{"county":"shelby","description":"","district":"Shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":98,"key":"general_sessions_court_clerk","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Tami Sawyer","next_election":"2020-11-03","notes":"108","officegroup":null,"partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- Maintains records of the General Sessions Court \u2014 civil claims under the statutory cap, landlord-tenant, small claims, plus misdemeanors and preliminary felony hearings.\n- Records management for the court served by this clerk's office, in conformity with Tennessee Rules of Civil/Criminal Procedure and the orders of the assigned judges.\n- Working knowledge of the relevant court's docket, fee schedule, and pleading requirements.\n- Financial controls for collecting and disbursing court costs, fines, restitution, bonds, and trust funds \u2014 with public accountability.\n- Supervision of a clerical staff handling high case volume and frequent statutory deadlines.\n- Administrative reliability \u2014 the office's filings are legally binding and its records are evidence.","quantity":1,"source":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2028-08-01","term_start":"2024-08-01","term_years":4,"terms":[{"current":0,"description":"","electiondate":"2020-08-06","name":"Joe W. Brown","person":{"biography":"Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk Joe Brown has been married to his beautiful wife Jeanette for 57 years and they have two accomplished daughters, Stacy and Joe Nicole. He also has one grandson named Christopher currently attending the University of Memphis. He considers his love for God and his family as his highest accomplishments ever achieved. Clerk Brown is a lifelong Memphian that grew up in South Memphis. He attended Booker T. Washington High School and received higher education at Tennessee State University. He is the Founder, President, and CEO of Empire Chemical Supply Company Incorporated.\n\nMr. Brown was elected to 5 terms. A combined 21 years by the citizens of Super District 8, Position 1 to serve as their representative on the Memphis City Council from 1998 until 2019. While on the council he sponsored ordinances in regards to the Living Wage, the ordinance requiring independent living facilities to provide life safety equipment in all of their buildings, and a resolution renaming the main library for Reverend Benjamin Hooks to name a few. As he served on the housing committee, he is also responsible for affordable housing, He has been a strong supporter of organized labor and he has served as a union steward.\n\nMr. Brown is President of the North Memphis Business Association; Board membership includes North Memphis Concerned Citizens, the Kennedy Democratic Organization, Case Management, Tennessee Technology Institute, Honorary board member of the Coalition of Black Employees, a lifetime member of the NAACP, and the loafers Incorporated.\n\nMr. Brown has been honored with many awards including the Silver Star Black Achievers Award, Black Business Association Benny Award, Stellar Award, Father of the Year Award, Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Award, Community Leadership Award, National Small Business Award, Christian Men of Distinction Award, Outstanding Business Associate of the Year Award, VECA Public Service Award, The Stone Award, and the Nat Turner Award.","firstname":"Joe","lastname":"Brown","middlename":"W","token":"95tNmv2RT8"},"term_end":"2024-09-01","term_start":"2020-09-01"},{"current":1,"description":null,"electiondate":"2024-08-01","name":"Tami Sawyer","person":{"biography":"[https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamisawyer/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamisawyer/)\n\n[https://www.instagram.com/tamisawyer901/](https://www.instagram.com/tamisawyer901/)\n\n[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tami_Sawyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tami_Sawyer)\n\n\nTami Sawyer is a former Shelby County Commissioner. A recognized civil rights activist, Tami holds an MA in Communications and is pursuing a Ph.D. in public policy. She previously held leadership positions with Black Voters Matter and Teach for America Memphis. \n\nIn 2017, Tami founded #TakeEmDown901, the successful movement to remove Confederate statues from Memphis. She is featured in the award-winning Netflix documentary Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America with Jeff Robinson. \n\nTami has provided commentary on outlets such as Al Jazeera, CNN, Essence, Forbes, Huffington Post, MLK50, MSNBC, NPR, Roland Martin, and Time. Tami is a TEDx speaker.\n\nTami has been highly recognized for her public service. In 2022, she was named Young Elected Official of the Year by People For the American Way and was featured on the Reckon South List. In 2018, Tami was included on the Ebony Power 100 List. \n\nTami is a national governing board member of Common Cause. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Inc. She is co-founder of the George Floyd Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP Memphis.\n\nTami loves spending time with her cat and two nieces. She enjoys good music, dystopian literature, and building LEGO architecture sets.\n","firstname":"Tami","lastname":"Sawyer","token":"zzJyxuwe5y"},"term_end":"2028-08-01","term_start":"2024-08-01"}],"title":"General Sessions Court Clerk","type":"executive","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-04-25 19:49:19"}