{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n- Democratic candidate for **Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk** in the May 5, 2026 primary. ([SCEC Final Candidate List, May 5 2026](https://electionsshelbytn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Final-Candidate-List-May-5-2026-Election.pdf))\n\n- General Sessions Criminal Administrator, Shelby County clerk's office. ([Commercial Appeal via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-running-general-sessions-court-110642666.html))\n- Listed in the National Association for Court Management *The Court Manager* new-members directory (Vol. 34, No. 3, Fall 2019) as \"Administrator of General Sessions Criminal Court, Memphis, Tennessee.\" ([NACM](https://thecourtmanager.org/new-members/?issue=vol-34-3-fall-2019))\n\nFrom her 2024 campaign, which focused on a closely related office:\n\n- Improving customer service and community access.\n- Upgrading technology, including e-filing. In 2024 she noted: *\"Shelby County (general sessions) is one of the largest court systems and we have yet to get into e-filing.\"* ([Commercial Appeal via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-running-general-sessions-court-110642666.html))\n- Completing a case-management system for the criminal division and advancing a new system for the civil division. ([Q&A](https://www.yahoo.com/news/shelby-county-general-sessions-court-110949557.html))\n\n---\n\n*Compiled from publicly available web sources on 2026-04-18. The 2026 race (Criminal Court Clerk) is a distinct office from her 2020 and 2024 runs (General Sessions Court Clerk). Education and family background were not located in online sources.*\n\n## Career\n- Per her own campaign statements, 30 years of experience in the General Sessions Court Clerk's Office / court operations and leadership. ([Commercial Appeal via Yahoo, Q&A](https://www.yahoo.com/news/shelby-county-general-sessions-court-110949557.html))\n\n## Office history\n- **2020 Democratic primary**, Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk \u2014 lost to incumbent Joe Brown. ([Commercial Appeal via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-running-general-sessions-court-110642666.html), [Memphis Flyer](https://www.memphisflyer.com/two-2020-races-generate-a-flood-of-candidates-in-shelby-county))\n- **2024 Democratic primary**, Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk \u2014 lost to Tami Sawyer in a multi-candidate field that included incumbent Joe Brown and Shelandra Ford. ([Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Rheunte_Benson), [Tri-State Defender](https://tri-statedefender.com/incumbent-joe-brown-and-tami-sawyer-on-course-to-vie-for-general-sessions-court-clerk/11/15/))\n- Prior campaigns used [electbensonforclerk.com](https://electbensonforclerk.com/) and the Facebook page [facebook.com/BensonforClerk2020](https://www.facebook.com/BensonforClerk2020/). The campaign site was not reachable during this research.\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\n- **2026** \u2014 [Criminal Court Clerk (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BENSON&id=86312&f=198103&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2024** \u2014 [General Sessions Court Clerk (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BENSON&id=86312&f=172815&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2024** \u2014 [General Sessions Court Clerk (SS-8005 (Amended))](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BENSON&id=86312&f=172815&v=2) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n\n*Source: [Tennessee Ethics Commission Statement of Interest Search](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/search.htm). Scraped 2026-04-25.*\n","campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"primary","state":"TN","title":"Criminal Court Clerk"},{"contest":"general_sessions_court_clerk","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"primary","state":"TN","title":"General Sessions Court Clerk"}],"cf_filings":[{"county":"shelby","displayname":"Benson, Rheunte","documents":[{"datesubmitted":"04/15/24","documentid":"A9093710-7D5B-4F58-812A-956271B298EC","documentname":"Benson, Rheunte E., CFD 1st Quarter 2024","documentnameid":["A9093710-7D5B-4F58-812A-956271B298EC","Benson, Rheunte E., CFD 1st Quarter 2024"],"documenttype":"2024 CFD","electionname":null},{"datesubmitted":"02/28/24","documentid":"E1AAA5AF-2D30-4BC1-A3FA-D121DB516B37","documentname":"Benson, Rheunte E. - CFD Pre-Primary 2024","documentnameid":["E1AAA5AF-2D30-4BC1-A3FA-D121DB516B37","Benson, Rheunte E. - CFD Pre-Primary 2024"],"documenttype":"2023 CFD","electionname":null},{"datesubmitted":"11/21/23","documentid":"61F7955D-1E9F-41D1-BDCD-CB8475F74C8D","documentname":"Benson, Rheute E. - Appointment of Treasurer 2024.pdf","documentnameid":["61F7955D-1E9F-41D1-BDCD-CB8475F74C8D","Benson, Rheute E. - Appointment of Treasurer 2024.pdf"],"documenttype":"Appointment of Treasurer","electionname":null}],"filertype":"Candidate","officename":"Gen. Sess. Court Clerk","source_customer_id":"EE6EBC62-7B7C-432F-869E-4DE111271E07","source_filer_id":"B38B2BDA-FA70-413B-AD3D-259A0B3B8E57","source_system":"easyvote","state":"TN","status":"Inactive"}],"firstname":"Rheunte","fullname":"Rheunte E. Benson","lastname":"Benson","middlename":"E.","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","contest_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-05-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"}],"county":"shelby","cycles":[{"general":null,"party":"D","primary":{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","contest_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-05-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"},"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","state":"TN","terms":[]},{"campaigns":[{"contest":"general_sessions_court_clerk","contest_title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2024-03-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"general_sessions_court_clerk","office_title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"}],"county":"shelby","cycles":[{"general":null,"party":"D","primary":{"contest":"general_sessions_court_clerk","contest_title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2024-03-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"general_sessions_court_clerk","office_title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"},"term":null,"year":2024}],"office_key":"general_sessions_court_clerk","office_title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"terms":[],"token":"fGsKWl6zwy"}