Approve Bill Creating Statewide Chancery Court to Hear Constitutional Challenges

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 21, 2021

Before it adjourned for the year, the House Civil Justice Committee today approved legislation introduced by State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Rep. Andy Farmer, R-Sevierville, that would create a new statewide chancery court, composed of three chancellors, each from a different grand division of the state. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill yesterday before it adjourned for the year. This new court would have exclusive jurisdiction over any civil cause of action that challenges the constitutionality of a statute, regulation or executive order; includes a claim for declaratory judgment or injunctive relief; or is brought against the state or a state department. The measure is one of several proposals introduced this year that would restructure how the state judiciary handles certain cases, but ultimately the House and Senate leadership decided to scrap the other bills and go with this one. Under the latest amendment to SB868/HB1130, the governor would pick three chancellors to serve on the court from the state’s three grand divisions, using a candidate list put together by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission. The chancellors would serve until the August 2022 statewide election, when voters would determine the three chancellors who would serve a full eight-year term. Read background on the proposal from Courthouse News. Tune into TBA’s Legislative Update tomorrow on Facebook Live and the TBA Podcast Network to get additional details on TBA’s lobbying efforts related to this and similar legislation.

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