District Attorney General
   7th Judicial District of Tennessee   

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What's New? - Our Most Recent Postings

  • "Safety City conflict unresolved", The Oak Ridger, August 13, 2002

  • Significant Case Outcomes, STATE OF TENNESSEE v. EDWARD KORIK

    • Family Violence/Oak Ridge YWCA

    Related Older Postings from Our Archives

    Y-12 Protests

    State Law Governing Charitable Solicitations

    Persons Making Terrorist Threats - Reward for Information/Apprehension

    Charging Practices

    RID

    Several years ago, 7th District Attorney General, Jim Ramsey, was presented with a national Public Service award for his active support of RID objectives by Doris Aiken, National President of RID.

    Click for full-page view of award.

    		 RID National Award

    Due Process of Law versus Vigilante-ism and Demagoguery

    The Courier News Article of July 29, 2001

    "Ride-Alongs"

    Juvenile Court Services and Misdemeanor Corrections

    Tennessee Code Annotated
    Title 8: PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
    Chapter 7: DISTRICT ATTORNEYS GENERAL
    TCA 8-7-103. Duties.

    "Each district attorney general: ... (6) Shall have discretion in the performance of duties and responsibilities in the allocation of resources available to such district attorney general, any other provision of law notwithstanding..."

    Questions & Answers On This Topic

    		The Runaway
    "The Runaway", The Saturday Evening Post
    (See copyright notice below) *

