Chief Justice William M. Barker will retire effective at noon September 1 after a judicial career spanning 25 years.
“It has been a great honor to serve the first twelve years as a circuit judge in Chattanooga, followed by three years on the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the last ten as a member of our State Supreme Court,” Barker wrote in a letter to Gov. Phil Bredesen. “It has been my highest professional honor to have been chosen by my colleagues to serve as Chief Justice these past three years.”
Barker, 66, is a native of Chattanooga. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Chattanooga and his law degree from the University Of Cincinnati School Of Law. Following graduation from law school, he entered the United States Army, serving for two years as a captain in the Medical Service Corps.
After his military service, he was in the private practice of law until his 1983 appointment to the Circuit Court for the 11th Judicial District. He was elected to the position in 1984 and again in 1990. During his trial court tenure, Barker was consistently given the highest rating for a Circuit Court judge in Chattanooga Bar Association polls.
In 1995, Gov. Don Sundquist appointed Barker to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. The following year, he was elected to an eight-year term. Barker was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1998 and was elected to a full eight-year term the same year and again in 2006. His colleagues on the court unanimously elected him chief justice in 2005.
In his letter to Bredesen, Barker said he has “seen countless positive changes in both substantive and procedural laws” while serving as a judge. “I am pleased to report that the state of the judiciary in Tennessee is excellent,” he wrote.
Barker said his retirement plans include doing church mission work, becoming more active in civic projects, traveling, spending time with his family and “perhaps returning to the private practice of law.”
“Although I will miss the intellectual stimulation the judiciary provides and the collegiality I have enjoyed with members of all branches of our state government, I am confident I leave Tennessee’s courts in professional and capable hands.”
The retiring chief justice currently serves as chair of the Tennessee Code Commission, the Supreme Court Building Commission and the State Law Library Commission.
He also is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the board of directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and is chair of its Problem-Solving Courts Committee.