Caroline Knight Defeats Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Young

May 5, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The 13th Judicial District will soon have a new judge.

Political newcomer Caroline Knight of Crossville ousted Incumbent Judge Jonathan Young of Cookeville Tuesday for the office of Circuit Court Judge Part II in the 13th Judicial District which includes DeKalb and six other counties.

Knight carried every county and won the Republican Primary district-wide 15,521 to 8,090. She will be unopposed in the August General Election. The term is for eight years.

Knight has been an Assistant District Attorney General for 10 years and has served as child crimes prosecutor district-wide for the last five years.

Here are the results in each of the seven counties from Tuesday’s GOP primary:
Clay: Knight 154, Young 79
Cumberland: Knight 6,244, Young 2,381
DeKalb: Knight 1,069, Young 741
Overton: Knight 1,381, Young 1,031
Pickett: Knight 643, Young 392
Putnam: Knight 3,168, Young 2,056
White: Knight 2,862, Young 1,410
Total: Knight 15,521, Young 8,090

Young received a public reprimand in October 2020 from the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct following what was described as “inappropriate messages” sent to multiple women on various social media platforms from 2015-20. Young has served as the Circuit Court Part II judge since 2014.

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