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Circuit Court Judge Suspended
Judge Young


The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has suspended a Tennessee judge for the remainder of his elected term after receiving several complaints about the judge including improper comments during a lawsuit against opioid makers, and having sexual relations with a woman who had a case before him.

Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Young of Cookeville has received a 30-day suspension, effective August 2 to August 31, 2022. The Thirteenth Judicial District is one of 31 judicial districts in Tennessee and has jurisdiction in Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, and White counties in Tennessee.

In April 2022, the Tennessee Court of Appeals removed Judge Young from the bench in the opioid case and vacated a ruling he had already made against accused drug makers, distributors and pharmacies. The complaints accused the judge of billing himself on Facebook as a warrior against drugs, as well as using the case to bolster his own reelection campaign during the case.

The complaint noted that Judge Young positioned himself publically as an interested community advocate and voice for change in the larger societal controversy over opioids rather than an impartial adjudicator presiding over litigation.

Another complaint against the judge involved a couple of whom Judge Young was hearing an adoption case. The complaint alleged that Judge Young initiated communications with the woman in the case, ranging from flirtatious to sexual before, during, and after her and her husband were parties in the adoption case in Judge Young’s court.

The complaint goes on to allege that Judge Young requested explicit pictures from the woman and also met with her on several occasions, including at a hotel in Cookeville, where they had sex. The judge also allegedly coached the woman on how to proceed with her court case. The husband would later find out about the affair and confront Judge Young.

The board found that Judge Young failed to recuse himself from the couple’s adoption case, and instead entered an order on April 8, 2022, granting the adoption.

This is not the first time Judge Young has found himself in hot water. Young received a public reprimand on October 5, 2020, for having inappropriate social media communications with multiple women, including a legal professional in his district and a litigant who formerly had a child custody matter in his court. He was given a 30-day suspension at that time.

Young was defeated in the Republican Primary in May by Caroline Knight who will become the next judge as she is unopposed in the General Election next Thursday. Judge Young has served the last eight years as Circuit Court Judge Part II in the 13th Judicial District.