Shelley Thompson Gardner

Mrs. Shelley T. Gardner is a Wilson County, Tennessee, native. She graduated from Cumberland University in 1997 with her BBA and then from the Nashville School of Law in 2001 with her Doctor of Jurisprudence. She has been with the 15th Judicial District Public Defender’s office since 2002, starting as an Assistant Public Defender and was later appointed by Governor Haslam in 2018 as the District Public Defender. Mrs. Gardner has also been a member of the 15th Judicial Drug Court Team for the last 20 years. After serving as the Middle Tennessee Representative for 2019-2020, Secretary/Treasurer for 2020-2021 and Vice President for 2021-2022, she is currently the President for the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference for 2022-2023. ‍ Mrs. Gardner is very active and involved with her office and throughout her community. She currently sits on the Board for the Wilson County Fair, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), Teen Court, and is President Elect 2023-2024 for the Lebanon Breakfast Rotary. She was a 2017 graduate of Leadership Wilson and is also a Past President of Wilson ONE and of CASA. Being involved in her community has awarded Mrs. Gardner several special recognitions. In 2015, she was named Woman of Wilson. She received the Judge J.O. Bond Memorial Achievement Award in 2018, the CASA Community Champion Award in 2019, the Woman of Excellence Award in 2019 and the Cedar Tree Award in 2021 for the newly built Public Defender’s Office in Wilson County. Mrs. Gardner and her family are members of the Lebanon First United Methodist Church. Her husband, Joe, is the head football coach at Walter J. Baird Middle School and the Lebanon High School Football sideline radio announcer. Their two teenage sons, both play football for Lebanon High School Blue Devils.