Haslam appoints Chancellor Armstrong to state Court of Appeals

June 18--NASHVILLE -- Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Shelby County Chancellor Kenny W. Armstrong to the Tennessee Court of Appeals' western division, effective Sept. 1, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

Armstrong, 66, will replace Judge Holly Kirby, whom Haslam has appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

"His experience in public and private practice as well as at the state and federal level will serve the western section well," the governor said.

Armstrong has been a trial judge in Chancery Court since September 2006 and was the court's clerk and master from 1997 to 2006. He was recipient of the Charles A. Rond Memorial Award for Outstanding Judge of the Year in Shelby County in 2012.

Originally from Munford in Tipton County, Armstrong was in private law practice in Memphis from 1978 through 1996, representing defendants facing criminal charges and clients in civil personal-injury cases, workers' compensation claims, Social Security disability claims and insurance loss claims.

He served as legal officer in the Air Force from 1974 to 1978 at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and Blytheville Air Force Base in Arkansas. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington in 1973-74.

Armstrong earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Tennessee State University in 1970 and a law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1973. He and his wife, Verline, have two adult children, daughter Shani and son Brian.

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