Helton Gets Pre-Trial Diversion in Florida Case

Former East Ridge Judge Cris Helton was granted pre-trial diversion, Thursday, by a Florida judge in a case in which he allegedly threatened to kill his wife.

According to a court document, Helton was charged with threatening to kill his wife on September 28. The charge was reduced to Disorderly Conduct. He was fined $100 and will be allowed to have “peaceful contact” with the victim. In addition, the former judge will be required to perform 20 hours of community service and complete and online course in anger management and substance abuse awareness.

In September, the 63-year-old Helton was arrested in Panama City Beach and accused of threatening to kill his wife and a mutual friend. According to an affidavit of complaint, he texted a photo of a black and silver knife to his wife Kimberly with a message saying: “I take that back I will kill both of you first. Don’t forget she knows your worth.”

Helton served as East Ridge Municipal Court Judge from 2014 until he resigned in August 2021.

Helton was suspended from practicing law in Tennessee after he was accused of not filing a number of years of tax returns and owing the Internal Revenue Service about $400,000.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.