{"county":"shelby","description":"","district":"shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":81,"key":"general_sessions_civil_court_judge_div_4","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Deborah Anne Means Henderson","next_election":"2022-11-08","notes":"91","officegroup":"general_sessions_civil_court","partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- General-Sessions civil-court judge: hears civil claims under the statutory cap (currently $25,000), landlord-tenant cases, and small claims \u2014 high volume, often pro se litigants.\n- Judicial temperament: the willingness to listen, deliberate, and apply the law dispassionately to people whose lives are deeply affected by the outcome.\n- Impartiality and ethics under the Tennessee Rules of Judicial Conduct, including disqualification when conflicts arise.\n- Working knowledge of the substantive and procedural law applied in the assigned court (cited per court below) and the published precedent that controls.\n- Docket management \u2014 moving cases efficiently while honoring due process and the time pressures that fall on litigants and witnesses.\n- Clear written and oral explanation of rulings, so the parties and the public can follow the reasoning.","quantity":1,"source":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01","term_years":8,"terms":[{"current":1,"description":"","electiondate":"2022-08-04","name":"Deborah Anne Means Henderson","person":{"biography":"Deborah Means Henderson serves as the judge for Division 4 of the Shelby County General Sessions Court in Tennessee, having taken office on September 1, 2006. Her present term will conclude on September 1, 2030.\n\nIn her pursuit of re-election for the Division 4 judge position, Henderson participated in the general election held on August 4, 2022, and emerged victorious.","firstname":"Deborah","lastname":"Means","middlename":"Anne","token":"O9Qn0LxWyR"},"term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"}],"title":"General Sessions Civil Court Judge Div 4","type":"judicial","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-04-25 19:49:19"}