Associated Press file photoRepublican Gov. Bill Haslam speaks on April 23 at the state Capitol in Nashville.NASHVILLE - Apparently dissatisfied with the three nominees sent to him, Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday asked the state's judicial nominating panel to send him three new attorneys' names for him to consider in filling a vacant Hamilton County Criminal Court judgeship.
In a letter Thursday to Knoxville attorney Cheryl G. Rice, chairman of the Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments, Haslam chief legal counsel Dwight Tarwater didn't say the governor rejected the first panel, only that Haslam "has elected to receive a second panel of three additional nominees for the vacancy."
All were vying to replace former Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern, who retired last month after 18 years on the bench.
No reason was specified in Tarwater's letter for Haslam's move.
Asked why the governor didn't choose any of the first set of nominees, Haslam spokesman David Smith said via email that the governor's previously issued executive order creating the selection process "gives him the authority to do it, and requesting the second panel is part of his thorough process to find the best fit for the position."
The 11-member nominating council spent nearly five hours last month interviewing candidates before selecting Deputy Public Defender Mike Little, Assistant District Attorney Leslie Longshore and Assistant District Attorney Boyd Patterson for the governor's consideration.
Tarwater's letter noted that under Haslam's Executive Order 41, the governor can request a second and final slate of three nominees from the council. The panel then has 45 days to interview them publicly and forward Haslam the names.
Sixty days after that, the executive order says, "the governor shall fill the trial or appellate court vacancy by appointing someone from the second panel or from the first panel."
But if the council doesn't forward him a second set of candidates within 45 days, the governor is free under the executive order to name any licensed attorney he pleases.
In his letter to Council Chairman Rice, Tarwater noted that "all interested persons, including candidates previously interviewed by the Council on April 9, 2015, whose names were not sent to the Governor for consideration, must submit an application and participate in the public hearing."
Haslam issued the executive order after state voters last year approved an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution. Among other things, it enshrined existing practices involving the initial selection of judicial candidates for state trial and appellate judges.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.