Judge
Hon. Joe H. Thompson
Sumner County (TN), Tennessee
Hon. Joe H. Thompson has presided over 4,740 cases in our database. View their complete ruling history and outcome statistics below.
About
<div id="siteSub">From Ballotpedia</div>
<div id="contentSub"></div>
<div id="jump-to-nav" class="mw-jump">
Jump to: <a href="#mw-navigation">navigation</a>, <a href="#p-search">search</a>
</div>
<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><hr>
<div><div class="floatleft"><img alt="Local Politics Image.jpg" src="https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/4/4d/Local_Politics_Image.jpg/80px-Local_Politics_Image.jpg" decoding="async" width="80" height="48" srcset="https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/4/4d/Local_Politics_Image.jpg/120px-Local_Politics_Image.jpg 1.5x, https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/4/4d/Local_Politics_Image.jpg/160px-Local_Politics_Image.jpg 2x" data-file-width="629" data-file-height="381"></div>
<p><i>Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the <a href="/Largest_cities_in_the_United_States_by_population" title="Largest cities in the United States by population">100 largest cities in America by population</a> as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This judge is outside of that <a href="/Local_government_editorial_approach" title="Local government editorial approach">coverage scope</a> and does not receive scheduled updates. </i>
</p>
</div><hr>
<div style="display: none;"></div>
<div class="top_disclaimer infobox"><div class="widget-row">
<div class="col-xs-3" style="padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 2px;"><a href="/Main_Page" title="Main Page"><img width="90%" alt="BP-Initials-UPDATED.png" src="https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/thumb/0/0c/BP-Initials-UPDATED.png/40px-BP-Initials-UPDATED.png"></a></div>
<div class="mt-0 col-xs-9" style="font-size:.7em; font-weight: bold; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px;"><span>Ballotpedia does not currently cover this office or maintain this page. Please <a href="mailto:[email protected]">contact us</a> with any updates.</span></div>
</div></div>
<div class="infobox person"><div class="widget-row value-only ">Joe H. Thompson</div>
<div class="widget-row">
<p> <img alt="Silhouette Placeholder Image.png" id="placeholder_image" src="https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/thumb/f/fb/Silhouette_Placeholder_Image.png/150px-Silhouette_Placeholder_Image.png" class="widget-img" srcset="https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fb/Silhouette_Placeholder_Image.png 1.5x, https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fb/Silhouette_Placeholder_Image.png 2x" data-file-width="199" data-file-height="199">
</p>
Do you have a photo that could go here? <a href="/Survey?Source=polinfobox" class="external text">Click here</a> to submit it for this profile!</div>
<hr>
<div class="widget-row value-only ">
18th Judicial District Circuit Court </div>
<div style="font-weight: bold;text-align:center;">Tenure</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">Present officeholder</div>
<div style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%; font-style: italic;">
<p> <a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://ballotpedia.org/Help:Report_an_error">Report an officeholder change</a>
</p>
</div>
<div class="widget-row value-only ">
<p> Education
</p>
</div>
<div class="widget-row">
<div class="widget-key">Bachelor's</div>
<div class="widget-value">
<p> Harvard University, 1987
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="widget-row">
<div class="widget-key">Law</div>
<div class="widget-value">
<p> University of Tennessee College of Law, 1993
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><style>
.infobox {
width: 250px;
font-size: .9em;
}
.top_disclaimer {
</p>
<pre>float:right;
border:1px solid #FFB81F;
background-color: white;
width: 250px;
font-size: .9em;
margin-bottom:0px;
</pre>
<p>}
.infobox p {
margin-bottom: 0;
}
.widget-row {
display: inline-block;
width: 100%;
margin-top: 1px;
margin-bottom: 1px;
}
.widget-row.heading {
font-size: 1.2em;
}
.widget-row.value-only {
text-align: center;
background-color: grey;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-row.value-only.white {
background-color: #f9f9f9;
}
.widget-row.value-only.black {
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
}
.widget-row.Democratic {
background-color: #003388;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-row.Republican {
background-color: red;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-row.Independent, .widget-row.Nonpartisan, .widget-row.Constitution {
background-color: grey;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-row.Libertarian {
background-color: #f9d334;
color: black;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-row.Green {
