Nichols Formally Announces Candidacy For Circuit Court Judge

Cannon County native and former Clerk and Master, Nathan Nichols, announced his candidacy for Circuit Court Judge today. Nichols is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for the position during the May 1, 2018 primary.Nathan spent the majority of his legal career as an assistant district attorney general prosecuting felony cases in Rutherford County Circuit Court. He represented the State of Tennessee in thousands of prosecutions and also served as the Sixteenth Judicial District’s chief child sexual and physical abuse prosecutor. Nathan’s case load consisted mostly of violent felonies such as rape, robbery, domestic violence, and homicide. Nichols’s main goals in every prosecution he led were seeing that crime victims and their families were given the respect, compassion, and patience they deserved and that those who had harmed them were appropriately punished.
“As a prosecutor, I fought hard every day to see justice was done in each case I handled, our community was safe from violent and dangerous criminals, and our children protected from predators.  If elected as your next Circuit Court Judge, I will bring that same level of dedication to justice and public safety with me to the bench,” Nichols said.
Nathan left the district attorney’s office after being appointed by Chancellor Howard Wilson to serve as one of his clerk and special masters.  In that role, Nichols administered the office of the Chancery Court Clerk and heard cases at the direction of the Chancellor and Circuit Court                    
Judges. In his time as Clerk and Master, Nathan dramatically increased revenue coming from the office, added credit cards as a payment option for court costs, and spear-headed an effort which gave domestic violence victims 24-hour access to an order of protection.  Prior to this change, domestic abuse victims could wait as long as three days before they received an order of protection.  Nathan has heard hundreds of cases as a judge and special master covering divorce, probate, general civil, criminal, and juvenile law.  He completed training at the world-renowned National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada and, with over eighteen years of experience working in the judicial system, Nathan has seen the courtroom from virtually every angle through his service as a judge, special master, prosecutor, attorney and court clerk.
A member of the Federalist Society, Nathan believes a judge’s role is to say what the law is, not legislate from the bench. He believes the people’s elected representatives are tasked with writing law and that judicial activism is totally incompatible with our form of government.
“The powers of the judiciary should not be abused or exploited to further a political or social agenda.  Judges should always remain laser focused on impartially and fairly applying the law, and nothing else,” Nichols said.
Nathan is a member of the Church of Christ and he and his wife Melissa are very active in the community. He is a former member of the Cannon County Commission representing the First District from 2006-2010, serves as chairman of Cannon County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates executive committee, is past treasurer of the Cannon County Senior Center’s Board of Directors and remains a member of the Board of Directors. He is also a member of First National Bank’s Young Advisory Board and was the Republican Party’s nominee for Circuit Court Judge in 2014. 
In concluding his announcement, Nichols stated, “I have proudly devoted my entire adult life to protecting, helping and serving the people of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. I have no doubt I possess the judicial experience, temperament and dedication my fellow citizens deserve in their next Circuit Court Judge. It would be an honor to serve in this position and I look forward to meeting with as many voters as possible during the next several months so I may earn their support.”
For more information about the Nathan Nichols campaign for Circuit Court Judge, please visit nicholsforjudge.com or email Nathan at Nathan@nicholsforjudge.com.