{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nRuchee J. Patel is one of seven candidates for Criminal Court Judge Division VIII (District 30, unexpired term) on the August 6, 2026 Shelby County ballot [1]. The race is non-partisan. She is 44 and lives in Memphis [5].\n\nPatel is a criminal-defense attorney at Donati Law, PLLC in Memphis and previously practiced under the name 901Law [2][3]. She regularly appears in Shelby County and West Tennessee courts and is admitted to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [3]. Her practice has included drug-trafficking, firearms, RICO, mail fraud, and white-collar defense [3].\n\n## Background and education\nPatel holds a BS in marketing from the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville [2][3]. She earned her JD from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2007 [2][3].\n\n## Career\nSuper Lawyers has named Patel a Rising Star [4]. She has been included in the Memphis Bar Association's Leadership Forum and serves on the boards of the Memphis Bar Association, the Tennessee Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Playhouse on the Square [2].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [2026 State and County Sample Ballot \u2014 Shelby County Election Commission](https://www.electionsshelbytn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-State-and-Federal-Primary-and-State-County-Sample-GEN.pdf)\n- [2] [Ruchee J. Patel \u2014 Donati Law](https://www.donatilaw.com/our-team/ruchee-j-patel/)\n- [3] [Attorney Ruchee J. Patel \u2014 901Law](https://choose901law.com/about/ruchee-patel/)\n- [4] [Ruchee Patel \u2014 Super Lawyers profile](https://profiles.superlawyers.com/tennessee/memphis/lawyer/ruchee-patel/7e373d29-6a16-414f-927c-e9f6d0c10f1f.html)\n- [5] TN voter registration file, accessed 2026-07-02\n","campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_judge_division_8_unexpired","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"Criminal Court Judge Division 8 (unexpired)"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Ruchee","fullname":"Ruchee Patel","lastname":"Patel","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_judge_division_8_unexpired","contest_title":"Criminal Court Judge Division 8 (unexpired)","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":"Shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_div_8","office_title":"Criminal Court Div 8","party":"","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":"shelby","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"criminal_court_judge_division_8_unexpired","contest_title":"Criminal Court Judge Division 8 (unexpired)","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":"Shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_div_8","office_title":"Criminal Court Div 8","party":"","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"criminal_court_div_8","office_title":"Criminal Court Div 8","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"terms":[],"token":"vLNdckUqxB"}