Washington County, Tennessee Justice of the Peace
Biography
Tennessee Justices of the Peace were officers of the state's county court system, a system that provided the justices concurrent jurisdiction with their peers of the Chancery Courts. Prior to Tennessee's 1835 Constitution two justices were appointed by the governor for each "captain's company"--a militia unit arbitrarily assigned to a county by the state legislature, commanded by a captain who was appointed by its eligible male constituency, and utilized as a distinct voting district for elections and tax collecting--and when a company included the county seat the number of appointments could not exceed three. The 1835 state constitution replaced this system of judicial appointments with an electorial process that required each civil district to elect their justices. In both systems the justices were required to legally "qualify" for their elected or appointed positions, and they were restricted from holding any other public office during their tenure. They were also required to reside in their civil district for their full terms of office.
Justices of the Peace heard civil cases of common law involving less than $l,000 and equity involving less than $50. They also decided misdemeanor cases if the fine was less than $50. The bulk of a justice's responsibilities centered around issuing warrants and subpoenas for all courts including civil court warrants for forcible entry, debt, and trespassing and criminal court warrants for first degree murder, manslaughter, rape, burglary, larceny, counterfeiting, forgery, assault with intent to kill, and conspiracy.
