Magistrate Carlyn Addison

Magistrate Addison grew up in both Birmingham, Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated from Xavier University of New Orleans, where she majored in English & minored in Theology. She received her Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For seven years, Addison served as an Assistant Shelby County Public Defender in both General Sessions & Criminal Court until, now retired, Judge Larry Potter appointed her as Staff Attorney & Environmental Court Referee. Magistrate Addison was the first African-American appointed to serve as Referee in Environmental Court.

Under the leadership of Bishop Charles H. M. Patterson, Sr., she faithfully attends Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ.  She is a member of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, the Memphis Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, Joshua Learning Tree Parent Board & a staunch supporter of the Herb Kosten Foundation supporting those affected by Pancreatic Cancer in loving memory of her Mother-in-Love State Representative Lois M. DeBerry, the longest serving member at the time of her passing and the longest serving Speaker Pro Tem.

Magistrate Addison is certified in recognizing and addressing Domestic Child Sex Trafficking by the National Council of Juvenile Court & Family Judges. She was also the proud recipient of the 2019 Truancy Champion Award of the International Association of Truancy & Dropout Prevention.

Since 2015, she has been committed to our children and their families as a Memphis & Shelby County Juvenile Court Magistrate Judge. Each day, she presides over cases involving delinquency, truancy, foster care, child abuse, and coparenting matters.