Gov. Bill Haslam now has three candidates to consider for the soon-to-be vacant Hamilton County Circuit Court seat.
After interviewing the nine candidates and voting Wednesday, Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Committee selected Jim Exum III, Kyle Hedrick and Jennifer Peck. Exum and Peck declined to comment afterward; Hedrick could not be reached for comment.
Their next step is an interview with Haslam, who will pick a replacement for Circuit Court Judge Neil Thomas III when he concludes a 20-year run in October.
When a vacancy occurs in the office of chancellor, circuit court judge, criminal court judge or judge of any other trial court of record, the 11-member committee reviews applications and sends three nominations to the governor for consideration.
Starting at 9 a.m. at The Chattanoogan hotel, the committee quizzed Exum, Hedrick, Peck, Curtis Bowe, Joseph DeGaetano, Thomas Horne, Alix Michel, Ron Powers and Catherine White for about seven hours.
Many questions focused on the formal aspects of the job: Why join the judiciary? What are the greatest obstacles to justice? Others focused on personality, hobbies, background. Some of the exchanges were purely amusing.
"How are you going to run your docket if chosen?" one commissioner asked Hedrick.
A moment passed as Hedrick gripped the podium.
"Very good," he said slowly, and the commissioners laughed.
Hedrick emphasized a three-decade career of practicing law, working at least 23 jury trials, handling a range of cases, and serving as an administrative officer in East Ridge and Red Bank courts.
He favors electronic filings, scheduling orders to keep cases on track, and said his weakness is occasionally exhausting people because he repeats things several times to ensure people understand what's happening.
"I just want to make sure that when you leave, you don't feel horrible about it," Hedrick told the commissioners.
Exum and Peck have been practicing law for about a decade, and each gave strong interviews that emphasized unique backgrounds and more technology in the courtroom.
Wanting to become an attorney but feeling "a little lost" after college, Peck said she became a party planner.
"I got to travel all over the country and negotiate contracts and make decisions," she said. "When The Chattanoogan opened, I moved back and worked here in the hotel business."
After law school, she worked on personal injury, sexual harassment and other domestic-related cases and took appointments in Hamilton County Juvenile Court.
Exum, who works for Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, said he handles a lot of civil defense litigation and a family law practice on the side.
"I'm a big believer in 'We work until we get the job done,'" Exum said. "They [the taxpayers)]aren't paying us to clock out at 4 p.m. when we have work to do."
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.