TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Dec 13, 2021

Gerald L. Melton, public defender for the 16th Judicial District, has officially announced his candidacy for re-election, the Murfreesboro Post reports. He will be a candidate in the Republican primary in May 2022. The 16th Judicial District serves Rutherford and Cannon counties. Melton, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, maintains an active personal caseload and supervises the work of 13 assistant public defenders. He is a past member of the TBA House of Delegates and Board of Governors, the Tennessee Sentencing Commission and then Gov. Bill Haslam’s Sentencing and Recidivism Commission. He also has served as president of the District Public Defender's Conference on two separate occasions.