Elizabethton city judge has Holly’s law license suspended

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Elizabethton Municipal Judge Jason Holly likely won’t be able to hear cases as long as the temporary suspension of his law license issued Monday by the Tennessee Supreme Court Board of Professional Responsibility (TBPR) remains in effect.

The decision comes just a week before elections that will decide whether Holly wins a second four-year term for the part-time job that pays $15,500 annually. Municipal judges usually hear traffic cases, code violations and other non-criminal matters.

Holly was suspended because, according to the petition filed Oct. 24, she “failed to respond to a complaint of misconduct with the Board of Professional Responsibility…” Board disciplinary counsel Russell Willis signed the petition seeking immediate suspension. Holly’s driver’s license.

Holly declined to answer questions about whether she planned to request a hearing that could result in her license being reinstated, sending only a message saying, “We are investigating these issues and will respond appropriately.” Holly added that the trial will be held on November 6 and 7 and November 13 and 14.

Holly was unable to chair the bench earlier this year because she fell behind in submitting her continuing law education hours. Tennessee law requires municipal judges in a city with the type of statute that governs Elizabethton to be currently licensed to practice law.

City Manager Daniel Estes said he referred questions to Holly “for any questions regarding this matter” because Holly “is an elected official for the judicial branch of city government, which is separate from the city council and administrative staff.”

But he added that city attorney Roger Day and municipal court staff “will work together to understand the circumstances and how to move forward.”

Teresa Murray Smith, who lost the 2020 election to Holly and is running against her again, said she believes Holly’s failure to respond to the complaint “shows a level of irresponsibility.”

‘Your cooperation will make a suitable arrangement possible’

Documents provided by TBPR at News Channel 11’s request show that TBPR disciplinary counsel investigator Maureen Hughes sent Holly an email on July 3 with six specific questions about her representation of a client who had filed a complaint against her.

The questions included how much he was paid and also referred to Holly’s admission: “You failed (the client) when you failed to ensure that the necessary steps were taken to finalize this matter and bring it to court. Can you please point out specific things you did or didn’t do that caused (the customer) to fail?

Instead of listing each answer in bullet points, Holly didn’t answer at all. This included a July 18 letter from TBPR giving Holly 10 days to respond with “a clear and concise statement of your actions surrounding the above matters in order to clarify the truth.”

Hughes wrote that the response “will ensure appropriate regulation of this matter in a manner consistent with the rights of the public and the protection of lawyers from false complaints.”

A follow-up notice issued on August 8 warned that if he did not respond within 10 days, the board would petition the Supreme Court to temporarily suspend Holly from practicing law.

Holly’s next step to request rescission or modification of the order will be to file with the Clerk of the Superior Court’s Nashville office and file a petition for rescission or modification with TBPR’s disciplinary counsel. The board is required to hear such petitions and decide “as expeditiously as possible in accordance with legal processes.”

In the meantime, Elizabethtonians can elect someone as their judge who won’t be able to sit on the bench, at least for now. Her opponent said he believed this made Holly’s suitability for the job questionable.

“When you’re in a position like this, you have to comply with what’s expected of you as a licensed professional because you have to judge other people’s behavior,” Murray Smith said. “And if you don’t follow the law, how can you judge other law-abiding people?”

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