{"county":"shelby","description":"","district":"shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":88,"key":"general_sessions_criminal_court_judge_div_11","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Karen L. Massey","next_election":"2022-11-08","notes":"98","officegroup":"general_sessions_criminal_court","partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- General-Sessions criminal-court judge: handles misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings, and bond proceedings \u2014 high volume, with constitutional speedy-process obligations.\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":"Karen L. Massey","person":{"biography":"The Hon. Karen L. Massey is a judge for Division XI of the Shelby County General Sessions Court in Tennessee. She joined the bench in 2006.","firstname":"Karen","lastname":"Massey","middlename":"L.","token":"t5kGqnMAA0"},"term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"}],"title":"General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Div 11","type":"judicial","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-04-25 19:49:19"}