Crossville native Kyle A. Hixson’s name is on the list of three finalists selected Tuesday by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments to replace Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby.
Hixson, presently a judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Eastern Section, was among five applicants interviewed.
Gov. Bill Lee will choose between Hixson, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge J. Ross Dyer of Memphis and Shea Sisk Wellford, president of the Memphis-based Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston law firm, to serve on the state’s highest court when Kirby retires in June 2026.
In his application, Hixson makes reference to growing up in Crossville.
“During my early childhood, my parents operated M.A. Hixson’s Grocery, a small, family-owned grocery store outside of Crossville,” he wrote. “The store was open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., without the assistance of hired employees. I would go with my father to open the store in the mornings, until it was time for me to go to school. After school, I rode the bus back to the store, where we stayed until closing. By my teenage years, my father had transitioned into operating a small chain of convenience stores in the Crossville area. I worked in these stores after school and in the summers as a teenager.”
Hixson has had a distinguished law career since graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2008. He served as an assistant district attorney general with the 6th Judicial District in Knoxville, leaving to take on the role of assistant attorney general to the Tennessee Attorney General in Nashville. He returned to 6th Judicial District Attorney General’s office two years later as deputy district attorney general.
Hixson was serving in that role in late 2019, when Gov. Lee appointed him to the bench to replace retiring Knox County Criminal Court, Division II, Judge Bob R. McGee.
“Kyle is a dedicated public servant with an extensive background in complex criminal litigation,” the governor said upon making the appointment.
“We are proud to announce this appointment and appreciate his willingness to serve,” Lee added.
Sworn in Jan. 1, 2020, Hixson presided over the court during the COVID-19 pandemic and served as the jurist over the first trial in Knox County after the Supreme Court lifted its initial statewide suspension of jury trials.
Two years later, Lee appointed Hixson to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
Hixson’s undergraduate degree is in communications. Graduating summa cum laude from UT in 2005, he majored in political science and broadcasting.
His interest in broadcast communications was developed when he served as a statistician for high school football and basketball games for WOWF-FM in Crossville.
“When I obtained my driver’s license, I began working afternoons and weekends at the station, providing on-air news, weather, and obituary reports,” Hixson wrote in his application.
While in college, Hixson served as sports director for UT’s student-operated WUTK radio station and as an asociate producer for the Titans Radio broadcasts. That led to an eight-year employment with the Vol Network as an announcer, reporter and producer for UT athletic broadcasts, and he worked on the baseball broadcast team throughout law school and during his first three years with the 6th Judicial District’s DA’s office.
He has been an adjunct professor of law at the UT Winston College of Law since 2017.
It is unknown when Lee will make his decision. Final confirmation on the new state Supreme Court justice will go before the Tennessee General Assembly.