A proposal to change the way the state attorney general is selected failed 16-15 in the Senate. Under the proposal, the governor would have appointed an attorney general and the legislature would have confirmed the selection. Currently, attorneys general are selected by state Supreme Court justices. Read the AP story

The state House voted unanimously Monday for a bill designed to protect citizens targeted to have their lives placed under the control of conservators. In brief discussion before the 95-0 vote, Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, said the bill would require those petitioning to place someone in a conservatorship to disclose their relationship to the target of the petition and to disclose whether they had a criminal record. The bill already has passed the Senate and is expected to go to the governor later this week. Read more in the Tennessean

In this final week of the 107th General Assembly, the legislature appears poised to pass a resolution to amend the state constitution to introduce a modified federal style of appointments to fill appellate and Supreme Court vacancies. SJR 710, by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Collierville, eliminates current language in the Constitution that contemplates elections, and replaces it with a process by which the governor will appoint a judge, subject to the confirmation by both houses of the General Assembly. Once in office, the judge would stand for a retention election. This change would end the current merit selection/retention election process in Tennessee

The resolution passed in the Senate on Monday and is set for consideration tomorrow in the House. If passed, the resolution would be before the 108th General Assembly, where it would require a two-thirds vote, in order to go on the ballot for public consideration in November 2014.

Tennessee lawmakers say they hope to wrap up the 107th General Assembly this week, although there are about "60 to 70" unresolved issues. Among those are the budget, proposals on how to select Supreme Court justices and an effort to ban teaching about gay issues in schools. The News Sentinel has more

Shelby County Public Defender Stephen Bush claims state finance officials have been misinterpreting state law regarding funding for the public defenders in Shelby and Davidson counties for 20 years and that the offices are owed $45.2 million -- $28.4 million for Shelby and $16.8 million for Davidson. State Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, has filed a proposed amendment to the state budget that would appropriate the money to the two counties. The amendment is not expected to pass, but Kyle said he hopes the problem can be fixed going forward, which would mean an extra $3 million for the Shelby public defender's office and $2 million for Davidson in the state budget for fiscal year 2012-13. The Commercial Appeal has the story

The Tennessee Journal and other sources this afternoon reported that supporters of a constitutional amendment to end merit selection and institute legislative confirmation for Tennessee judges (SJR 710) are using an "artificial turf" campaign technique to try to generate the appearance of popular support for their viewpoint. The technique involves calls to voters who, if they agree with the position of the group making the calls, are then connected with their senator or representative's office to express their views. The campaign technique is referred to as artificial turf or Astroturf because it can give the appearance of real grassroots support.

TBA president Danny Van Horn said that personal calls from trusted Tennessee lawyers to lawmakers would go a long way to blunt the effect of these artificially generated calls. The latest scientific survey conducted by the TBA shows that 83 percent of Tennessee lawyers back the Tennessee Plan.

Despite a plea from the Republican chair of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and criticism from Democratic legislators, a Senate committee Thursday approved Gov. Bill Haslam's plans for transforming the agency. "Maybe it'll work. Maybe not," TRA Chair Kenneth Hill told the committee. "Why go there and inflict damage to the utilities of Tennessee and to the people of Tennessee … then have to come back and fix it?" he asked. Read more from Knoxnews.com

Tennessee veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological problems stemming from military service could soon have their own special courts should they find themselves facing prosecution in the state’s criminal justice system. The state House unanimously passed a bill today, HB 3394/SB 3222, which directs the Administrative Office of the Courts to study whether it is feasible for the state to establish specialized courts for veterans. The bill passed the Senate unanimously on April 12. TN Report has more

A proposal that may increase the penalty for drunken driving when a child under 18 is a passenger in the vehicle is headed to the governor. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, was unanimously approved in the state House on Tuesday. The companion bill unanimously passed the Senate last month. Under current law, a person arrested for DUI with a minor in the vehicle is sentenced to a mandatory minimum incarceration of 30 days and a fine of $1,000. The new proposal requires the incarceration be served consecutively with any sentence for DUI, vehicular assault, vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide. The Memphis Daily News has more

Legislators have reached what Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris calls "the stalemate place" on how Tennessee's top judges should be selected and are now racing to delay a decision until next year. After a convoluted series of events, the Senate has before it two proposals for amending the state constitution. The two competing proposals are SJR183 by Norris, R-Collierville, and SJR710 by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Collierville. Norris's bill, as amended, would repeal the current constitutional provision declaring that top judges "shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state" and declare instead that the legislature is "authorized to establish, by law, a system of merit-based appointments with retention elections for the judges of the Supreme Court and for the judges of the intermediate appellate courts." Kelsey's measure would adopt a system similar to that used by the federal government. The governor would appoint the judges, subject to confirmation by the legislature. The News Sentinel has the story