Image Credit: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A trial date has finally been set for a former Chattanooga Police Chief accused of falsifying government documents.
Celeste Murphy will face a total of 17 felony and misdemeanor charges on January 20, 2026. She has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Murphy was charged in June 2024 after Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials found that she had provided false information related to her residency on several employment forms. She had been under investigation since April.
The Chattanooga charter and Murphy’s contract both stipulated that she must be a resident of the state to be police chief. She used addresses that did not belong to her, as she was still a resident of Fulton County, Georgia. Her voter registration form, driver’s license application, and a residency affidavit from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security all had falsified information.
A Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted her on one count of illegal voter registration, one count of false entries on official registration or election documents, three counts of false entries in governmental records, three counts of forgery, three counts of perjury, and six counts of official misconduct. Murphy stepped down from her position one day before that indictment was handed down.
Judge Boyd Patterson noted that there may be a need to select a jury from outside of Chattanooga due to the widespread media coverage of the case.
Murphy had served as Chattanooga’s first female police chief since being selected by Mayor Tim Kelly in 2022.
Additional Sources:
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2025/5/28/504300/Jan.-20-Trial-Date-Set-For-Former.aspx
