CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Judge C. Wayne Shelton, who is preparing for retirement on June 30, has been a Montgomery County judge for 43 years. It will be a historic moment for the judge, for Clarksville and for Tennessee: Shelton will retire as the longest-serving juvenile court judge, general sessions court judge, or any court judge in the state.
Shelton said he always wanted to be a judge. “I remember going back to junior high school and putting on a skit for a program we had to put on, and I got to play the part of a judge, and that’s the part I wanted to play, and I liked it,” Shelton said.
Growing up in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, Shelton lettered in football at Stuttgart High School, and he later graduated from Southwestern College in Memphis. After college, he began law school at Memphis State University, but after only one year of law school, he was drafted into the Army, according to a biography provided to Clarksville Now.
Shelton completed Officer Candidate School, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and spent more than years serving his country. Upon completion of his Army service, he returned to law school at Memphis State, which he completed in 1973.
After a short stint with a law firm in Memphis, he moved to Montgomery County, the ancestral home of the Shelton family, and practiced law with the late Tom Stamper.
Shelton was appointed General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge on July 1, 1979, for the newly created position of Division II by then-Gov. Lamar Alexander.
For Shelton, the most important part of being a judge was his service to the community, and he would like to be remembered for his fair administration of justice, which means following the law.
He added that the legislatures – federal, state and local – pass the laws. They are the community’s representatives saying what the community thinks justice is, for that particular law, and the judges are to follow the law, doing justice according to the legislatures and the will of the people.
“As judges, we don’t take an oath to really do justice as much as we take the oath to follow the law. Follow the Constitution and follow the law,” Shelton said.
Along with his many years of service from the bench, Shelton for many years took up the mantle of Santa Claus at local Christmas events, bringing joy and happiness to children of all ages.