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An attorney for Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham argued Friday that a defamation suit against the mayor should be dismissed because the Knox County Circuit Court had no jurisdiction.

And while Knox County Circuit Judge Harold Wimberly agreed that the case was not appropriately filed in Knox County, he denied the motion to dismiss and instead ordered the case moved to Blount County Circuit Court.

The defamation suit -- Kathy H. Wright vs. Jerry Cunningham -- stems from remarks made by Cunningham at the Blount County Public Library on Nov. 27, 2007, allegedly referring to Wright's divorce before Blount County Circuit Judge W. Dale Young. The meeting at the library was held as a rally of support for Young.

Wright alleged in her lawsuit that Cunningham -- who is being sued as an individual, and not as the Blount County mayor -- portrayed her actions in the divorce case in "a spiteful, vindictive and disgraceful manner."

In the lawsuit, Wright also claims that "Cunningham published a statement about her with knowledge that the statement was false and defaming to the Plaintiff (Wright) and that Cunningham made the statements about Wright with reckless disregard for the truth of the statement or with negligence in failing to ascertain the truth of the statement."

During Friday's Knox County hearing, Cunningham's attorney, Jon M. Cope, with Stokes, Williams, Sharp Davies, or Knoxville, argued that because the case was alleging slander, it should not be heard in Knox County.

In a slander case, he said, there are only two places a lawsuit can be filed -- where the defendant lives, or where the alleged slanderous statements caused injury. And according to the Tennessee Supreme Court, injury occurs from a slanderous remark, "the moment the words are uttered," Cope said. Because Wright was alleging Cunningham made the remarks in Blount County, that is the appropriate venue for the case, he said.

Wright's attorney, Maryville-based Thomas Mabry, argued that his client was not injured by the remarks until she heard an audio file on the Internet of Cunningham's Nov. 27, 2007, speech. And because she heard the remarks in her Knox County home, that is where the injury occurred, Mabry said.

After the arguments, Wimberly decided that a dismissal was not appropriate, but a transfer was.

"The venue, after reading all of this, is in Blount County," he said.

It was not clear Friday which Blount County Circuit judge would hear the case once it is transferred.