My name is Bob McGee and for the past 21 years I have been serving as one of your General Sessions Court Judges. I am now running for the position of judge of Knox County Criminal Court, Division II.

About 80% of the work we do in Sessions Court involves criminal law. For the past 21 years I have been applying the rules of evidence to the facts in criminal cases to determine the validity of the prosecution. For 21 years I have been conducting hearings to determine whether a defendant’s probation should be revoked and the person should have to serve her or her sentence inside the county jail. For 21 years I have been conducting hearings to determine what conditions of release should be imposed on a person when he or she is released from jail.

It is the process of making these decisions, often complicated and tough decisions, that constitutes the experience of being a judge. Experience is one of the most important qualities a judge can possess. I believe it is the importance of experience that explains the fact that our judge’s terms, eight years, are twice as long as the terms of most other public offices. I believe it is the importance of experience that explains the fact that judges are not term limited.

I believe that the experience that I have acquired during the last 21 years clearly makes me the most qualified candidate to serve out the remaining six years of the term of office that was won by the late Ray Lee Jenkins. I ask you to vote for me in February and August in the upcoming elections.