By Sabrina Bates
Two attorneys with ties to the 24th Judicial District, which includes Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin, and Henry counties, are seeking a judicial seat for the Criminal Court of Appeals for the Western District of Tennessee.
The vacancy on the Appeals bench occurred due to the death of long-time judge, the late John Everett Williams, who died on Sept. 2. Williams initially was appointed to the seat in 1998 by Republican Governor Don Sundquist.
At present, nine candidates are seeking the vacant seat. Among them are former 24th Judicial District Attorney General Matt Stowe, of Camden, and former 24th Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Vance Walker Dennis, of Savannah. Both left the 24th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office on Sept. 1. Both Stowe and Dennis lost the 24th Judicial District DA seat to Neil Thompson during the May 2022 Republican primary.
During his eight-year tenure as DA, Stowe drafted successful legislation to overhaul the state’s elder abuse laws and enact harsher punishments. According to his application for the judicial seat, Stowe said as DA he maintained a 100 percent conviction rate in all types of homicides in all five counties of the 24th Judicial District.
In fact, Williams was Stowe’s former boss and mentor, hiring Stowe to serve as a law clerk in his office in 2011. Stowe earned his law license in Tennessee in 2011. A few years later, Stowe began working as a solo practitioner for unemployment and criminal cases.
A 1996 graduate of Harvard Law School, Stowe served as Deputy Solicitor General of Texas from 2004-06 and also practiced privately in Texas and Washington, D.C. Early in career he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Judge Michael Luttig.
Dennis completed his law degree at the UT College of Law in 2000, earning his Tennessee license in 2001. He was a partner at McGee and Dennis in Savannah, and later served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 71st District from 2008-14. In 2014, he began prosecuting DUIs and vehicular homicide cases for the 24th Judicial District, ultimately serving as chief prosecutor for Hardin County from 2016-2022.
Other candidates seeking the vacant Criminal Court of Appeals seat include Joshua Dougan, of Jackson; John Miles, of Union City; Hillary Parham, of Trenton; Jeff Parham, of Martin; William M. Ward, of Shelby County; Matthew J. Wilson, of Jackson; and Chadwick Wood, of Lexington.
Public hearing interviews will be conducted at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in Jackson by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Three candidates immediately will be selected following the interviews and recommended to the Governor for consideration.
