A Tennessee state legislative committee voted last week to remove references to women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans from the state's equal employment opportunity plan. Under the proposal, Tennessee will no longer formally track or publicly report on the demographics of individuals interviewed, hired or promoted to jobs in the executive branch of state government as of Oct. 7. According to Tennessee Lookout, the Joint Government Operations Committee also lifted a requirement for state agencies to specifically recruit, hire and promote underrepresented women and minorities. The rule change was necessary to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order ending affirmative action in government employment and recent state laws according to a deputy general counsel for the state’s Department of Human Resources. According to the paper, the state will continue to track employment of veterans and those with disabilities to comply with separate federal laws.

Cade Cothren, who resigned as chief of staff to former Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada in 2019, on Tuesday was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a scheme using the state’s constituent mailer program. The Tennessee Lookout reports he was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and will also be required to remain on probation for one year after serving his time in federal prison. Cothren was convicted alongside Casada of secretly running Phoenix Solutions, a company that funneled taxpayer-funded mailer business for profit. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson handed down the sentence after rejecting defense objections, finding Cothren used “intricate” money laundering to conceal the scheme. Attorneys for Cothren said they plan to appeal. Casada’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 23.

State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, and state Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, have asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to conduct an unannounced audit of the Memphis Police Department’s (MPD) crime statistics. In an Aug. 15 letter to TBI Director David Rausch, the lawmakers cited concerns that some felony crimes may have been downgraded to misdemeanors or recorded only as memos, keeping them out of official reports. Both legislators stressed they have no direct evidence but said an audit could restore public trust in crime data and help depoliticize the issue. MPD leaders strongly denied any manipulation, saying the department follows strict state and federal reporting standards and that errors are corrected through review and quality assurance. The TBI said it audits agencies every three years, with additional reviews possible if anomalies arise. It declined to confirm whether Memphis is currently under review. The Daily Memphian has the story.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee and the state are taking time to “explore the possibility of settlement” in the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging a law that makes it a felony for public officials to vote in favor of sanctuary city policies, WPLN reports. Lawmakers passed an omnibus immigration bill this year, which among other provisions, made it a felony for local officials to support sanctuary city measures. The lawsuit, filed in June on behalf of seven Nashville Metro Council members, argues the law is unconstitutional because it fails to clearly define a sanctuary city policy and violates protections for legislators acting in their governing roles. A three-judge panel appointed earlier this month has approved a motion for an extension, giving the parties until Oct. 10 to pursue settlement discussions.

State lawmakers are reconsidering how accomplices to murder are charged under the state’s felony murder law, which allows accomplices to face equal or harsher punishments than the actual killer, Local 3 News reports. During a Senate Judiciary Committee summer study session, lawmakers heard testimony from Mindy Dodd, who served decades in prison for conspiring to murder her husband and stepfather despite not being at the crime scene before her sentence was commuted in 2021. Former District Attorney Stephen Crump argued the law fairly deters crime, while Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said it can unjustly punish people with little or no intent to kill. No vote was taken, but proposals to amend the law could be filed next year when the legislature reconvenes.

The Tennessee Ethics Commission voted Tuesday to dismiss a set of complaints against Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis over public comments he made about “No Kings” protesters. The Tennessee Journal reports that the commission found that the grievances were outside the panel’s jurisdiction and warned against the “weaponization” of the body for political disputes.

Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, and Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, are asking the Tennessee Department of Correction to release part of a $14 million fund balance to support the state’s Community Corrections program, which suffered a 15% funding cut this year, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Briggs sent a formal letter detailing the impact the budget cut had on the program and requested the department to release 10% of a $14 million “carry forward” fund balance for Community Corrections to enable 13 programs to operate. Commissioner Frank Strada has declined to release the requested funds, citing budgetary and strategic constraints. The budget reduction has forced layoffs and service cuts in agencies like the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, which had served 750 people across 19 counties before the state imposed new program requirements in 2022. Jackson said additional funding requests will continue in 2026, but warned rural programs could face further reductions in the meantime.

State lawmakers Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, plan to renew efforts to give an appointed board oversight powers over Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), arguing the district is too large to manage effectively. They say a $6 million state-funded forensic audit of MSCS, expected soon, could justify a compromise on their stalled takeover legislation, which advanced through several committees last session. The Daily Memphian reports that while some Memphis residents support the proposals — especially amid frustration with leadership changes and low test scores — others view them as overreach that undermines local control and unconstitutionally targets a single district. Both lawmakers, who represent suburban areas, also have floated the idea of breaking up MSCS into smaller districts, citing poor academic outcomes compared to wealthier neighboring systems.

Local governments and state universities are adjusting their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies to comply with new state laws, the Nashville Post reports. In the most recent legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers passed several laws targeting DEI practices. The first, the Dismantling DEI Departments Act, bans departments that work to promote diversity or equity. The second, the Dismantle DEI in Employment Act, bans the use of hiring practices based on an applicant’s race, ethnicity, sex, age or other demographic. Finally, a third bill eliminates race-based preferences in state board appointments. In response, Metro Nashville, Middle Tennessee State University, Shelby County and the City of Memphis have made changes. Read more from the paper.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued notice that the Tennessee General Assembly has ratified amendments to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. The amendments, adopted by the court in December 2024, took effect on July 1.