Richard Dinkins was a judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals Middle Section. He assumed office on January 14, 2008. He left office on September 1, 2022.

Dinkins was appointed to the court by Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen on January 14, 2008, and retained for two successive terms. Deciding not to run again, Dinkins retired at the end of his term in September 2022.

He received his undergraduate degree from Denison University in 1974 and his J.D. degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1977.

Upon completing law school, Judge Dinkins engaged in the private practice of law, practicing for twenty-six years in a general civil practice. His practice included civil rights and constitutional litigation, as well as serving as counsel for Fisk University and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. Judge Dinkins was appointed Chancellor of Part IV of the Chancery Court for Davidson County in September 2003. He was elected to the same position in August 2004 and reelected in August 2006. Judge Dinkins was appointed by Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen to the Court of Appeals in January 2008 and was elected in August 2008.

Over the course of his sixteen years of dedicated and insightful service on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, he was considered “one of the most gifted jurists this State has ever produced” per Tennessee State House Joint Resolution 1140, honoring Court of Appeals Judge Richard H. Dinkins on the occasion of his retirement from the bench.