A committee of state lawmakers raised concerns today over conflicts of interest and transparency from the board that handles ethics complaints against judges. Some lawmakers want big changes to Tennessee’s Court of the Judiciary, arguing it’s too lenient.

State Senator Mae Beavers has pushed to give lawmakers control over who sits on the Court of the Judiciary. Right now most members are appointed by judges, though they’re tasked with policing judges. Beavers also wants ethics complaints the group receives to be made public.

“Everything I do is public. Every vote that I cast is public. Whether I’m right or wrong, whether it matters or doesn’t matter, everything is public; I’m an elected official. Judges are elected officials, and when I get ready to vote on a retention election or any other election, I want to know what that judge has done.”

Shelby County Judge Chris Craft argues there’s good reason complaints about judges shouldn’t be public. Craft heads up the Court of the Judiciary.

“Most of those complaints are really not valid at all. They don’t allege any facts, and they’re basically saying ‘I don’t think the judge was fair; I don’t really know why.’”

The Court of the Judiciary receives hundreds of complaints each year, and dismisses the vast majority, which has led some to question its impartiality.

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Committee members and Craft did agree on one point: the need to change the name of the Court of the Judiciary, since it’s not really a court at all, but more akin to an ethics board.

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Another concern is what happens when a case poses conflicting interests to a judge.

Judges are supposed to stand aside in cases where they could appear biased, but that doesn’t always happen. State Senator Mike Bell wondered aloud yesterday in a committee meeting if lawmakers should spell out when a judge must recuse.

“Do we need to tighten up the law regarding recusal to give judges less discretion and more concrete direction on when they should recuse?”

When it’s appropriate to step back is up to judges, and Chris Craft says that’show it should be. Craft heads up the Court of the Judiciary, and is a judge from Shelby County. He says suspects often try to get out of a certain court by prompting a recusal.

“If I were to grant a motion to recuse for everyone I had ruled against or anyone that had threatened me, I would never handle a criminal case. You all would be paying my salary and I would be sitting there with no docket.”

Craft says stringent rules to force recusal would require the state to hire hundreds more judges at tremendous cost.