    Chronology of Events

    August 13, 1998 Letter: Letter from Judge Andrew F. Bennett, Jr. requesting Judicial Ethics Commission ruling.
    September 3, 1998 Letter: General Ramsey to Judge Hess
    (First Notice of Resource Allocation Problem)
    October 19, 1998 Letter: General Ramsey to Judge Hess
    No appearance on status offenses
    (Second Notice of Problem)
    November 5, 1998 Truancy Workshop
    (Third Notice of Problem)
    November 13, 1998 Judicial Ethics Opinion 98-5
    December 29, 1998 Letter: General Ramsey to Judge Hess
    (Fourth Notice of Problem)
    January 11, 1999 Order of Juvenile Court to prosecute all cases
    January 12, 1999 Letter: General Ramsey to Judge Hess
    asking for withdrawal of Order of January 11
    and requesting to meet to discuss the problem
    January 15, 1999 Order of Judge Hess to file written entry of appearance
    Order to the County to pay
    Local Rule
    January 15, 1999 Lawsuit filed (Chancery Court docket number 99CH7126)
    January 15, 1999 Stay Order by Chancery Court
    February 17, 1999 Tennessee Attorney General's Opinion 99-029: "Judge's Authority to Contract for Probation Services"
    February 19 Notice of Intent to Enter Default Judgment
    December 29, 1998 -
    February 2, 1999    		 Repeated letters to Judge Hess requesting meetings
    January 29, 1999
    February 2, 1999    		 Two meetings set up by county and D.A.
    Judge Hess did not appear
    March 3, 1999 Judge Hess Conditionally Withdraws Order
    December 16, 1999 Juvenile Justice Reform Commission Report Issued
    March 2, 2000 Commission Reviews Probation Services
    (Letter to Commissioner Mark Alderson)
    March 13, 2000 State Attorney General Issues Opinion (this is a PDF file)00-42
    March 23, 2000 Juvenile Court Order Regarding Traffic Offenses
    March 24, 2000 County Executive Rex Lynch asks for County Attorney opinion on Juvenile Probation.
    March 31, 2000 Department of Safety Review of the Juvenile Court Order Regarding Traffic Offenses   (See related April 7 Oak Ridger article)
    April 6, 2000 Letter to Judge Hess Transmitting the Department of Safety Review
    April 7, 2000 Letter to Jerry Creasy regarding the
    Juvenile Services Commission Minutes of April 4
    July 27, 2000 Letter to Judge Hess from General Ramsey Re: Ethics Opinion 98-5
    August 3, 2000 Letter from Judge Hess to General Ramsey - Response to July 27 letter
    August 8, 2000 Letter to County Executive Rex Lynch Re: Ethics Opinion 98-5, Tennessee Court of the Judiciary
    September 1, 2000 General Ramsey files motion for leave of Chancery Court to file amended complaint and to join a party (Rex A. Lynch) in 99CH7126...and to notify State Attorney General Summers.
    September 10, 2000 Knoxville News-Sentinel Article
    October 2, 2000 State Attorney General Summers files Motion to Intervene in 99CH7126
    October 2, 2000 Judge Hess files Answer to Amended Petition in 99CH7126
    October 3, 2000 General Ramsey files voluntary nonsuit in 99CH7126
    October 8, 2000 Knoxville News-Sentinel Article
    October 9, 2000 Letter to County Executive and County Commission re: oversight of juvenile probation officers.
    October 15, 2000 Clinton Courier-News Article
    December 12, 2000 Letter to Gary Cooper, Chairman, County Commission re: Judge Hess's request for county payment of legal expenses.
    December 13, 2000 Letter to Gary Cooper, Chairman, County Commission re: County Attorney's Prosecution Role.
    December 17, 2000 Clinton Courier-News Article
    December 21, 2000 Letter to Gary Cooper, Chairman, County Commission re: Judge Hess's request for county payment of legal expenses.
    January 31, 2001 Letter to Gary Cooper, Chairman, County Commission re: Juvenile Court Discretion
    May 25, 2001 Letter to Superintendent Stewart RE: Juvenile Services Issues
    May 27, 2001 "DA says his office will not prosecute all juvenile cases" - Clinton Courier News article
    June 4, 2001 "Ramsey: Schools should prosecute minor juvenile cases " - The Oak Ridger article
    August 1, 2001 Letter to County Attorney Clark from Judge Hess
    August 2, 2001 Letter to County Attorney Clark Re: Judge Hess's Letter of August 1
    August 3, 2001 "Judge wants meeting, but DA says no need " - The Oak Ridger article
    September 14, 2001 Letter to Gerald Walker Re: Child Advocacy Center
    September 18, 2001 Response from Gerald Walker, Children's Advocacy Center
    November 20, 2001 Letter to Jerry Creasey, Chairman, County Commission re: Judicial Ethics Committee Advisory Opinion 98-5
    November 21, 2001 Letter to Superintendent McCoy RE: Truancies, Unrulies and Juvenile Status Offenses
    December 14, 2001 Press Release by DAG
    December 23, 2001 Clinton Courier-News Article
    December 18, 2001 Letter to Rex Lynch, RE: "December 17, 2001 Commission Meeting; Phantom AG's Opinion"
    January 7, 2002 OR JUVENILE SENTENCED FOR CONVENIENCE STORE ROBBERIES, The Oak Ridger, January 7, 2002
    March 12, 2002 Neglect of Juvenile Court Cases In Anderson County, Letter to Oak Ridge School Superintendent Randy McCoy
    May 20, 2002 RE: Questionable Use: Budget for Juvenile Detention, Letter to Gail Cook, Anderson County Director of Accounts and Budgets

    Tennessee Code Annotated
    Title 37: JUVENILES
    Chapter 1: JUVENILE COURTS AND PROCEEDINGS
    TCA 37-1-124. Conduct of hearing.

    "(b) The district attorney general or city or county attorney, or any attorney, upon request of the court, shall present the evidence in support of the petition and otherwise conduct the proceedings on behalf of the state." (emphasis added)

    Historical Perspective

    Letters

    Legal Documents Press Releases and Articles

    DAG 7th District Home Page

    * Copyright Notice: "The Runaway", by Norman Rockwell, from the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, September 20, 1958, is reproduced here through a license with Curtis Publishing Co. It may not be further reproduced without written permission of the copyright owner, Curtis Publishing Co.