background-color: green;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-key {
width: 43%;
display: inline-block;
padding-left: 10px;
vertical-align: top;
font-weight: bold;
}
.widget-value {
width: 57%;
float: right;
display: inline-block;
padding-left: 10px;
word-wrap: break-word;
}
.widget-img {
width: 150px;
display: block;
margin: auto;
}
.clearfix {
clear: both;
}
</style>
</p>
<div style="display: none;"></div>
<div style="float:right; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0.4em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.8em; ;" class="toclimit-3"> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none"><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Elections"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Elections</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#2014"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">2014</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Education"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Education</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#Career"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Career</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Footnotes"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Footnotes</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<p><br>
<b>Joe H. Thompson</b> is a <a href="/Tennessee_Circuit_Courts" class="mw-redirect" title="Tennessee Circuit Courts">circuit court</a> judge for the <a href="/Eighteenth_Circuit_Court,_Tennessee" title="Eighteenth Circuit Court, Tennessee">Eighteenth Circuit Court</a> in <a href="/Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a>. He was appointed to the court by Governor <a href="/Bill_Haslam" title="Bill Haslam">Bill Haslam</a> to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge <a href="/C.L._Rogers" title="C.L. Rogers">C.L. Rogers</a>. Thompson assumed office on June 27, 2014, and was elected to the court on August 7, 2014. His current term expires in 2022.<sup id="cite_ref-appt_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-appt-1">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-results_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-results-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Elections">Elections</span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="2014">2014</span></h3>
<p><span class="see-also"><i>See also: <a href="/Tennessee_judicial_elections,_2014" title="Tennessee judicial elections, 2014">Tennessee judicial elections, 2014</a></i></span><br>
Thompson ran for re-election to the <a href="/Eighteenth_Circuit_Court,_Tennessee" title="Eighteenth Circuit Court, Tennessee">Eighteenth Circuit Court</a>.<br><b>Primary:</b> He was successful in the <a href="/Republican" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican">Republican</a> primary on May 6, 2014, receiving 35.6 percent of the vote. He competed against <a href="/Mark_T._Smith" title="Mark T. Smith">Mark T. Smith</a> and <a href="/Randy_Stamps" title="Randy Stamps">Randy Stamps</a>.<br><b>General</b>: He won without opposition in the general election on August 7, 2014.
<sup id="cite_ref-results_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-results-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Education">Education</span></h2>
<p>Thompson received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1987 and his <a href="/J.D." class="mw-redirect" title="J.D.">J.D.</a> degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1993.<sup id="cite_ref-bio_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bio-3">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-link_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-link-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Career">Career</span></h2>
<ul><li><b>2014-2022:</b> Judge, <a href="/Eighteenth_Circuit_Court,_Tennessee" title="Eighteenth Circuit Court, Tennessee">Eighteenth Circuit Court</a></li>
<li><b>2004-2014:</b> City attorney, City of Gallatin</li>
<li><b>1996-2004:</b> Principal, <i>Thompson & Thompson, Attorneys at Law</i></li>
<li><b>1994-1996:</b> Associate, <i>Rogers & Moore, Attorneys at Law</i></li>
<li><b>1993-1994:</b> Associate, <i>Baker Donelson</i> <sup id="cite_ref-link_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-link-4">[4]</a></sup></li></ul>
<div id="div-gpt-ad-1548351761485-0"><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1548351761485-0"); });</script></div><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span></h2>
<ul><li><a href="/Tennessee_Circuit_Courts" class="mw-redirect" title="Tennessee Circuit Courts">Tennessee Circuit Courts</a></li>
<li><a href="/Tennessee_counties" class="mw-redirect" title="Tennessee counties">Tennessee counties</a></li>
<li><a href="/Judicial_selection_in_Tennessee" title="Judicial selection in Tennessee">Judicial selection in Tennessee</a></li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span></h2>
