• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

Coria appointed district public defender

Posted at 3:47 pm October 22, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Ann Coria has been appointed public defender in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.

A Republican, Coria replaces Tom Marshall, a Democrat who was re-elected to a fourth eight-year term in 2014. Marshall, who had served as Anderson County public defender since 1989, retired at the end of September.

Coria, who has been an assistant public defender and worked in the office for about 20 years, applied for the position. After an interview process and background check, she was appointed district public defender by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday, October 15.

“I believe that I have the skills to run the office and the knowledge of what’s needed,” Coria said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “It is a unique set of skills.”

There will be a special election in 2020 to choose someone who will serve the last two years of Marshall’s eight-year term and a regular election for an eight-year term in 2022.

The Public Defender’s Office is located in Clinton across from the Anderson County Courthouse. Public defenders are appointed by courts to represent defendants who are accused of crimes and can’t afford private attorneys. Besides Coria, other attorneys in the Seventh Judicial District Public Defender’s Office include Les Hunt, Kathy Kroeger, and Nancy Meyer. There is an opening for a fourth attorney, someone to fill Coria’s former position as assistant public defender.

Coria estimated that more than 80 percent of court dockets in the Seventh Judicial District have defendants represented by her office. That means her office has to manage its time well and provide effective representation, she said. She’s done that for 20 years and been a working mother, Coria said. The job requires organization and efficiency, and it requires the office to use taxpayer money wisely, Coria said.

In 2006, Coria ran for Seventh Judicial District attorney general as an independent. On Tuesday, she said she became a Republican a number of years ago. She said she has never really been a Democrat and, when she ran for DA, she recognized that many counties have non-partisan elections and she thought the DA position here ought to be as well.

Now she is focused on efficiency, economy, and not wasting taxpayer’s money, Coria said. That’s in line with the Republican platform, she said. (The public defender’s office is a partisan position in Anderson County.)

“I feel that’s the party that represents my number one goal as a public defender, which is to be efficient with the taxpayer’s money,” Coria said.

It’s one of at least eight county leadership positions that have switched from Democratic control to Republican control since 2014, a reversal of the balance of power. There are now only two Democrats in the 15 partisan countywide elected offices: Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge and Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark.

During the 2006 campaign for DA, Coria advocated for considering alternatives for some non-violent offenders. On Tuesday, she said stands by that now. That’s in line with what the drug court, which wasn’t in place in 2006, tries to do in Anderson County, Coria said. The goal is to help people deal with underlying causes rather than just being punitive.

“The cost of incarceration is huge,” Coria said.

She said there is a statewide initiative by the public defender’s conference to try to get funding for a social worker position in every office and district that could help with mental health treatment and drug and alcohol treatment. The idea is to help people with the underlying problems that lead them to “get caught up” in the criminal justice system, enabling them to lead effective lives, Coria said.

She said the governor is trying to address some of those issues, and the public defender’s office has been offering assistance with expungement/driver’s license clinics, helping people get their driver’s licenses back, stay out of jail, and be productive members of society.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

You can contact John Huotari, owner and publisher of Oak Ridge Today, at (865) 951-9692 or [email protected].

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2019 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Government, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Ann Coria, Bill Lee, Democrat, public defender, Republican, Seventh Judicial District, Tom Marshall

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Government News

Election is Thursday

The Anderson County general election and state and federal primary elections are Thursday. Competitive races include the Democratic and Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, Republican primary for Tennessee House of … [Read More...]

Kairos Power begins construction on demonstration reactor​

Kairos Power has started construction on a test nuclear reactor in west Oak Ridge. The Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor is the first of its type to be approved for construction by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory … [Read More...]

County law director dies at 65

Anderson County Law Director Nicholas “Jay” Yeager, of Clinton, died Friday. He was 65. Yeager was assistant attorney in Anderson County from 2001 to 2006, and he has been law director since then. "Mr. Yeager was … [Read More...]

Outdoor Pool to close for season Aug. 12

Indoor Pool to re-open Monday The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool will closed for the season on Monday, August 12, and the Indoor Pool will re-open Monday, July 29, after being closed for a few months for renovations. The … [Read More...]

Tennis court dances recreate wartime event

Monthly dances by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park recreate the open-air tennis court dances that entertained 75,000 workers and their families in the Secret City during World War II. "Put on your … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival Announces 2025 Storytellers
  • Laser-Engraved Bricks Will Line Walkway of New Chamber Headquarters
  • Democratic Women’s Club to Discuss Climate Change, Energy and Policy
  • Estate Jewelry Show at Karen’s Jewelers Features Celebrity Jewelry
  • Keri Cagle named new ORAU senior vice president and ORISE director
  • ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal+ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal More than $1 million raised in past 10 years benefits United Way and Community Shares Oak Ridge, Tenn. —ORAU exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 in donations as part of its internal annual giving campaign that benefits the United Way and Community Shares nonprofit organizations. ORAU has raised more than $1 million over the past 10 years through this campaign. A total of $126,839 was pledged during the 2024 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign. Employees donate via payroll deduction and could earmark their donation for United Way, Community Shares or both. “ORAU has remained a strong pillar in the community for more than 75 years, and we encourage our employees to consider participating in our annual giving campaign each year to help our less fortunate neighbors in need,” said ORAU President and CEO Andy Page. “Each one of our employees has the power to positively impact the lives of those who need help in the communities where we do business across the country and demonstrate the ORAU way – taking care of each other.” ORAU, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, provides science, health and workforce solutions that address national priorities and serve the public interest. Through our specialized teams of experts and access to a consortium of more than 150 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and commercial customers to provide innovative scientific and technical solutions and help advance their missions. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakRidgeAssociatedUniversities Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/orau Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orau ###
  • Children’s Museum Gala Celebrates the Rainforest
  • Jim Sears joins ORAU as senior vice president
  • Oak Ridge Housing Authority Receives Funding Assistance of up to $51.8 Million For Renovating Public Housing and Building New Workforce Housing
  • Two fires reported early Friday

Search Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2025 Oak Ridge Today