Contributed Photo / Judge Alex McVeaghJudge Alex McVeagh, appointed by former Gov. Bill Haslam in 2017, launched his campaign Monday to keep his seat on the Hamilton County General Sessions Court.
"I continue to be humbled by the amount of support I have received from my colleagues in the legal community, business and civic leaders, and citizens across Hamilton County," McVeagh said in a statement released by his campaign. "I am committed to serving the citizens of this great county and carrying out my role as judge with fairness, compassion, accountability, and integrity."
According to the announcement, McVeagh collaborated with Tom Greenholtz, Criminal Court judge and felony drug recovery court judge, to expand Hamilton County's drug recovery court to cover misdemeanors from General Sessions Court, after receiving a $500,000 grant from the Department of Justice.
"Judge Alex McVeagh was an outstanding lawyer at Chambliss and is a dedicated and compassionate public servant to the citizens of Hamilton County and Tennessee," Mark Cunningham, health care attorney and managing shareholder of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, said in a statement. "His legal mind and talents were self-evident during his time at Chambliss, and I am proud to have him as a member of our judiciary."
Becky Browder, a community volunteer, said in a statement to the Times Free Press she worked for Hamilton County government for more than 30 years. She said she has known many judges and added that what McVeagh has accomplished in the past five years on the bench "is remarkable."
"All citizens want our judges to be honest and fair," Browder said. "With Judge McVeagh, we not only see these qualities, but additionally sincere compassion and caring for those who appear before him.
"His work in establishing the misdemeanor drug court shows his care for those who find themselves in court most often on drug-related charges and is evidence of his goals to help those in need of rehabilitation and accountability, while simultaneously keeping our community safe and increasing taxpayer savings. We all need to get behind Judge Alex McVeagh to keep him on the bench to continue the work that he has started," Browder said.
McVeagh earned a bachelor of science in economics from Vanderbilt University and graduated from Vanderbilt Law School. He is a former civil litigation and criminal attorney at both the state and federal levels and is running in the nonpartisan election on Aug. 4.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.