<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/administration/judicial-resources/judicial-district-map"><i>Tennessee State Courts</i>, "Tennessee Judicial District Map"</a></li>
<li><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/courts/circuit-criminal-chancery-courts/judges"><i>Tennessee State Courts</i>, "Trial Court Judges"</a></li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Footnotes">Footnotes</span></h2>
<p>
<script type="text/javascript">
if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none';
</script>
</p>
<div class="references-small"><div class="mobile-columns">
<div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-appt-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-appt_1-0" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up">?</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/news/2014/06/23/sumner-circuit-judge-elect-joe-thompson-be-sworn-friday-under-special-appointment"><i>Tennessee State Courts</i>, "Sumner Circuit Judge-Elect Joe Thompson to be Sworn In Friday Under Special Appointment by Gov. Haslam," June 23, 2014</a></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-results-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">? <sup><a href="#cite_ref-results_2-0"><span class="cite-accessibility-label">Jump up to: </span>2.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-results_2-1">2.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://tnsos.net/Elections/20140807/Admin/Publications/dynamic/20140807.php"><i>Go Vote TN</i>, "August 7, 2014 Unofficial Election Results," accessed August 7, 2014</a></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-bio-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-bio_3-0" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up">?</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="http://www.joethompsonforjudge.com/meet-joe/"><i>Joe Thompson For Circuit Judge</i>, "Meet Joe Thompson," accessed August 12, 2014</a></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-link-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">? <sup><a href="#cite_ref-link_4-0"><span class="cite-accessibility-label">Jump up to: </span>4.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-link_4-1">4.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-thompson/3a/75b/400"><i>LinkedIn.com</i>, "Joe Thompson," accessed August 12, 2014</a></span>
</li>
</ol></div></div></div>
<table class="navbox collapsible autocollapse nowraplinks" style="margin-top:auto; font-size:84%;" id="collapsibleTable0">
<tbody><tr style="color:inherit;">
<td style="width:75px; background-color:#fff; text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;"><a href="/File:Flag_of_Tennessee.png" class="image" title="Flag of Tennessee"><img alt="Flag of Tennessee" src="https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/1/1f/Flag_of_Tennessee.png/75px-Flag_of_Tennessee.png" decoding="async" width="75" height="45" class="thumbborder" srcset="https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/1/1f/Flag_of_Tennessee.png/113px-Flag_of_Tennessee.png 1.5x, https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/1/1f/Flag_of_Tennessee.png/150px-Flag_of_Tennessee.png 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="300"></a></td>
<th style="font-weight:normal; background:#B0C4DE;"><span class="collapseButton">[<a id="collapseButton0" href="javascript:collapseTable(0);" onclick="ga('send', {'hitType':'event','eventCategory':'HNT opened'});">hide</a>]</span><div style="float:left; text-align:left; width:6em;"><div class="noprint plainlinksneverexpand" style="background-color:transparent; padding:0; white-space:nowrap; font-weight:normal; font-size:xx-small; ;"><a href="/Template:Tennessee" title="Template:Tennessee"><span title="View this template" style=";">v</span></a> <span style="font-size:80%;">•</span> <a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Template:Tennessee&action=edit"><span style="color:#002bb8;;" title="You can edit this template. Please use the preview button before saving.">e</span></a></div></div><span style="font-size:150%; font-weight:bold;"><b><a href="/United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="United States">State</a> of <a href="/Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a></b></span><br clear="all"><b><a href="/Nashville,_Tennessee" title="Nashville, Tennessee">Nashville</a></b> (<a href="/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States" title="List of capitals in the United States"><span style="color:inherit;">capital</span></a>)</th></tr><tr><th style="background:#B0C4DE; color:inherit; font-size:100%; padding:2px;"><a href="/Elections" title="Elections">Elections</a></th>
<td>
