Judge Rebecca Stern speaks speaks from the bench in this file photograph from 2013.After five hours of public interviews in Chattanooga on Thursday, the Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments selected three finalists for the seat that will be vacated by Judge Rebecca Stern June 1.
The council selected Assistant District Public Defender Mike Little, Assistant District Attorney General Boyd Patterson and Assistant District Attorney General Leslie Longshore after a 30-minute deliberation.
The three finalists will next face Governor Bill Haslam for a private interview. Haslam will appoint Stern's replacement, but that person will sit the bench for just 14 months before they're up for re-election in 2016.