April 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Longtime DeKalb County Criminal Court Judge David Patterson has announced his retirement.
Judge Patterson submitted a letter to Gov. Bill Lee last month announcing his plans to retire effective June 30.
The former chief deputy in the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s office was first elected to one of DeKalb County’s two criminal court judge seats in 2006 in a closely contested election against Lillie Ann Sells.
Patterson began working for former District Attorney Bill Gibson, where he spent 16 years as an assistant district attorney before deciding to seek a criminal court judgeship.
Judge Patterson narrowly unseated Judge Sells, who filed a lawsuit contesting the results, but Patterson was ultimately declared the victor of the seat which he’s held for the past 13 years and he now serves as senior judge for the district that includes Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Putnam, Smith and White counties.
Judge Patterson has presided over more than 30,000 cases based on the estimated criminal court caseload he splits with Judge Gary McKenzie.
“There comes a time where judges have to schedule for retirement,” Judge Patterson told the Herald Citizen of Cookeville. “I’ve got two grandsons.”
The next regular election for all judges, including criminal court, is 2022, so Gov. Bill Lee will appoint someone to fill Judge Patterson’s position. An election to fill the remaining two years of Judge Patterson’s eight-year term would be held in 2020.