<p><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Sample_Ballot_Lookup" title="Sample Ballot Lookup">What's on my ballot?</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Tennessee_elections,_2024" title="Tennessee elections, 2024">Elections in 2024</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Voting_in_Tennessee" title="Voting in Tennessee">How to vote</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Ballot_access_requirements_for_political_candidates_in_Tennessee" title="Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Tennessee">How to run for office</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/List_of_Tennessee_ballot_measures" title="List of Tennessee ballot measures">Ballot measures</a></span>
</p>
</td></tr><tr><th style="background:#B0C4DE; color:inherit; font-size:100%; padding:2px;"><a href="/Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Government</a></th>
<td style="background:#eee;">
<p><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Who_represents_me" title="Who represents me">Who represents me?</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">U.S. President</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/United_States_congressional_delegations_from_Tennessee" title="United States congressional delegations from Tennessee">U.S. Congress</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Federal_courts_by_state#Tennessee" title="Federal courts by state">Federal courts</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Tennessee_state_executive_offices" title="Tennessee state executive offices">State executives</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Tennessee_State_Legislature" class="mw-redirect" title="Tennessee State Legislature">State legislature</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Courts_in_Tennessee" title="Courts in Tennessee">State and local courts</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Counties_in_Tennessee" title="Counties in Tennessee">Counties</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Cities_in_Tennessee" title="Cities in Tennessee">Cities</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/List_of_school_districts_in_Tennessee" title="List of school districts in Tennessee">School districts</a> |</span>
<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><a href="/Public_policy_in_Tennessee" title="Public policy in Tennessee">Public policy</a></span>
</p>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!--
NewPP limit report
Cached time: 20240419213957
Cache expiry: 0
Reduced expiry: true
Complications: []
CPU time usage: 0.109 seconds
Real time usage: 0.262 seconds
Preprocessor visited node count: 415/1000000
Post?expand include size: 12106/2097152 bytes
Template argument size: 2635/2097152 bytes
Highest expansion depth: 9/100
Expensive parser function count: 0/100
Unstrip recursion depth: 1/20
Unstrip post?expand size: 7188/5000000 bytes
-->
<!--
Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)
100.00% 231.665 1 -total
5.29% 12.263 1 Template:Tennessee
4.50% 10.435 1 Template:US_state_navigation_box
2.30% 5.332 1 Template:Reflist
1.69% 3.914 1 Template:Tnavbar
1.02% 2.364 16 Template:Nowrap
0.97% 2.249 1 Template:Tnr
0.69% 1.601 1 Template:Local_scope_archive
0.62% 1.431 1 Template:BP
0.55% 1.267 1 Template:MetadescriptionBP
-->
</div></div> <div class="printfooter">
Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Joe_H._Thompson&oldid=8361924">https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Joe_H._Thompson&oldid=8361924</a>" </div>
<div id="catlinks-container" style="display:none"><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/Category:Successful_Tennessee_judicial_candidates,_2014" title="Category:Successful Tennessee judicial candidates, 2014">Successful Tennessee judicial candidates, 2014</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Unopposed_candidates,_Tennessee_2014" title="Category:Unopposed candidates, Tennessee 2014">Unopposed candidates, Tennessee 2014</a></li><li><a href="/Category:2014_primary_candidate" title="Category:2014 primary candidate">2014 primary candidate</a></li><li><a href="/Category:2014_primary_winner" title="Category:2014 primary winner">2014 primary winner</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Tennessee_circuit_court_judges,_Eighteenth_Circuit" title="Category:Tennessee circuit court judges, Eighteenth Circuit">Tennessee circuit court judges, Eighteenth Circuit</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Appointed_judges,_June_2014" title="Category:Appointed judges, June 2014">Appointed judges, June 2014</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Bill_Haslam,_Circuit_Court" title="Category:Bill Haslam, Circuit Court">Bill Haslam, Circuit Court</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Term_expiring_2022,_Tennessee" title="Category:Term expiring 2022, Tennessee">Term expiring 2022, Tennessee</a></li></ul></div></div></div>
<div class="visualClear"></div>
Cases Presided
4,740 casesFull Analytics Report
- Ruling patterns
- Case duration stats
- Appeal reversal rates
- Comparable benchmarks
Legal Analytics Has Been Featured In
