Tami Sawyer to run for General Sessions Court Clerk
Former Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer will challenge incumbent General Sessions Court Clerk Joe Brown in the March 2024 Democratic primary. Sawyer announced her candidacy Wednesday, Nov. 15.
The clerk’s office is the only partisan countywide office on the ballot in 2024.
Brown, a former Memphis City Council member, checked out his qualifying petition last month to seek a second four-year term.
Rheunte Benson, the criminal administrator for the clerk’s office, has also checked out a petition for the Democratic primary.
Candidates in the Democratic and Republican primaries for the clerk’s position have until noon Dec. 14 to file their petitions to get on the March 5 ballot.
The clerk keeps records and payments for the largest court system in the state with both civil and criminal divisions.
Sawyer was elected to the commission in 2018 and did not seek a second term in 2022.
She also ran for Memphis mayor in an unsuccessful 2019 challenge of incumbent Mayor Jim Strickland.
“I assume this responsibility because the General Session Court Clerk’s office holds a pivotal role in safeguarding our community from harm, ensuring that citizens can access court services seamlessly in a hassle-free manner,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer said she is running for clerk based on her experience and leadership on the commission as well as her background in Human Resources.
She also said she plans to be more visible in the office than Brown has been.
Sawyer also wants to modernize the office and upgrade technology to make it more accessible.
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Tami Sawyer General Sessions Court Clerk Joe BrownBill Dries on demand
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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