Background
Mark Phillip Beach (“Father”) filed a motion for contempt against Nicole Marie Beach (“Mother”) alleging she violated a court order by denying him visitation with their daughter. During the February 12, 2026 hearing before the Rutherford County Chancery Court, Father testified and Father’s counsel repeatedly asked leading questions. The trial court sustained opposing counsel’s objections and repeatedly warned Father’s counsel not to lead the witness. After the trial court held Father’s counsel in direct contempt for disrespectful behavior and warned that jeopardy had attached, Father’s counsel orally requested permission to file a formal Rule 10B motion to recuse the judge. The trial court denied the oral request, explaining that Rule 10B requires written motions to recuse, not oral ones. The trial court ultimately dismissed the contempt petition on the merits for Father’s failure to meet his burden of proof.
Rather than filing a written motion to recuse in the trial court, Father waited nearly four months and filed a Petition for Rule 10B Appellate Review on June 2, 2026. He attached no written recusal motion or supporting affidavit because he had never filed one with the trial court.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for failure to comply with mandatory requirements of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B. The court held that Rule 10B § 1.01 requires any motion for judicial recusal to be filed in writing, supported by an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury, and filed promptly after learning the basis for recusal. Father never complied with these requirements—he made only oral requests during the hearing and filed nothing with the trial court before appealing.
The court emphasized that the only order reviewable under Rule 10B is a trial court’s order denying a motion to recuse. Here, the trial court never heard or denied a recusal motion because none was filed. The trial court’s order dismissing the contempt petition was not an order on recusal and therefore was not the proper subject of a Rule 10B appeal. The court noted that the trial court’s written order itself contained findings that conflicted with the hearing transcript—it stated oral recusal motions were denied, when in fact the court never entertained oral motions, citing the Rule 10B requirement for written filings.
Key Takeaways
- Motions to recuse must be filed in writing and supported by affidavit; oral requests during a hearing do not satisfy Rule 10B § 1.01.
- The mandatory requirements of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B must be strictly followed; failure to comply is fatal to a recusal appeal.
- Rule 10B appeals review only trial court orders that actually deny a written motion to recuse; dismissals of underlying cases on the merits are not reviewable on recusal grounds.
- Delayed filing of a recusal motion—here, nearly four months after the hearing—can constitute waiver of the recusal claim.
Why It Matters
This decision reinforces the procedural strictness with which Tennessee courts enforce Rule 10B requirements. Litigants dissatisfied with a judge’s rulings cannot circumvent the appellate system by making oral recusal requests during proceedings and later appealing. The remedy for perceived judicial bias is a prompt, written motion to recuse filed in the trial court, with supporting sworn statements. Failure to follow this procedure waives the recusal claim entirely.
The ruling also clarifies that a Rule 10B appeal cannot be used as an end-run around the merits of an underlying case dismissal. Father’s frustration with the trial court’s evidentiary rulings and the contempt petition’s dismissal did not provide grounds for a recusal appeal absent a proper written motion and an actual trial court order denying recusal. Litigants must make recusal challenges promptly and in compliance with the procedural rules or lose the right to appeal them.