Former state Rep. Jerome Cochran among 6 applicants for TN attorney general | WJHL
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – A former Tri-Cities state lawmaker wants to be the next attorney general of Tennessee.
Jerome Cochran represented Carter County as a state representative in General Assembly from 2002 to 2006. He has been an administrative law judge based in Middle Tennessee for seven years.
Cochran is one of six men – all attorneys – who applied for the job. on Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court announced the names and set a timetable for interviews and a final selection.
“I think my experience makes me qualified to be the attorney general of Tennessee,” Cochran told News Channel 11 in an interview Friday night.
The Tennessee Supreme Court will choose the replacement for Attorney General Herbert Slatery, who announced he would not seek another term.
“The attorney general is the people’s lawyer in Tennessee,” Cochran said. “It’s a job that touches everyone’s life.”
Cochran said Tennessee is the only state in the nation that allows the state’s highest court to choose the state’s chief legal officer.
“Essentially you need the vote of three judges and you become attorney general of the State of Tennessee for eight years,” he said.
The six applicants are:
- Donald Q. Cochran, Jr.
- Jerome Cochran
- D. Michael Dunavant
- Culver Schmid
- Jonathan Thomas Skrmetti
- Bill Young
All the candidates except Cochran have experience in district, state, or federal legal roles. He said his background as a small town attorney, a state lawmaker, and an administrative law judge will bring a different and needed perspective.
“Just simply because you don’t represent the governor in Nashville or used to be a former US attorney working in federal courts all the time here, that there are