Judge John Newman Badgett, Jr. was a graduate of Maryville High School, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Maryville College in 1940, and his bachelor of law degree from the University Of Tennessee College Of Law in 1942. Judge Badgett joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet and served as a pilot and flight instructor until the end of World War II, when he returned to Maryville to begin his practice of law. He was recalled to active duty with the U. S. Air Force in 1950 and retired in 1970 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Judge Badgett again returned to Maryville and in due course was elected by the Blount County Commission to fill the unexpired term of the late Judge Will A. McTeer as one of the Blount County General Sessions Court judges. Thereafter, he was elected for a full term and after serving it, he retired in 1981.