Russell T. Perkins Reprimanded

Russell T. Perkins, chancellor of the Nashville Chancery Court in Tennessee's 20th Judicial District, was publicly reprimanded by the state Board of Judicial Conduct for failing to rule on six motions for nearly a year after they were heard in November 2022. A complaint was filed against him in September 2023, roughly ten months after the hearing, prompting the Board's review. Perkins acknowledged in his response that he could have ruled on the motions within 30 days, as required, but offered no reasonable explanation for the 11-month delay. This was not Perkins's first sanction for this type of conduct — the Board noted he had previously received two private sanctions for similar undue delays. Given the length of the most recent delay and his history of the same violation despite the earlier private sanctions, the Board determined a public reprimand was warranted this time.