State Sen. Jim Summerville, R-Dickson, who lost his primary race last Thursday, has resigned from the Republican Caucus, the Associated Press reports. In a letter to Caucus Chair Bill Ketron, Summerville said he will be serving as an independent member of the Senate for the remainder of his term and asked that his resignation from the caucus be effective immediately. With all precincts reporting in District 25, former Sen. Kerry Roberts of Springfield had 42 percent of the vote compared to Summerville’s 16 percent. News Channel 5 has the story.

Sen. Brian Kelsey writes in the Chattanooga Times Free Press this week that the case of Steve Bebb, former district attorney for Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties, “shows the need for judicial reform in Tennessee.” Bebb, who resigned yesterday, had faced allegations of misusing his office, though investigations by the TBI, Senate Judiciary Committee and Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) failed to lead to any charges. Kelsey, who filed the BPR complaint, nonetheless concluded that “the mechanisms we have in place for disciplining corruption and unethical behavior in Tennessee are not working.” He recommends two specific reforms: giving the attorney general the power to prosecute all cases of public corruption and changing how the attorney general is selected.

A Senate panel grilled court officers for more than four hours Tuesday at a hearing focused on the Board of Judicial Conduct’s handling of a complaint against Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade, the Tennessean reports. State Sen. Mike Bell, a critic of the judiciary, chaired the hearing of the Ad Hoc Committee on Judicial Accountability. Judge Chris Craft, chair of the Board of Judicial Conduct, and the board’s Chief Disciplinary Counsel Timothy R. Discenza were among the witnesses. Both testified that Wade did not appear to have done anything wrong and nothing was amiss in the board’s consideration of the complaint.

A specially appointed “Ad Hoc Committee on Judicial Accountability” of the Tennessee Senate is scheduled to meet Tuesday. While the notice fails to indicate the purpose of the meeting, it appears to be a legislative effort to investigate Sen. Mike Bell’s ethics complaint against Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade and/or to examine the legality of the composition of the state’s Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, Gavel to Gavel reports. 

The Tennessee Senate Government Operations Committee has scheduled a hearing June 24 to examine whether reforms enacted by the General Assembly in 2012 to bolster disciplinary procedures are enhancing “judicial accountability” as intended. Gov-Ops Committee Chairman Mike Bell, R-Riceville, announced his intention to initiate the probe last week. TNReport.com has the story.

State Sens. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, announced today that the Senate Government Operations Committee will hold a formal inquiry “sometime this month” into the Board of Judicial Conduct’s decision to dismiss a complaint against Chief Justice Gary Wade. That anonymous complaint questioned whether Wade broke ethics rules by commenting on judges subject to review by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. After the board dismissed the complaint, Bell came forward as the source of the complaint. Bell and McNally also said today they may also take up issues associated with the composition of the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. A Davidson County judge ruled earlier this year that the commission’s makeup was illegal because it did not reflect the diversity of the state. The Tennessean has more.

Seven Tennessee senators – all Republicans – sent a letter to the Board of Judicial Conduct Monday protesting the body’s decision to dismiss an ethics complaint against Chief Justice Gary Wade. Senators Janice Bowling, Rusty Crowe, Todd Gardenhire, Mark Green, Ferrell Hale, John Stevens and Bo Watson said the board failed to "provide transparency and fairness" in its consideration of a complaint claiming Wade violated ethics rules when he commented on judges subject to review by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. The Tennessean has the story.

In the waning days of the legislative session, lawmakers defeated a proposal that would have provided $2 million to reduce the backlog of untested rape kits statewide. Senate Republican leader Mark Norris says the proposal was rejected because the legislature wants to know the size of the problem before authorizing money to fix it. He tells the Memphis Daily News that the legislature also is asking localities to explain how their situations came to exist and to offer a credible plan for eliminating backlogs. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is collecting the information and is expected to report to the legislature on its findings. Until then, the state has repurposed $500,000 in federal money to help the city of Memphis work through its backlog.

Under the new “Child Protection Act,” a person accused of sexually abusing a child multiple times will receive a single trial, allowing a victimized child to testify only once in court. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, and Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman. Rep. Dean told the Chattanoogan he has been working on the bill for nearly three years alongside the District Attorney’s Conference and the Tennessee Bar Association. The bill cleared both the House and Senate with a unanimous vote and is now on its way to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

The 108th Tennessee General Assembly has adjourned for the year. Legislation passing this session included measures to allow wine sales in grocery stores, fight methamphetamine production and give high school graduates free tuition at community colleges, which was a signature proposal of the governor, Knoxnews reports.