A Letter to the Chattanooga Legal Community from Tracy Cox, CIMS Coordinator

August, 2025

We are very grateful for the countless volunteer hours, which so many of you have already donated during the past three months. Each of you plays an essential role in the success of the Courthouse Indigent Mediation Services (CIMS), and your volunteer services, feedback, mentoring, and guidance are shaping a very exciting future.

We have finalized our forms, orders, and reports, which can be emailed to you in advance of your volunteer mediation or provided onsite in the newly remodeled CIMS settlement conference room on the third floor at the Hamilton County Courthouse and the beautifully refurbished Courtroom 5 in the Hamilton County Courts Building. Both venues can be made available to you, along with additional spaces such as jury rooms and conference rooms and both provide the unique opportunity for mediations to occur in private, while judges and chancellors are nearby. CIMS staff are on-site to assist you, as well as provide forms, and copies. If you prefer Zoom mediations, we have equipped the CIMS settlement conference room to make this available.

As we continue to build a volunteer experience that is easy and convenient, for you, we’re launching our volunteer sign-up system today. Your thoughts and suggested changes to the forms, the sign-up procedures, and mediation experience are most welcome.

Please be on the lookout for your sign-up genius link/invite. The following is a description of the types of mediations available for you to sign up for:

• Real-time eviction mediations in General Sessions Civil Court – These mediations occur each Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. for Judge Sell’s Court. Volunteer mediators arrive at Courtroom 6 in the Hamilton County Courts Building, and mediations are conducted throughout the building in space reserved by CIMS, including the beautiful Courtroom 5. We love having 3 or 4 volunteers for these mediations, as the eviction docket tends to be quite large. Judge Sell refers these cases directly from the bench in real-time, and the participants voluntarily agree to mediation. When these cases are settled, the volunteer mediator completes the form mediated agreement and returns to the courtroom to announce the agreement to the court. This experience is deeply meaningful, and many of the pro-se litigants are facing homelessness, while the plaintiffs are in sympathetic and difficult situations, as well.
• Scheduled ahead civil mediations in General Sessions Court – These mediations occur each Monday from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. in Judge Sell’s Court. These mediations are scheduled ahead of time by the Court. Mediators can receive the style of the case ahead of time to run conflicts checks. Some are voluntary mediations, and some are mandatory Rule 31 mediations. Volunteer mediators arrive at Courtroom 6 in the Courts Building, and mediations are conducted on site. We love having 1 to 3 mediators for the civil mediations every Monday and Thursday. These cases can be complex and, if court ordered, are governed by Rule 31.

When these cases are settled, the volunteer mediator completes the form agreement and returns to the courtroom to announce the agreement to the court. There is a huge range of type of cases, and mediation of these cases is an excellent way for mediators to sharpen their civil skills as well as spend time with other mediators and attorneys in Judge Sell’s Courts.

• Real-time mediations in Circuit and Chancery OP Court - These mediations occur in all Divisions of Circuit Court and both Parts of Chancery Court every Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. for Chancellors Atherton and Fleenor and every Monday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. for Judge Hedrick and 1:30 p.m. for Judges Bennett, Peck, and McVeagh. Volunteer mediators can view dockets ahead of time to run conflict checks. Volunteer mediators arrive for the OP docket call and mediate in real-time and on-site. Mediations are conducted while court is in session in jury rooms and in the newly remodeled CIMS settlement conference room on the third floor of the Courthouse. Cases are vetted by the judges and screened by CIMS to determine if domestic violence is involved. If domestic violence is involved, Rule 31 listed mediators with DV training can mediate critical issues such as child support and parenting time. While a petitioner’s protection or safety is not a matter for mediation, ancillary issues related to the petitioner’s divorce can be not only appropriate for mediation, but also critically necessary for the survivor. If domestic violence is not involved, such as in neighbor disputes and family struggles, volunteer mediators need not be trained in domestic violence. We love having one 2 or 3 mediators for each Monday and 1 Rule 31 DV mediator. These mediations can be richly rewarding, as solutions to emotionally charged problems are explored, offering hope for individuals who otherwise feel their situation is hopeless.
• Daily on-call mediations in Circuit and Chancery Court – From time to time, Circuit Judges and Chancellors have uncontested divorce matters or other civil matters, in which the parties agree to participate in the CIMS mediation program. Volunteers who sign up for these on-call mediations receive 1 hour notice and arrive at the Courthouse as needed on the day each mediator has signed up for. Ideally, we would have 1 mediator on call Monday through Thursday to assist the Circuit Judges and Chancellors with issues that are referred for mediation on the day of the court appearance. These mediations usually begin in the morning as soon as the mediator arrives and last no more than 1 hour. Mediations are conducted while court is in session in the CIMS conference room and jury rooms at the Courthouse.
• Scheduled ahead Rule 31 Listed mediations in Chancery and Circuit Court – These mediations are scheduled well in advance and governed by the Volunteer Mediator’s availability. Volunteers who sign up for these medications are contacted well in advance

to determine their availability. Orders and income information can be provided to Rule 31 Listed Mediators to determine if a reduced fee mediation is required by the mediator. Rule 38 reimbursement are also available through these mediations. These mediations can be up to half a day and can occur at the Courthouse, the mediator’s office, or via zoom, depending on the volunteer mediator’s preference. We would love to have one Rule 31 Listed mediator per month sign up to be contacted for scheduling a divorce mediation according to your schedule and as far out as needed by you. These cases are often divorce cases. Volunteers may indicate when signing up their preferred area(s) of mediation. These mediations can be voluntary or court ordered. Often, the parties can present their mediated agreement to the judge/chancellor on the same day their case is settled by the CIMS volunteer mediator offering immediate closure to a long and stressful divorce. 

