Judge Rebecca Stern speaks speaks from the bench in this file photograph from 2013.Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern made her retirement plans official Monday.
Stern, 57, filed her retirement paperwork more than a week ago but notified Gov. Bill Haslam of her intent to retire in a formal letter yesterday.
“It’s something we’ve been planning on for years, and just kind of waiting for the right time,” Stern said Monday.
Stern has been a judge for 18 years and previously worked as an assistant district attorney general in Hamilton County. The decision comes less than six months after Stern was re-elected to another eight-year term presiding over Division II.
Stern said when she decided to run for re-election last year around this time, she was still tied to Chattanooga. Her father-in-law was very sick, and she and her husband were his primary caretakers, she said.