Hon. Andy Brigham, Stewart County General Sessions Judge with Juvenile Court Jurisdiction President, Executive Committee of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (TCJFCJ)
(B.S., University of Tennessee, 1982, Highest Honors; J.D., University of Tennessee, 1985, Order of the Coif), General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge, Stewart County, Tennessee. Judge Brigham is co-author of The Tennessee General Sessions Handbook (M. Lee Smith, Publishers), and received the McCain-Abernathy Memorial Award in 2015 from the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the Judge Leon Rubin Award in 2015 from the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference. He serves as a member of the Court Improvement Program, Work Group Law Committee, and was co-chair of the Delinquency and Unruly subgroup of the Work Committee charged with the rewrite of the Tennessee Rules of Juvenile Practice and Procedure, completed in 2016. He currently serves on the D/N Data and Juvenile Court Appeals subcommittees. He is a member of the Executive Council of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, currently serving as its Vice-President, and the Education Committee of the General Sessions Judges Conference. He also serves on the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct as its Vice-Chairman and head of its Legislative Committee, a member of the Child Support Advisory Committee, a member of the E Filing Standards Committee, a member of the Safe Baby Court Advisory Council, and is a member of the Juvenile Justice Data Review Team created in 2017. He is a member of the Juvenile Justice Reform Implementation Council appointed by the Governor in 2019, and was chosen by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Bevins to participate in the ECHO judicial education program. He was the chair of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference, ad hoc Committee on Bail Best Practices, and is a frequent presenter to both Conferences. A part time judge, he also is active in his family’s hardware and building materials business in Dover and is a licensed federal firearms dealer. He has a fondness for Italian bicycles, German automobiles, Irish folk music, Winchester pump shotguns, Model 1911 handguns, Tennessee whiskey, Crossfit, big mountains, real newspapers, and most outdoor activities.
Trish Hayes, LCSW, Social Worker at Juv. Ct. and Asst. Professor at MTSU
Since 1990, Trish Hayes has served as a social worker in the Metro Public Defender Office, Juvenile Division. In that capacity she advocates within a variety of systems and organizations that serve children involved in the juvenile justice system. She works to divert children from formal sanctioning in the court system by accessing community based interventions and prevention initiatives. She works with attorneys to create viable alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders utilizing community resources and programs. She is a strong advocate for clients within the educational, child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health systems.
Ms. Hayes has provided training to various stakeholders through a number of venues on topics pertinent to service delivery and advocacy for vulnerable youth. She is an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University in the Social Work department and at the University of Tennessee Masters in Social Work program, Nashville Campus. Ms. Hayes received her MSSW from the University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work in 1987 and is licensed in the state of Tennessee as a clinical social worker.
Stacy Miller, JD, CWLS, Office of the District Attorney General, Assistant District Attorney, Juvenile Court Team Leader
Stacy L. Miller is an Asst. Dist. Attorney in the 20th Judicial District. She currently serves as a Team Leader for the Office of The District Attorney in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. She is certified as a Specialist in Juvenile/Child Welfare Law.
She has served the State of Tennessee in a variety of capacities during her legal career. She has worked for the Administrative Office of the Courts in the Court Improvement Program, and she has worked for the Department of Children’s Services as a staff attorney, a supervising attorney, and as the General Counsel. In addition to State service, Ms. Miller was in private practice for 10 of her 30+ years as an attorney. Ms. Miller also served as an Adjunct Professor at Middle Tennessee State University where she taught Family Law and Introduction to Law for 20 years.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Miller completed her B.S in Communication Disorders at Northwestern University and a M.S. in Speech Pathology at San Francisco State University. She worked for 10 years in Maine and Tennessee as a Speech and Language Pathologist working with neurologically impaired children and adults. She was drawn into the court system when asked to testify on behalf of one of her speech clients who had suffered a severe stroke. Once in the courtroom, Ms. Miller knew that her next step had to be law school.
As a lawyer, she has been able to combine her knowledge of science, child development and medical training with the law in order to best meet the needs of the children and community that she serves as an Assistant District Attorney.
Emily Jenkins, Tennessee Justice Center
Emily Jenkins is a Staff Attorney with the Tennessee Justice Center, where her practice is focused on health and nutrition equity and disability rights. Emily has been a CASA Advocate for almost a decade, and serves as the current Chair of the Board for Tennessee CASA. At the national level, Emily most recently served as a member of the National CASA Volunteer Council.
Carrie Mason, Ph.D., Program Attorney, Tennessee Court Improvement Program Administrative Office of the Courts, Tennessee Supreme Court
Carrie Mason, Ph.D. is the Tennessee Court Improvement Program Attorney in the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Prior to joining the office in August of 2020, Carrie practiced as a guardian ad litem and parent attorney on a holistic delinquency prevention project in the Metro Nashville Public Defender's Office. Carrie has BS, MA, and PhD in Special Education. She adjuncts in the School of Education at MTSU and frequently guest lectures at Vanderbilt University.
Annemarie Rainwater, Foster Parent Support Worker, Dept. of Children’s Services –Coffee County
Annemarie Rainwater is committing her life to helping foster children, because she was in foster care from age 13 to 17 years old in both Michigan and Tennessee. Annemarie was adopted by Rick and Phyllis Rainwater who she is proud to call her forever family. She graduated Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Annemarie was selected by National CASA to be the Youth Voice at the annual convention in Las Vegas for Jewelers for Children, a national foundation that supports the CASA organization. She spoke to Governor Haslam’s Launch of the Tennessee Fosters Initiative through the faith community. While still in college, Annemarie served as a Youth Villages mentor. She was also appointed by Governor Haslam to be a Youth Board Member for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.
After graduation, Annemarie worked for Youth Villages assisting children and families to avoid foster care by providing services to strengthen them and prevent abuse. Currently, she is working for the Department of Children’s Services in Coffee County. This is the county where she was in foster care, so she is working in the court with colleagues who once managed her journey. In the beginning, she was a family service worker supporting foster children. Now she works with foster parents and places children from out of state to be with relatives in Tennessee.
More than three years ago, Annemarie took custody of her niece when she was two months old. Now, she is 3 ½ years old and a thriving, happy little girl. Annemarie was able to adopt her so she has a safe, loving home.
While Annemarie had a difficult childhood, she is using her experience to help others. Annemarie is a frequent speaker on behalf of CASA programs across Tennessee to tell of the value of a CASA volunteer in her experience in foster care and finding a forever family. She is also a new member of the Tennessee CASA Board of Directors.