Background Information on the 4-Year PlanProposal 

               In partnership with the Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) and Hamilton County General Sessions Court (the Court), the Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) coordinated and facilitated free and voluntary mediation services for landlords and tenants prior to a detainer (eviction) Court hearing, with the goal of improving outcomes for all parties. These services provided pre-filing and post-filing, and mirrored those programs used in nonprofit and bar association-sponsored community mediation centers throughout the state and country.

Background

               In June 2020, a court adjacent program, the Eviction Prevention Initiative (EPI), began serving tenants facing eviction with free legal representation, case management, and rent relief. The goals of this work were to decrease the number of evictions, increase housing stability, and to identify opportunities to improve the civil court experience for both landlords and tenants. 

               As a result of this work, relationships grew between all parties engaged with the detainer (eviction) docket and, in 2022, Hamilton County General Sessions Court became one of twelve state and local courts selected for a grant from the National Center for State Courts’ (NCSC) Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) to strengthen eviction diversion efforts and improve housing stability across Hamilton County. Locally, the initiative included a Housing Stability Facilitator, who was employed by the City of Chattanooga and worked directly with the Court and its judges to assist landlords and tenants before eviction cases were adjudicated in court.

               Subsequent conversations between members of the EDI team, the CBA, and the Court indicated potential interest amongst the local bar to assist the EDI program in providing pro bono or “low bono” mediation services to landlords and tenants engaged in the EDI process. Thereafter, EDI team members began meeting with community mediation leaders throughout the state and country concerning possible mediation options to assist Hamilton County EDI participants.

Statistics Supporting the Need for this Program

                According to the City of Chattanooga Chief Housing Officer, fourteen new people moved to Hamilton County every day in 2023. According to numbers from the Greater Chattanooga Realtors, between the years 2012 and 2022, the median sales price in the area increased from $137,000 to $305,000, an increase of 122%.[1] Alongside this growth, Heyman also cites that, since 2020, the median rent in Chattanooga has increased 30% while the median income for renters has only increased 13%.[2]These significant shifts in housing prices without comparable increases in income for all residents, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, led local leaders and stakeholders to seek resources and collaboratively coordinate to launch two pilot programs focused on housing stability: The Eviction Prevention Initiative (EPI) and the Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI).

               The EPI program, housed at Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET), focuses on connecting tenants to free legal representation and, through the success of this initiative, landlords and property managers began to inquire about the potential of increasing diversion from courtroom-based litigation. With funding from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the Hamilton County General Sessions Court, the City of Chattanooga, and Hamilton County government 

partnered to launch a pilot housing diversion program. One of the key gaps identified by this initiative’s team was the lack of coordinated mediation options in Chattanooga and Hamilton County that serve low-income litigants in diverse civil matters. 

               This gap, when met with the changing market conditions in the county, elevated the beneficial role that mediation could play in lessening the costly impact of litigation on civil justice involved persons. The EDI program moved forward with piloting mediation at the eviction docket and in a 5-month period in 2024, the EDI Facilitator had mediated improved outcomes in 28 housing cases. Additionally, Hamilton County’s Clerk and Master has been working voluntarily over the past ten years to fill this gap and has undertaken over 400 mediations for low-income litigants in civil matters including from juvenile, sessions, chancery, and circuit courts. There is a need for accessible mediation options for residents and low-income litigants in Hamilton County and the Chattanooga Bar Foundation began the efforts to expand current efforts already underway through a dedicated staff and program.

Services Provided by the CBA Courthouse Indigent Mediation Program

            The CBA Courthouse Mediation Coordinator that will focus on the following services:

• Survey and research the needs of all local stakeholders, including judges, attorneys, and litigants in civil matters.
• Develop sustainable volunteer coordination plan that builds on Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) membership contributions and community leadership efforts.
• Finalize and implement program policies and procedures within a non-profit agency that allow for fundraising and long-term action planning.
• Build on historical data collection and analysis efforts to centralize and define outcome-based programming across diverse civil issues.
• Coordinate services for served families with a focus on connecting participant litigants and low-income households with wrap around services.
• Provide education and trainings to area landlords and tenants on the services available through civil mediation.

The CBA Courthouse Indigent Mediation Program highlights the importance that the Chattanooga Bar Association and its leadership places on a coordinated indigent mediation program that encourages pro bono involvement by attorneys. Currently, the EDI pilot initiative and the efforts in building this sustainable program through IOLTA funds are overseen by the CBA Executive Director and the CBA program committee. Attorney leaders in the CBA have supported the development of this mediation program and donated hours to on-site support to housing mediation efforts. These attorneys include: EDI Coordinator and attorney Preet Grewal, as well as our eviction mediators: Judge Jeff Hollingsworth, Robin Miller, Rachel Kapperman, Marc Harwell, Jim Exum, Mary Sullivan Moore, and Bo Hixson. I would also like to recognize and thank the County’s Economic and Community Development Director Alexa LeBeouf for all her time, effort and dedication is seeing this pilot project from beginning in 2020 to where we are now.The central capacity to the mediation program are attorneys and Rule 31 mediators willing to volunteer their time to support low-income litigants access to mediation services in civil proceedings.

We are also honored to announce that local Attorney and Judge Tracy Cox has joined as the CBA as our Mediation Coordinator for this project to support us as we build from an eviction mediation pilot program in General Sessions Court to a more a community based program that supports mediation in a variety of civil, domestic, juvenile, and criminal cases.