The state Senate today gave final unanimous approval to the bill (SB 555/HB 692) sponsored by lawyer legislators Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, and Rep. Andy Farmer, R-Sevierville, making changes to governing conservatorships after hearing a report from the Tennessee Bar Association. Among the proposed changes, the recommendation establishes a uniform emergency placement process, clarifies the role of guardians ad litem, requires court orders to specify rights being taken away, and calls for more frequent financial reports. The recommendations follow a series of hearings held across the state at which members of the TBA Special Committee on Conservatorship Practice and Procedure, chaired by Jackson lawyer Pam Wright, heard from witnesses who lost all of their assets as victims of conservatorships. The legislation will be one of the topics in the Legislative Update CLE at the TBA Convention in Nashville in June. The Tennessean has more.

The state House today failed to pass a plan pushed by Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey to enact the first judicial redistricting in the state since 1984. Richard Locker, Nashville bureau chief for The Commercial Appeal, writes today that opponents of the bill moved to kill it for the session but House Speaker Beth Harwell ruled that a motion to reject must wait one day. House members whose districts were directly affected by the plan persuasively argued against it and convinced a majority of their colleagues to join them on a 28-66 vote to oppose the bill. One lawmaker also expressed a common sentiment that the bill was "crammed down" their throats by the Senate, which had approved it 27-4 on Tuesday.

Gov. Bill Haslam has signed legislation proposed by the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) that requires all public notices printed in newspapers to also be published on websites as well as a statewide aggregate website maintained by TPA. According to supporters, the law is designed to increase transparency and openness in government, the Leaf Chronicle reports.

Freshman lawmaker, state Sen. Steven Dickerson (R-Nashville) learned during his first legislative session that even the best-intentioned laws can have unintended consequences. In a feature by the Nashville Legder, Dickerson said he has moved cautiously, trying to fully understand how different proposals might impact different people. “Everybody I’ve spoken to is committed to doing the right thing,” Dickerson says. But, of course, different people have different ideas about what the “right thing” is, he adds. While he thinks Gov. Bill Haslam “struck the perfect balance” with his Medicaid expansion proposal, Dickerson said if Haslam and the feds do reach an agreement, he would defer judgment on his vote until he has had a chance to study the details.

The House today unanimously approved TBA-backed legislation to reform conservatorship law in Tennessee. The vote came after a last-minute amendment that the Tennessean said would create a new and special path for hospitals to move patients unable to make decisions for themselves into lower cost settings such as nursing homes or rehabilitation faculties. The amended bill tomorrow goes back to the Senate, where Tennessee Bar Association Executive Director Allan Ramsaur expects it to get the support needed for passage. “We worked with the hospitals to find a third way of preserving rights but not requiring them to keep someone in the expensive hospital bed," he said of the amendment. TBA members will be able to learn more about the legislation during a program at the 2013 TBA Convention in Nashville that focuses on changes in the law coming out of the current General Assembly session.

The state Senate today approved legislation to allow teachers who have worked as police officers in the past to carry their guns with them at school. The measure was approved along with provisions that would keep parents from information about which teachers are carrying, or even if a school has any armed teachers. The Tennessean has the story.

The state Senate today passed a proposed constitutional amendment to give lawmakers in both chambers the power to select the state attorney general. Currently, attorney generals are selected by state Supreme Court justices. WBIR has the story.

After much speculation about resistance to lifting the statewide ban on special school districts, a bill to do just that sailed through the Tennessee House and Senate on Monday, the Memphis Daily News reports. The legislation was approved 70-24 in the House before winning approval in the Senate on a 24-5 vote. If signed by the governor, the bill will permit municipal school districts in 29 cities, including the six suburban towns and cities in Shelby County that have been seeking authority to establish their own school districts rather than merge with the Memphis city schools.

The appropriations amendment that threatened legal aid and funding for public defender and indigent representation was withdrawn by the sponsor Tuesday evening. Advocates credited swift, coordinated and effective response by the legal community in reaching many senators and representatives who argued against the proposal.

The state Senate has passed a proposal to redraw Tennessee’s judicial districts for the first time since 1984. The plan from Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey was approved 27-4 today, Chattanoogan.com reports. The measure would affect 22 counties in eight districts by (1) reducing the number of districts from 31 to 29; (2) creating separate districts for Rutherford and Williamson counties; (3) merging two districts (27 and 29) in northwestern Tennessee; and (4) creating a new district comprised of Coffee, Cannon, Warren and Van Buren counties.