Two vacancies in the western divisions of two state appeals courts have drawn a lot of interest from attorneys and judges in West Tennessee.

A total of 14 applicants filed with the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission for both vacancies by Friday’s deadline.

One vacancy is on the state Court of Appeals. That vacancy, which drew six applicants, was created by the April death of Judge W. Frank Crawford. The other vacancy, which drew eight applicants, is on the state Court of Criminal Appeals. It was created by the retirement of Judge David Hayes.

The applicants for the Court of Appeals are:

• William H. Haltom Jr., Memphis, partner, Thomason Hendrix Harvey Johnson & Mitchell PLLC
• William Michael Richards, Memphis, shareholder, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
• Todd A. Rose, Paris, member, Burch Porter & Johnson PLLC
• Sean Antone Hunt, Germantown, member, Spicer Flynn & Rudstrom PLLC
• James Steven Stafford, Dyersburg, chancellor, 29th Judicial District
• Nathan B. Pride, Jackson, attorney and professor

The applicants for the Court Of Criminal Appeals are:

• Camille R. McMullen, Millington, Assistant U.S. attorney
• Garland Ingram Erguden, Memphis, assistant Shelby County public defender
• W. Mark Ward, Memphis, Shelby County Criminal Court judge
• J. Ross Dyer, Memphis, senior counsel, Office of Tennessee Attorney General
• Clayburn L. Peeples Jr., Trenton, Circuit Court judge, 28th Judicial District
• Roger Amos Page, Medina, Circuit Court judge, 26th Judicial District
• Joe H. Walker III, Ripley, Circuit Court judge, 25th Judicial District
• Jeff Mueller, Jackson, partner, Mueller & Ellis PLC

The Judicial Selection Commission will interview the candidates, review their applications and hold public hearings. The commission then will submit the names of three finalists for each position to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Bredesen can pick one of the three or reject all three and get a new list of three finalists from the commission.