Tom Greenholtz

Judge Tom Greenholtz serves on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Eastern Section, where he hears direct appeals in criminal and post-conviction matters from across the state.  Appointed by Governor Bill Lee and confirmed by the General Assembly in 2022, he brings to the appellate bench a record that includes seven years as a judge in Hamilton County Criminal Court and prior private practice with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, where his work encompassed municipal and governmental law, complex civil litigation, labor and employment matters, and appellate advocacy.  He began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable William M.  Barker of the Tennessee Supreme Court.  He earned his juris doctor from the University of Tennessee, summa cum laude.

Beyond his judicial responsibilities, Judge Greenholtz serves on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Technology Oversight Committee, and he is an ex-officio member of the supreme court’s Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure.  A Fellow of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, and American Bar Foundations, he has long served as an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, teaching courses on constitutional law, civil liberties, and the judicial process.  He and his wife, Kate, have two children and have called Chattanooga home since the mid-1980s.