District Attorney General Steve Mulroy urged patience — both from those who supported him and those who didn’t — as he was sworn into office Wednesday, Aug. 31, to replace Amy Weirich.

“To those who did not support me, I ask this — give me a chance to prove to you that public safety is indeed my number one priority,” Mulroy said during the ceremony at the Vasco A. Smith Jr. County Administration Building. “But be patient. The flood of violent crime will not decrease overnight. 

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“And to those who did support me, also be patient. Change will come, but only after consultation with the community. And that takes time. This system won’t transform overnight. But it will transform.”

Mulroy, a Democrat, rode into office over Republican incumbent Weirich in the Aug. 4 election on a promise of criminal justice reforms. 

Weirich will be sworn into the 25th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office as Special Counsel Thursday, Sept. 1. Her new district consists of Hardeman, Fayette, Lauderdale, McNairy and Tipton counties.

The kind of restorative justice reforms Mulroy touts have met with mixed success nationwide, resulting in a recall of a reform-minded district attorney in San Francisco. But locally, voters embraced Mulroy’s call for change.

Between 200 and 300 people attended Wednesday’s ceremony, including Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, newly elected Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon and Chief Public Defender Phyllis Aluko.

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Also present was Pamela Moses, a felon whose voter fraud conviction was thrown out because a judge rule the Tennessee Department of Correction had improperly withheld evidence.

Mulroy has defended Moses, saying she didn’t deserve a six-year sentence for registering to vote.

Kirby May, the prosecutor in Moses’ case, was also present Wednesday.

Mulroy was sworn in by Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Kight Brown, one of the new head prosecutor’s first students at Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, where he taught for 22 years. 

“It reminds me of the career in legal education that comes to an end for me today and the potential that that has for long-term generational change,” Mulroy said. “And I took the oath here in the County Commissioners chambers, where I used to serve for a number of years, signaling my return to government — and more than that, my return to prosecution.”

Before becoming a law professor and then head prosecutor for Shelby County, Mulroy was a federal prosecutor, a civil rights lawyer and a Shelby County Commissioner from 2006 to 2014. 

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Mulroy pointed out the uniqueness of his new role, saying: “Both as a government official and as a lawyer ... the prosecutor is uniquely powerful — more so than any other single (politician) in local government and indeed, more so than most (politicians) in state and federal government.”

He also said his role will differ from that of most other attorneys, who represent single clients and their specific interests. Mulroy said he, on the other hand, will represent the people.

“Prosecutors’ only clients are the people,” he said. “There’s only obligation — justice. And that means specifically disclosing evidence of innocence, even if it means risking losing your case.”

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An overwhelming majority of those incarcerated in Shelby County have been African Americans and people of color, Mulroy said. He also pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the Shelby County Juvenile Court system in 2012 for its racially discriminatory practices. 

“Meanwhile, we have a broken bail system that keeps poor people not convicted of any crime languishing behind bars at 201 Poplar for months, and sometimes years, for the sole reason that they can’t afford bail,” Mulroy said. 

He supported the new bail courtroom that will provide 24/7 bail hearings to defendants within three days of arrest. The courtroom is due to become operational by Feb. 15. 

Mulroy said the public has become distrustful of the criminal justice system and has become less willing to work with law enforcement. 

He added that it isn’t possible to incarcerate our way out of increasing crime levels, adding that public trust must be restored in the fairness of the system.

Mulroy said he will focus on recommending substantial prison time for repeat offenders impervious to multiple rehabilitative interventions. 

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Those in attendance cheered Mulroy’s remarks including Sugarmon, who often appeared alongside Mulroy and Harris at campaign events. Sugarmon’s swearing-in ceremony took place at the Cannon Center Wednesday afternoon.

Sugarmon was joined by other incoming judiciary members, including new Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court and Shelby County Criminal Court judges.

U.S. Circuit Judge Bernice Donald and Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Camille McMullen were scheduled to administer the oath. 

The new lineup of Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court judges is:

• Division 7 - Bill Anderson
• Division 8 - Lee Wilson
• Division 9 - Sheila Bruce-Renfroe
• Division 10 - Greg Gilbert
• Division 11 - Karen L. Massey
• Division 12 - Ronald Lucchesi
• Division 13 - Louis Montesi
• Division 15 - Christian Johnson

The new lineup of Shelby County Criminal Court judges is:

• Division 1 - Paula Skahan 
• Division 2 - Jennifer Fitzgerald 
• Division 3 - James Jones
• Division 4 - Carolyn Blackett
• Division 5 - Carlyn Addison
• Division 6 - David L. Pool
• Division 7 - Lee V. Coffee
• Division 8 - Chris Craft
• Division 9 - A. Melissa Boyd
• Division 10 - Jennifer Johnson Mitchell