Judge Kathryn Olita Becomes First Woman to Serve as TTJA President

Circuit Court Judge Kathryn (Katy) Olita was recently elected President of the Tennessee Trial Judges Association (TTJA), becoming the first woman and first judge from the 19^th Judicial District to serve in this role.

“As far as we can tell, and for people who are still with us who are able to tell us who served, it does appear that for sure I am the first woman and no one else from the 19th is on that list that he put together.” Said Judge Olita. “It’s sort of an informal list of everyone whose been president. So, that’s kind of exciting.”

Judge Olita has plans in mind for her term, which typically lasts two years.

“I’m honored, obviously, that the nomination committee and the whole body felt like I am capable to take on the task,” said Judge Olita. “I’m excited about continuing to do the good work that our organization has done, especially over the last couple of years. There’s been a lot of good cooperation, I would say, between the AOC and the TTJA, and even the leadership of the appellate courts. We’ve kind of all found this uniform way of trying to make sure everybody is looked out for, everybody’s interests, so I’m very encouraged by all of that and want to continue that work while I’m the president.”

The Tennessee Trial Judges Association, formed in 1976, is a non-partisan association of participating circuit, criminal and chancery court judges from each county in the state dedicated to maintaining a fair, independent, and efficient judiciary.  Eligible to participate are the trial level judges across the state who serve over 7.2 million Tennesseans. [SF1]

“We lookout for any issues or topics of interest that may affect the people we serve,” said Judge Olita. “It’s taken on other tasks, too. For example, there was work that took years to ensure that our judicial assistants have fair pay and are compensated adequately for their work because they do incredible work for us across the state. We fought for that for some pay equity for them and were successful in that.”

Another example is redistricting.

“There is legislation that will take a look at whether our judicial districts need to be redistricted, so that will be something we will be keeping a close eye on, I think going forward, but it’s really in my mind a partnership with the AOC and with the appellate courts in terms of trying to serve the best way we can and be the best judiciary we can be.”

Judge Olita appointed First Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Stacy Street to serve as vice president. The First Judicial District includes Washington, Unicoi, Carter and Johnson counties. 12^th Judicial District Chancellor Melissa Willis was appointed secretary. She serves Franklin, Grundy and Sequatchie counties. 29^th Judicial District Chancellor Tony Childress is the organization’s treasurer. The 29th Judicial District covers Lake and Dyer counties.

“It’s a really good lineup that basically covers our state from end to end,” said Judge Olita. “Part of what I wanted to do in appointing them, as well as everyone on the executive committee, is make sure that all of our districts are adequately represented and have a voice in all of the conversations that we’re going to have.”

The TTJA meets at the March, June and October judicial conferences. The executive committee meets monthly or as needed.