TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Oct 21, 2022

Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge Deborah Means Henderson was recently sworn in as president of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference. She is the first African American to serve as president of a Tennessee judicial conference and is the eighth female to lead the general sessions judges. Henderson is also the first judge from Shelby County to serve as president in more than 30 years. She was elected by her peers across the state and was sworn-in at the organization’s September meeting. Henderson, the first person in her family to graduate from college, joined the law office of Peete Higgs & Armstrong after passing the bar. She spent 17 years in private practice, and also served as a special master in Shelby County Chancery Court, a member of the juvenile defender staff in juvenile court and on the Tennessee Board of Accountancy. Henderson was elected to the bench in 2006. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on her story.