Tennessee
Tennessee’s highest court is the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court has four justices and one chief justice, who is chosen by a majority of the court’s members. (Source: Tennessee Constitution)
Judicial Selection
The governor nominates Tennessee Supreme Court justices from a list provided by a judicial nominating commission. The governor’s nominee must be confirmed by a majority of the state House and Senate. After at least 30 days on the court, a justice may stand in an unopposed yes/no retention vote at the time of Tennessee’s next general election. Justices serve eight-year terms unless they were first appointed to fill an unexpired term, in which case they serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Justices may stand for additional eight-year terms in the same retention process. When a seat becomes open in the middle of a justice’s term, the governor nominates a candidate from a list provided by a judicial nominating commission. The nominee must be confirmed by a majority of the state house and senate. There are no term limits, nor is there a mandatory retirement age.
State Constitution
Tennessee has had three state constitutions adopted between 1796 and 1870. As of January 1, 2026, it had 47 amendments. (Data on file with John Dinan, Wake Forest University.)
The Tennessee Constitution: “Least Imperfect and Most Republican of the State Constitutions”
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The Tennessee Constitution: “Least Imperfect and Most Republican of the State Constitutions”
The state’s 1870 constitution still governs, though suffrage battles, balance of power shifts, and changing political views have modernized it over time.
A Conversation with Chief Judge Jeffrey S Sutton Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Transcript of panel from Symposium: The Power of State Constitutional Rights
LGBTQ Rights & State Constitutions
Transcript of panel from Symposium: The Power of State Constitutional Rights
Welcome
Transcript of panel from Symposium: The Power of State Constitutional Rights
2025’s Most Significant State Constitutional Cases
Leading legal thinkers weighed in on the state constitutional rulings our readers should know about from this past year.
Why We Should Care About Diversity on the Bench
New data shows women and people of color are underrepresented on state high courts.
Supreme Court and Election Law Still Feel the Fallout 25 Years After Bush v. Gore
The 5–4 decision started a long slide in public approval for the court, accentuated by a widening partisan gap.
Bush v. Gore Introduced a Fringe Theory that Threatened Elections Decades Later
The “independent state legislature theory,” shut down in 2023 by the U.S. Supreme Court, would have robbed state courts of the power to review state laws related to federal elections.