The Knox County primary for Public Defender has two Republicans, an independent, and no Democrats so the election will likely be decided in the primary. It appears this special election is a heated contest with questions about who is most qualified. Compass has a profile of the candidates here. Here's KnoxTNToday's profile.

Gov. Bill Lee appointed incumbent Eric Lutton to the Public Defender post on an interim basis in October when Mark Stephens retired. Lutton is now seeking election to the office. Prior to that, Lutton was Stephens' top deputy. He has been with the office since 2013, and now oversees its staff of 71 employees. Lutton has been practicing law since 2007.

Challenger Rhonda Lee, who also applied for the interim post, has been practicing since 2013. Before that she was a law clerk and paralegal for approx. 11 years, and also worked in real estate.

On her website, Lee says she has "over 19 years of experience in the legal field" and "has defended over twenty jury trials in Knox County." It appears she's including her work as a law clerk and paralegal in her "19 years of experience in the legal field" which is technically correct but not all of it was as a lawyer as one might infer.

Her website also says she "has litigated over one thousand cases from the initial appearance of a criminal prosecution, through trial, and through the appellate proceedings." As for litigating cases "through the appellate proceedings," in 2018 she moved to withdraw from a case in Knox County Criminal Court. One reason given was "counsel has no experience doing appeals which would make the defendant prejudiced by counsel lack of experience." (Her client was convicted in the Zaevion Dobson murder case.) Perhaps she has gained appellate court experience over the past couple of years, but it's doubtful it could be much more than a fraction of "over one thousand cases."

Anyway, Ms. Lee seems to be a determined, accomplished person and an experienced criminal defense attorney. It's not clear why she needs any vague or embellished claims on her resume.