TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Feb 18, 2022

Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn has confirmed that he will retire at the end of his term after nearly 25 years on the bench, the Tennessean reports. "It has been the most difficult decision I have ever made as a judge," he wrote in a letter this week. After serving General Sessions court in 1998, Fishburn was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bredesen to be the first presiding judge of Division VI of the criminal court in 2003. Prior to his appointment, Fishburn spent 18 years as a defense attorney. Earlier this month, he presided over the mass murder trial of Travis Reinking, who was found guilty of killing four people at a Waffle House in 2018.  "At least in my case, retirement is not the end of the road, but simply a turn in my travels down that road," Fishburn wrote.