Judge John Everett Williams To Receive Huntingdon's Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award

Judge John Everett Williams, the presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, will receive a special honor from his hometown of Huntingdon this weekend.

Judge Williams will be given Huntingdon’s 2018 Outstanding Citizen Award as part of the city’s 26th Annual Heritage Festival, according to a letter from Huntingdon Mayor Dale R. Kelley. The award ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 on the square.

“I look forward to this special event,” Mayor Kelley wrote. “It is a privilege to give the award to one so deserving.”

Judge Williams was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998, following 17 years in private practice in Huntingdon. Earlier this year, Judge Williams was named presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, becoming the first judge from West Tennessee to hold that position in 25 years.  

The Outstanding Citizen Award is bestowed each year in recognition of a person’s history of service to the Huntingdon community. Judge Williams has amassed a considerable record of service in Huntingdon over the course of his life and career.  That service includes longstanding support of two of the area’s most treasured destinations: The Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center, and the Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreation Lake. He is also a past president of the Huntingdon Lions Club.