Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport announced this week she would not seek reelection in 2022. This follows backlash she received from a ProRepublica article on her court practices published in October 2021, and new legislation recently filed for consideration of her removal.
In a statement sent to news outlets, Davenport said:
After prayerful thought and talking with my family, I have decided not to run for re-election after serving more than twenty-two years on the bench. I will always look back at my time as Judge as one of the greatest honors of my life and I am so proud of what this Court has accomplished in the last two decades and how it has positively affected the lives of young people and families in Rutherford County. I wish my successor the best and hope that this job provides them the same fulfillment it has provided me over the years.
Earlier this week, Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) filed a new bill that would require members from the Senate and House of Representatives to meet and discuss Davenport’s removal from the Juvenile Court. Campbell’s bill stated Davenport “violated State law and her oath of office,” where she “oversaw an illegal detention policy that was in use in Rutherford County, resulting in the unlawful detention of children, some of whom had not even been alleged to have committed a delinquent or unruly act.”
According to the Rutherford County website, Judge Davenport was first elected to her position in 2000 and was reelected in 2006 and 2014.
The Tennessee Star reported in October 2021 Davenport was removed as an adjunct professor at MTSU following a class lawsuit settlement against Rutherford County, where individuals born after October 1997 who were jailed at the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center could file a claim to collect a portion of an $11 million fund.
Primary elections for the Rutherford County Juvenile Court is May 3, 2022, and the general election will be August 4, 2022. WPLN reported in November that Jacob Flatt will be running for Davenport’s position.
– – –
Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Judge Donna Scott Davenport” by Rutherford County Government.
