Ex-judge Perry Stout disbarred from practice of law

NASHVILLE (WJHL) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has disbarred former Johnson County Sessions Judge Perry Stout, who recently pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking charges.

The court’s board of professional responsibility entered the order Tuesday after hearing the case against him on May 24. It effectively bars Stout permanently from practicing law in the state, as Tennessee’s Supreme Court in 2020 eliminated its rule allowing attorneys to request reinstatement after five years.

Stout, 52, who was sentenced to a year in prison on May 2 on the marijuana conviction, wasn’t being sanctioned by the state for the first time. He resigned as judge in June 2023 after a “self-reported incident” involving an affair with a courthouse employee.

However, the order noted that the prior disciplinary actions were brought up in the hearing, “such was of little import in the Panel’s evaluation of the charges.”

His law license was suspended Feb. 28 after he signed a plea agreement in January to one count of conspiracy with intent to sell more than 10 pounds of marijuana and one count of money laundering.

In its disbarment order, the court noted that as a judge, Stout was able to learn investigative information about crime and prospective criminals when law enforcement officers sought warrants or otherwise interacted with him.

“As part of the marijuana purchase and sale process, Mr. Stout had identified a code word which would be used to warn his accomplice of when law enforcement might be taking action of which the accomplice would benefit from being aware,” the order states.

Evidence presented during the hearing indicated Stout’s actions “had an adverse effect upon the Johnson County community as a whole, including a loss of confidence in the legal process within Johnson County.”

The order also mentioned the fact that as a juvenile judge who was also dealing marijuana, “Mr. Stout’s trafficking of a controlled substance could easily have resulted in juveniles appearing before him on matters which included possession, use, or further distribution of the same controlled substance which Mr. Stout’s illegal business venture brought into the State of Tennessee and Johnson County.”

Records show Stout reported for his sentence Saturday and is being held at the Morgan County Jail.

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