Denton Leaves Office
Denton Leaves Office by Lisa Coleman “My Dad always told me to be professional to everyone I work with. He also said don’t take bad days home with you and remember the days you did good,” says General Sessions Court Judge Boyette Denton, “and I have thought about those things every day of my professional life, really life in general.”
Denton will be retiring on March 31, mid-way through his second term as General Sessions Judge to start what he calls “my next, new chapter of life”. Denton, one of five children of Morris and Rosemary Denton, is a Hardeman County native. He is a “proud member” of the Bolivar Central High School class of 1979, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, and of Cumberland Law School; he passed the Tennessee bar in 1989 and joined his father in the law firm of Denton and Cary in Bolivar. He and his wife Melissa (Mott) have four children and three grandchildren. Denton said he chose the legal profession to help others. “I wanted to help people accomplish things they might need help with or couldn’t do by themselves. I have always looked at being a lawyer as a way to serve and help people, and sometimes, as the attorney, I am their voice. I have never taken those responsibilities lightly and try to do that on every case I have been part of – whether in front of the bench as the attorney or behind the bench as the Judge.”
Denton is the third member of his family to be a part of the legal profession. “There has been a Denton lawyer in Bolivar since 1946,” he says. “First, my grandfather, H. Boyette Denton, then my Dad, Morris Denton, and now me. I was so glad to be able to work with my Dad for 20 years. I guess I will be the last of the Denton attorneys unless one of my grandsons takes up the profession.” He has, over the years, also served as the City Judge for Bolivar, Hornsby, and Middleton. Running for Judge was not something Denton had ever planned on doing. “I was happy as an attorney; I enjoyed being able to work with my Dad. After Chip (Cary) told us he was going to run for General Sessions Judge, my Dad told me that might be something to think about for me. We had a laugh about me becoming a Judge, and that was the end of it,” he said. When Cary announced he was not seeking another term, Denton said the subject of him running for Judge came up again. “I had several people in the community ask me to consider running for the position. I talked it over with Melissa, talked with Chip, talked to a lot of people; we prayed about it, and I decided I would put my name forward.”
Life would change for Denton and his family when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2009. “It was the simplest thing, I started having the hardest time every day tying my tie. I had been tying a tie every morning for years, but some days it was just like I knew what to do in my brain but my hands wouldn’t work or vice versa,” he remembers. “I thought maybe it was an old shoulder surgery from an injury that was flaring up. When my orthopedic doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with my shoulder, he sent me to a neurologist. I told him about trying to tie my necktie. I remember he had me walk down this long hallway. I knew he said something to Melissa, but I was not close enough to hear. She told me later the doctor wanted to know how long I had been walking with an unusual gait, which she and I had not noticed. After some more tests, he told me that I had early-stage Parkinson’s Disease. I had only recently lost my Dad, and then getting this news was a lot to take in.”
Parkinson's Disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by the nerves. Symptoms start slowly and can be different for everyone. Early symptoms may be mild and go unnoticed. Symptoms often begin on one side of the body and usually remain worse on that side, even after symptoms begin to affect the limbs on both sides. The causes of Parkinson's Disease are unknown and there is presently no known cure for the disease. Most patients are diagnosed after age 60, but some can be diagnosed in their 40s or even earlier. “I was able to control and manage the disease for a long time with medications,” Denton says. “I had DBS – deep brain stimulation – surgery a couple of years ago, and had a device implanted in my brain allows that doctor to stimulate different areas of the brain to help with symptoms such as tremors.”
A worsening of his symptoms over the past year prompted Denton to announce his retirement. “I really hated not to finish my second term, but at the end of the day I had to do what was right for me and for my family. I have had another worsening of the tremors, I fall very often, and I may be facing some shoulder surgery,” he said. “I may be good for days or even weeks, and then may fall several times in one day. It’s like my body stands up but my brain forgets or can’t send the message to my legs and feet to move, and down I go. I take classes called “Rock, Steady, Boxing” at a gym in Jackson. They are classes that were originally developed for boxers to help with balance and movement. People do a double take sometimes when I tell them I am taking boxing classes,” he says with a smile. “I am on medicines and do other types of therapy and exercising, all to help me manage the symptoms of Parkinson’s.” Denton says being very open about his Parkinson’s was a very deliberate decision. “If I talk about it or answer questions or whatever, I hope that will help other people either going through the disease or help family members. I figure we can all learn about it and laugh, cry, and pray about it together, too.”
Reflecting on his tenure as the General Sessions Court Judge Denton said he is especially proud of two accomplishments. “When I ran for my first term, I said I wanted us to work together as a community to find ways to work with individuals to rehab them rather than sending them to jail. We wanted to give them the tools to learn about addiction, how to stop the patterns, and get them into a more productive life. We were able to do that with the Drug Recovery Court.” The months-long program gives individuals accountability, information, and tools to break their cycle of addiction. “One of the most rewarding aspects of this program is being able to watch an individual work the program and be reunited with family members. It means so very much to me when someone stops me out in the community and says something like, ‘I didn’t like when you put me in that program, but it has changed my life and I have been sober for this long and I am doing this now’; that will never get old to hear about.” Denton says he hopes to stay involved with this program in a different capacity in the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an unexpected sense of accomplishment. “I am very proud of the fact that our courts were able to stay open during the COVID-19,” Denton says. “Many days we were definitely figuring things out as we went along. All of the courts’ staff, the attorneys, worked so hard to figure out how we needed to do things. There were a lot of days when someone would bring a stack of paperwork to my house to review and sign, some days I would sign things out the window of my truck, but we got it all done. We did virtual courts, courts by video, phone, whatever we needed to do. There were several court systems in the state that closed down completely during different times during the pandemic, but I am proud of everyone who worked together and kept our courts open for business.”
“I tell young people, young attorneys, who ask me about how they can be successful in this profession that there are a few things they can do, and that they need to view success differently than they may think. First, I tell them to get involved in a few cases early on with people who may not be able to afford an attorney; they may need your help the most. Getting involved in cases, paying or not, earlier on gets you something that is invaluable to an attorney – experience.” He says he always encourages others to find ways to be involved in their community. “There is always something, some job, some project that needs you,” he says, “and you learn so much more about your community when you are involved in its projects.”
Denton has always “practiced what I preach” about being involved. He has been a lifelong member of the Bolivar Methodist Church; he has served on numerous committees and projects with the Hardeman County Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board that created the Hardeman County Community Health Center. The Hardeman County Hee Haw show was a part of his life for 30 years before he retired; he enjoyed making a surprise cameo during this year’s show. “I really loved being a part of the show for so many years and it helped me to manage some of my early issues with my Parkinson’s, so that show is extra special to me in a lot of ways. I had – and still have – so much support from all the cast and crew.”
Denton says he has enjoyed his time as both an attorney and Judge for Hardeman County. “I have enjoyed being able to serve the people of our county. I feel I have had a good rapport with our local attorneys and their staff. I have learned from them and we’ve learned things together. I wouldn’t want to try to name everyone, every person who I’ve worked with as an attorney and Judge, I know I would leave someone out. I just hope they all know how much I appreciate them and enjoyed working with them.” He says everyone has been “very supportive and understanding” of his decision to retire.
When asked what’s next for him, Denton says, “I’ll have more time to focus on my health. Maybe I’ll get a little more rest, have more time to spend with family and friends. I am sure Melissa has a few things she would like me to do, too. It will be interesting to have a different focus each day, and to see what is next for us.”