The Tennessee State Legislature on Monday unanimously passed a bill that would involuntarily commit certain criminal defendants for inpatient treatment and temporarily remove their gun rights if they are ruled incompetent to stand trial due to intellectual disability or mental illness. Named for Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig, who was killed in November after she was hit by a stray bullet while walking near campus in Nashville, "Jillian's Law" requirements would kick in for defendants charged with felonies or class A misdemeanors. The Associated Press reports that the person would remain committed until they are deemed competent to stand trial, or until the court approves a mandatory outpatient treatment plan that accounts for the community’s safety. The bill now heads to Gov. Bill Lee.

State Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, chair of the House Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee, and Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, chair of the Senate Calendar Committee, are pushing legislation to create a Juvenile Justice Review Commission under the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) and the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY) to study the state’s juvenile justice system and make legislative recommendations to the General Assembly. The bill, HB1103/SB0609, is pending in both the House and Senate Finance committees. The Post Local News has more on the proposal.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new this week with TBA attorneys and lobbyists, Berkley Schwarz with Pier Strategies LLC, and Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin with Adams and Reese. This week they discuss the finalizing of this year's fiscal budget, HB2973/SB2942; the TBA conservatorship bill, HB2710/SB2254; adoption birth certificate bill, HB2645/SB2632; and adoption clean-up bill, HB2644/SB2633. The group also foreshadows budget negotiations set to happen this weekend, House and Senate Finance committee meetings likely to take place next week, and possible adjournment the week of April 22. The group is continuing to track any movement on increased funding for indigent representation and expressed appreciation for all the outreach TBA members have undertaken to educate elected officials about this critical issue. Legislative Updates airs each week the legislature is in session on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

A bill that would allow Tennesseans to analyze their district attorney’s work is headed to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk, Action News 5 reports. If signed into law, SB2556, also known as the DA Transparency Act, would require Tennessee district attorneys to report aggregate information to the governor each year. Data points would include arrests, indictments, transfers, dispositions and more. Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference Executive Committee member and 25th Judicial District Attorney Mark Davidson welcomed the move, saying, “DAs across the state are proud of the job they are doing and look forward to the report confirming the good work being done to keep the public safe.”

The Tennessee Senate on Wednesday voted 26-3 in favor of a bill that would make it a felony to help a minor seek an abortion without parental consent. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the measure on April 2. A similar bill is making its way through the House. Read more about the Senate version from the Associated Press.

Tennessee lawmakers have voted to send a bipartisan bill that would have let residents convicted of felonies apply to vote again without also restoring their gun rights to a summer study committee, the Associated Press reports. The move effectively kills the bill for the session. Some Republican leaders were sympathetic to the aims of the bill sponsors but questioned whether that particular piece of legislation was the correct solution. Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth said, “I'm all for rewriting the code. But I don't think just this bill is the way to do it."

Families of three children and three adults killed in last year’s Covenant School shooting have filed an ethics complaint against Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga. The complaint charges the lawmaker is violating Senate ethics rules by being part of a lawsuit seeking release of the shooter’s writings while pushing a bill, SB2105, to block third parties from intervening in public record lawsuits. The bill passed unanimously through the Senate and is now on the House's agenda. Since June, a legal battle has been ongoing over release of the shooter’s journal. Nashville police and the families of the Covenant victims have tried to prevent the journal’s release, while Gardenhire and several media outlets have petitioned to have it released. The Nashville Banner has more.

Republican lawmakers have backed away from an effort to abolish Tennessee’s 60-year-old independent Human Rights Commission and reconstitute the agency within Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office, the Tennessee Journal reports. Instead, the House this week went along with a Senate amendment that tasks Skrmetti with examining the agency’s operations and deciding if his office should take over its functions.

The House on Monday approved its version of Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed business franchise tax-cut bill, which would provide one-year refunds of $700 million to companies but require they first agree to public disclosure of their names and rebate amounts before seeing any of the money. The move sends the bill back to the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, has voiced support for the disclosure provision, the Tennessee Journal reports. Bill negotiators also will have to resolve differences in the length of the program as the Senate had approved a three-year benefit, and whether to accept a House provision requiring participating companies to waive their right to sue over the tax. The Tennessean reports on those differences.

House and Senate Republicans began meeting privately on Tuesday morning to negotiate differences between two chambers’ approaches to Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to create a statewide school voucher system. The talks are a continuation of discussions held between Senate Education Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, and House K-12 Subcommittee Chair Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville, on Monday night, the Tennessee Journal reports.