Shelby County Judge Melissa Boyd plans to resign amid drug and harassment allegations

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd, in a letter from her attorney, notified the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts that she wishes to resign at the end of May this year.

The letter, dated March 29, came days after Boyd had her bond revoked due to two positive drug tests. It also comes days before the Tennessee General Assembly was slated to vote on removing Boyd from her position as judge.

The Commercial Appeal obtained a copy of the letter.

Boyd has been represented by legal ethics attorney Brian Faughnan in the pending removal proceedings. The letter from Faughnan said that he had "been authorized by Judge Melissa Boyd to send this letter as her formal letter to communicate she wishes to resign, with an effective date of May 31, 2024, from her position as a Criminal Court Judge for the 30th Judicial district at Memphis."

A vote is scheduled for Thursday in the General Assembly to remove Boyd, and Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, said she anticipates that it will still happen.

"I'm not sure if the vote will proceed, but it's likely that it will," Akbari said in an email statement. "By the end of May, the legislature will not be in session and we are required do address this issue. If the effective date was immediate, obviously the hearing would be moot."

Akbari was part of a committee that unanimously voted to recommend Boyd's removal on March 14, which was the first step in removing Boyd from office.

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Boyd has received multiple reprimands from the board since being elected in 2022. The reprimands stem from Boyd soliciting money for a school using a picture of her in her judicial robe, allegations of harassing another woman, alcohol abuse, and having a marijuana and cocaine addiction.

One reprimand required Boyd to receive treatment, which the board said she did not enter into until after her indictment.

Many of the accusations come from a woman who told the board she was Boyd's campaign manager. Boyd has since denied that she had a campaign manager, saying that the two women were in a relationship at one point.

According to the board, Boyd would show up at the campaign manager's home and berate her. The campaign manager said Boyd tried to have her recant her statements to the oversight board, telling the manager to "shut up" and "not mess with her because she's a judge."

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Boyd also would text the campaign manager information about the woman's divorce, the board said.

She also faces two criminal charges — coercion and harassment — connected to the allegations from her former campaign manager.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected], or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby Co. Judge Melissa Boyd to resign after indictment, bond revoked