Dozens of new elected officials were sworn in this week, so it would take far too long to break down how each affects the average resident of Shelby County. Instead, here are the roles that could be most impactful over the next four years.
General Sessions Court Clerk:*
I placed an asterisk here because this role is not on the ballot until 2027, but it is important enough to mention now. While the word “general” legitimately covers a broad range of issues, I want to focus on just one area within the General Sessions Court Clerk’s jurisdiction: eviction.
When a landlord is seeking to evict a resident for whatever cause, the legal avenue is through the Shelby County General Sessions Court. The General Sessions Court Clerk processes the eviction filing, sets hearing dates, and administers the court that will make the final eviction ruling. Eviction filing data is public information (which is why any future landlord will know if you have ever been evicted), but it only becomes publicly available 30 days or more after the filing. By that time, the person or family who has been evicted has likely moved somewhere else.
Let’s think about this in the context of Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ homeless student population. It is, of course, impossible to know how many MSCS students are currently homeless; estimates from 2023 placed that number at nearly 3,000. When a family of an MSCS student gets evicted and must move to a new location, the school is often entirely unaware, even if the child stops showing up for class. Whether they are now living with a relative on the other side of the city or a catchment zone that is no longer served by their school’s bus, that student often falls through the cracks and becomes chronically absent. The 30-day eviction data delay is far too late for the school or district to intervene and provide services to the family.
The good news is that there is a solution, and the General Sessions Court Clerk plays a crucial role. There is potential to develop a data sharing partnership with the General Sessions Court, focusing on two primary areas. The first focus is on capacity-building needs with the court to support processing eviction filings, making those filings either publicly available sooner or privately available to an intermediary tasked with providing crucial services to those facing eviction. The second is on equipping schools to receive notifications of eviction filings affecting students once those filings are publicly available. Schools can then deploy an effective response and referral process for families to receive legal assistance, housing assistance, and other social supports to prevent the eviction.
This strategy reflects ImpactTulsa’s success in efforts to stabilize families through their Student Eviction Prevention Alert System. With a framework on the intersection of housing stability and student outcomes, Tulsa’s student eviction alert system uses publicly available eviction court data and student data to track the ways evictions impact student attendance, chronic absenteeism, and student mobility. The system also tracks intervention measures aimed at reducing eviction rates among families.
County Trustee:
The County Trustee, in accordance with the county charter and Tennessee state law, essentially serves as the county’s banker. This person (who is now Joseph Lee, III) is primarily responsible for collecting taxes, managing county funds and investments, and analyzing and forecasting budgets. The mayor and county commission rely heavily on the trustee each year to provide accurate budget projections to inform the size and scope of each fiscal year’s budget. The trustee, therefore, has a huge amount of influence over the potential for new investments or budget cuts each year.
Over the past year, the former trustee, Regina Morrison Newman, addressed commissioners about Shelby County’s cashflow problem. You might recall that the county was forced to take out loans twice in the previous fiscal year to make payroll and cover other immediate expenses. At a time when the county mayor and commissioners were contesting the extent and cause of the cashflow issue, Newman provided unbiased information about the status of revenue collection.
A core role of the trustee’s office is to make sure revenue comes into the government to operate services and pay bills. As the name suggests, a trustee must cultivate and nurture public trust—trust both in the good stewardship and impartiality of the office and in government to use public funds responsibly. If this trust decreases, tax avoidance can rise. During her tenure, Newman's office partnered with and sponsored the Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center—an entity that provides financial counseling services to county residents. This sort of work builds credibility and supports the efficient and effective collection of taxes. In its fourth quarter report for FY 2026, Newman’s office boasted a 97.69% tax collection rate, which they claim to be the “highest collection rate ever on record.” This improves the financial health of the county and provides commissioners with the necessary information to pass annual budgets.
County Assessor:
The role of the Shelby County Assessor of Property is crucial to the passage of the annual budget and the trustee’s ability to sufficiently fulfill their budget projection duties. This position is mostly relevant every four years when a reassessment of property values across the county is due, during which the assessor identifies the fair market value of each property in accordance with approved methods by the State of Tennessee. Because the primary source of revenue for the county is property taxes, the assessor’s figures essentially determine the majority of the county budget.
The way that properties are currently assessed in Shelby County places heavy weight on the value of “improvements” (such as buildings) that exist on a plot of land. For instance, if a house is worth $100,000, that valuation may be split between an $80,000 valuation for the home itself and $20,000 for the land on which it sits. Many economists, however, argue that this is to the detriment of families and the benefit of landowners who purchase wide swaths of land hoping that the area around it develops so that the value of their empty land increases and they can sell it for a profit. Because this method of assessment results in lower tax bills for real estate owners who do not improve their property, it contributes to blight in empty lots and lower than expected tax revenue for Memphis and Shelby County.
In fact, one study of Shelby County’s tax structure found that a shift in assessment to more heavily consider the value of the land in terms of its “highest and best use” (i.e. its potential when fully developed) would lead to a tax decrease for most residential property owners, while encouraging development. This way of thinking, called a “Land Value Tax” is not strictly permissible in the State of Tennessee, as certain guidelines must be followed to ensure uniform taxation in accordance with the state constitution and the “fair market values” of properties in the county, as compared to similar properties.
It is possible, however, that the assessor has the authority during quadrennial reassessments to reconsider how the office determines the values of each property by placing more emphasis on the land than on the structure atop the land. By doing this for every property across Shelby County at the same time, it could reconfigure fair market values and comparisons across the county, in accordance with state law. In doing so, the tax structure would remain uniform as required by the state, while also becoming more efficient and opening avenues for additional revenue for the county.
Criminal Court Clerk:
This role is exactly what it sounds like. The Criminal Court Clerk collects fees and administers the general functions of Shelby County’s criminal court. Why should this matter to the average resident of Shelby County who will likely never appear in front of a criminal court? Among other things, the Criminal Court Clerk (now Joe Towns, Jr.) is responsible for following state guidelines and ensuring that those with criminal records who meet qualifications for expungement receive that service. This leads to more success in finding employment and lowers the risk of recidivism, thereby increasing the tax base, lowering overcrowding at 201 Poplar, and benefiting the general public.
These offices may operate away from the spotlight, but their decisions shape whether families remain housed, public dollars are collected and invested responsibly, neighborhoods attract development, and residents can move beyond past records into stable employment. As these officials begin their terms, we all should pay attention, ask questions, and look for opportunities to work together. Improving economic mobility requires more than the leaders who dominate the headlines; it depends on every part of local government using its authority, data, and resources to help Shelby County’s children and families thrive.
