The Vote Vince Dean campaign officially announces that Vince Dean will seek another term as the Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk. 

The Office of Criminal Court Clerk functions independently in the Judicial Process.  The role of the office is specifically articulated in the Tennessee State Code and is completely under the direction of the Criminal Court Clerk.  While it works closely with the Courts that it serves, it is autonomous and provides support, as needed to those courts.  The Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk’s office has a combined budget of nearly $5 million.  There are currently 60 deputy clerks in the 3 offices, each of which is accountable to the elected Criminal Court Clerk.  

First elected to this position in 2014, Vince is pleased to reflect on the many accomplishments that have been made through the efforts of him and his administration.  One of his first goals was to make the offices he oversees more user friendly.  “We recognized early on that many of our customers did not understand the difference between a Session’s court case and a Criminal Court Case.  Not having that understanding often made it difficult when coming in to make a payment on the court ordered fines and associated fees,“ Dean said. 

To help alleviate that problem a “one stop shop” was created and there is now a Payment Center where customers may pay on either type of case in one location.  Previously Session’s payments had to be made in the Session’s office and Criminal Court payments had to be made in the Criminal court office.  If the person owed court ordered fines to both, they had to visit both offices.  Now one trip to the Payment Center not only makes it simpler, it makes it more convenient. 

It was also recognized early on that many victims of crimes were finding it difficult to keep up with the court appearances needed to prosecute their cases.  Dean partnered with V.I.N.E. which stands for Victim Information Notification Everyday.  This system allows anyone to enter the name of a defendant and then be notified by email of any upcoming court date for that individual.   Defendants have also been able to use this system and the number of “failure to appear” cases has drastically reduced.  As a result of Mr. Dean’s relationships in the state of Tennessee, this service was offered by the company as a pilot program from the vendor at no cost to Hamilton County.  Hamilton County was also the first of the four large counties in Tennessee to be offered this service.

Dean was successful in having a Hamilton County Judiciary Services APP created.  The APP, which is available in most online APP stores brings together most of the services available in the Hamilton County Court System, including court dockets and dispositions, the sex offender registry, alternative sentencing, Driver’s License restoration, payment instructions, helpful phone numbers, and links to many more Hamilton County services.  This was a tremendous step in the right direction for transparency and accessibility for the general public.

Defendants also use the APP to keep up with their court appearances.  This reduces the number of “failures to appear” and saves taxpayer money.  The APP also allows for the Administration to notify all Deputy Clerks of any important information as it comes available, whether it be inclement weather or any closure information.  With this being a county wide project and being available to all Judiciary related offices, it came at no cost to the Criminal Court Clerk budget.  Thus it was a tremendous savings for such a valuable tool.

As mentioned, one of the duties of the Criminal Court Clerk is to collect the court ordered fines and associated fees.  Mr. Dean and his staff entered into a contract with a firm to assist in collecting the delinquent fines.  On average that collection agency remits to Hamilton County in excess of $50,000 per month.

“Some of these cases are 30 years old.”  Dean said.  “We have come across some that the defendant had forgotten about, due to the debt not being pursued.” Dean added that the current collection agency has been a valuable tool.  The payment center itself remits an average of $150,000 per month in current debt owed to Hamilton County. 

In addition, the staff works to help defendants maintain their driver’s license, by putting them on a payment plan that they can live with.  This is a benefit to both the defendant and to Hamilton County.  We are able to collect money that is ordered to be paid by the court, albeit in small portions, and ensure that the defendants are able to maintain gainful employment by having their driving privileges.

“I am a firm believer that if a Judge orders a defendant to pay a fine, it should be paid,” Dean said.  “However, our office has repeatedly shown that we have compassion and want to make that portion of the judicial process as painless as possible” he added.

The administration is currently working on an EFile program that will be acceptable and approved by the Supreme Court of Tennessee.  EFiling of motions is currently being allowed on a limited and partial basis, under COVID19 orders from the State Supreme Court.  It is the goal to soon make this a permanent EFIle program.  Doing so will drastically reduce the amount of foot traffic in the offices, thus making it simpler for both defendants and attorneys and reduce the amount of paper consumed. 

Mr. Dean currently serves on the Board of Directors for C.O.A.T. (The County Officials Association of Tennessee) and serves on the Legislative Committee for the State Court Clerks Association of Tennessee. He is also a past Board of Directors member of that Association. 

Before assuming the office of Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk he served in the Tennessee General Assembly. There he was elected by his peers to represent the Republican Party as House Floor Leader and was appointed as the Chairman of the Transportation Committee.  He also chaired numerous other sub-committees.  He still maintains a reputation in the Tennessee House of Representatives as being able to work with both sides of the aisle in an effective manner.

“I am firm believer that some of the best legislation is the legislation that has the input of both sides of the issue,” Dean has been quoted as saying on many occasions.  He retired from the City of Chattanooga Police Department in 2006 with 27 years of service.  He and his Wife of 34 years reside in East Ridge, where Debbie is a stay at home dog mom to Rocky.