Wednesday, April 17, 2013 11:47 am

A plan that would merge Cannon County into a new judicial district passed the state Senate on Tuesday.

The proposal would remove Cannon from Rutherford County’s 16th judicial district and move into the 14th district with Coffee, Warren and Van Buren Counties. Previously, only Coffee County was included in that district.

 The plan, authored by Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey was approved Tuesday by a 27-4 vote. Sen. Mae Beavers, who represents Cannon County in the Tennessee General Assembly, voted “yes” on the measure.

Under the proposal, Rutherford County will be separated into its own judicial district.

Similarly, two judicial districts in northeastern Tennessee made up of Lake, Dyer, Obion and Weakley County would be merged into a single district.