Audio clip
Melissa "Missy" Blevins
KIMBALL, Tenn. — Melissa “Missy” Thomas Blevins says she will render fair decisions as this Marion County town’s new Municipal Court judge.
Judge Blevins, a Jasper native, was appointed in February by the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen to replace longtime judge William Gouger, who became city attorney.
Judge Blevins has held court just once so far. She expects to draw on her experience with the law practice she has in Jasper with husband, Jay.
Q: What experience do you bring to the bench?
A: I have been practicing law since 2003, and my practice centers primarily around family law. I think that with family law cases, and with that particular type of practice, you are accustomed to dealing with very sensitive issues for folks, and I hope to bring the patience I’ve acquired to the court bench.
Q: Are there special challenges for a woman on a small-town court bench?
A: I think there are challenges for any judge, regardless of your sex. I’ve not encountered anything in my short time on the bench that would be more difficult for me than I think it would for anyone else.
Q: What is your approach to being judge?
A: I want everyone to feel they’ve been treated fairly, and I intend to do that. And I intend to enforce Kimball’s city ordinances.
Q: What kinds of cases do you hear?
A: There are traffic violations that are most common. There are also violations of city ordinances.
Q: How sensitive are the cases?
A: I think some of the most common disputes center around animals in subdivisions. There have been some discharges of firearms and things like that — not malicious discharges of firearms, just random shooting up in the air for whatever reason. Those are probably some of the more sensitive-type issues.
Anytime you’ve got neighbors living side by side that are in a dispute, that’s going to be something that would be very sensitive.
Q: How hard is it to interpret city ordinances and apply them fairly?
A: I don’t find it to be any more challenging than interpreting the statutes that I look at every day in my family law practice.
Q: Is there a difference between practicing law in a small town and being its judge?
A: So far, I don’t see any difference. I know some of the people that come before me just like I know some people who come into my practice. I intend to treat everyone fairly. So there’s really, to me, no difference.
Q: Do most people in court represent themselves or do they bring lawyers?
A: Most people come without counsel. But there are occasions that people choose to bring attorneys with them. People feel that they can convey their story to the court sufficiently. They don’t always feel that counsel is needed.
Q: Do many juveniles come before you in court?
A: The last time I was in court, there were probably five or six (for traffic offenses). Kimball is very fortunate in that we have access to a driving school. So it’s important that we be able to allow those children to attend driving school to provide them with an opportunity, basically a second chance. Of course, if they continually come before court for traffic violations then they’re going to be treated more harshly.
Q: Does that have any impact on parents?
A: I think that it does. Children’s insurance can increase based on the receipt of a traffic ticket. And to allow the children to attend the driving school — and if they attend to have the case dismissed — would save the parents some money, or the children if they’re paying for their own insurance.
Q: You’ve been an attorney arguing cases in Kimball. Does that give you an advantage dealing with Kimball’s ordinances as judge?
A: I expect it to be an advantage. I’m new on the bench, so what I’ve seen on the bench so far is not what I’ll have seen 12 months from now.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
