Existing Tennessee law requires judges of all the state’s court to be attorneys, but legislation proposed by Rep. Barbara Ward Cooper, D-Memphis, and Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, would change that. The bill would repeal the requirement and allow for non-attorney judges, Gavel to Gavel reports.

A new bill that would allow groups looking to open charter schools to circumvent the local school board and apply straight to the state Board of Education appears targeted at the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) system, the Nashville City Paper reports. The proposal would only apply to ounties with a population of at least 600,000 -- Davidson and Shelby counties -- but was likely prompted by last year's dustup between MNPS and the state over the rejection of a charter school proposal. After passage by a House subcommittee this week, the bill is headed to the full Education Committee.

State Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, requested to delay a vote on a constitutional amendment that would abolish Tennessee’s current method of judicial selection during Thursday’s legislative session. Ford said she had questions and wanted to wait until the state attorney general addressed them. Despite controversy and brief confusion over delaying the vote, the motion to roll the bill until next Thursday was approved. WMC News 5 has the story.

Lawmakers have filed a new bill to legalize the creation of municipal school systems despite the previous attempt being overturned in November by U.S. District Judge Samuel Mays, the Memphis Business Journal reports.

State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, is pressing legislation aimed at blocking Chattanooga from allegedly “cherry picking” affluent suburbs outside its current urban growth boundary plan. “This bill would say that before you can open your urban growth plan you must annex all areas within your currently existing urban growth area.” Carter told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

The Senate voted 26-4 to approve a proposed constitutional amendment to ban a state income tax, WSMV News 4 reports. If the House concurs, the amendment would be placed on the ballot for Tennessee voters in the next year’s general election. The proposal was sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown.

Tennessee lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment that would give the supreme court an important role in determining if a governor is incapable to serve. Under SJR 103 introduced by Knoxville Republican Senator Becky Duncan Massey, the Attorney General could petition the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the governor was “unable to perform the powers and duties of the office.” The court would rule on the petition and could remove the governor, who must then re-petition the Court for reinstatement within 30 days. If passed, Tennessee would join 25 other states that allow the court to play a role in gubernatorial incapacity determinations. Gavel to Gavel has the story. 

More than100 Tennessee lawmakers and their staffers came together with members of the Tennessee Bar Association during the annual Big Shrimp legislative reception Tuesday night at the Tennessee Bar Center. The event gave attorneys the opportunity to meet with senators and representatives in a relaxed atmosphere. The TBA's Leadership Law class also attended the event, after spending a day learning about Issues in Policy and Politics. The class heard from a panel of lawyer legislators, a group of lawyer lobbyists and an expert on judicial selection. In addition, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper addressed the group and class members attended a session of the Senate's Judiciary Committee.

A bill to block courts from granting subpoenas for the identities of anonymous commenters on news websites was unanimously approved 32-0 today in the Tennessee Senate, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The proposal was sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and does not include cases in which defamatory statements were made.

The state Senate approved the guns-in-trunk bill by a 25-7 margin yesterday, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The bill now moves to the House where it is expected to pass in the next two weeks.