State Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, this week asked Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk to investigate the state’s no-bid contracting process, the Tennessean reports. In a letter to Funk on Tuesday, Campbell requested an “audit and financial review” of all emergency purchases made by Gov. Bill Lee during the pandemic. Campbell said the process leaves the public in the dark on how the state selects contractors. Lee’s emergency powers allow him to sign contracts without a competitive bidding process. Any contracts that are considered emergency purchases are also not subject to legislative oversight. Funk’s office today signaled the DA would be in favor of conducting the audit.

Some state lawmakers are questioning the need for the October COVID-19 special session now that several judges have blocked federal vaccine mandates and a state agency has suspended the granting of exemptions for business that want to implement vaccine requirements. Tennessee Lookout reports on the dynamic between lawmakers who say the General Assembly may have been hasty in convening the session and those who say the special session was needed to protect personal health decisions, individual freedoms and liberties. In a separate piece, the news source's capitol reporter writes in "Stockard on the Stump" that the legislature could end up rescinding some of the measures passed in the special session.

Members of the public have submitted at least 17 proposals for redrawing Tennessee's state legislative and congressional districts, but the state legislature says it will not release them for now, the Tennessean reports. State residents are allowed to submit designs as long as they follow certain guidelines and meet deadlines. The House deadline for new submissions was Nov. 12 while the Senate deadline was Nov. 22. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said he thinks the public proposals should not be released until the House Redistricting Committee draft map is finished. "When that map is ready, then everything will be released at the same point in a hearing," he said. "That's the way the process has always worked." By contrast, Lt. Gov. McNally believes the maps should be made public and “anticipates they will be made public when they are discussed at a future meeting of The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Redistricting," according to a spokesperson.

Wade Davies writes in the current Tennessee Bar Journal about newly expanded opportunities for expungement, after the General Assembly created ways to educate defendants on how and when they can obtain one. "What we are looking at here is expungement of actual judgments of conviction," he writes. "Expungement of a conviction is a significant development because under Tennessee law an expungement returns the defendant to the status he or she occupied before the prosecution and generally creates a right to deny having been charged." Davies encourages lawyers to do pro bono work in this area. "You do not have to be a criminal defense lawyer to help someone seek an expungement. Anyone can do it."

A legislative counsel to the govenor warned Tennessee lawmakers their bill limiting COVID-19 restrictions would violate federal law and put the state at risk of losing federal funds. According to records obtained by the Associated Press, Legislative Counsel Liz Alvey warned Senate Speaker Randy McNally’s chief of staff and a member of Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson’s office in an email on the night the bill was passed. “Proposed ADA accommodation in the bill is a violation of the ADA and will put us at risk of losing federal funding,” Alvey wrote. The bill was approved an hour later. It is not clear if Alvey relayed that advice to Gov. Bill Lee before he signed the bill into law less than two weeks later.

Tennessee businesses are beginning to seek exemptions from the vaccine mandate ban passed by the state legislature in the COVID special session, WKRN reports. Under the new law, entities looking to maintain or implement a vaccine requirement must be granted permission from the comptroller’s office. More than 10 businesses have been approved so far, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, the University of Tennessee system, Vanderbilt University and Crockett County Ambulance Services. To qualify for an exemption, businesses must have received a federal contract, be a federal subcontractor or have a post-secondary education grant. According to reporting, state leaders are estimating up to 7,000 businesses or entities could apply for the exemption.

Gov. Bill Lee late Friday signed several bills passed during the recent state legislative session. The first allows the state to temporarily replace local district attorneys when they "peremptorily and categorically" refuse to prosecute certain cases. The second bill allows candidates for local school boards to run in partisan races. The Tennessean notes that the effort follows a national push to bring partisan politics to local school boards. Finally, Lee declined to sign a bill that takes local control away from county health departments. It will still become law next week. Lee returned the county health bill to the General Assembly without his signature but called on the legislature to make "necessary updates" in the upcoming January session. The Tennessean reports on each of these measures.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw yesterday blocked a new law that would limit the ability of schools to enact mask mandates but set an expedited hearing on the issue for today, WPLN reports. At today’s hearing, Crenshaw declined to clarify whether his ruling applies only in the Middle District or statewide, causing confusion for several school districts, the Tennessean reports. He set the next hearing date for Friday. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law last Friday, enacting more stringent conditions for requiring face coverings among students and staff. Immediately after the bill’s signing, families from Knox, Williamson and Shelby counties filed a lawsuit asking the courts to halt the law to protect the health of their disabled or medically vulnerable children.

Gov. Bill Lee signed new pandemic restrictions into law today, but will seek changes in the next legislative session, the Tennessean reports. Among its many provisions, the bill limits when mask mandates can be applied in public schools, prevents businesses from mandating vaccines, and allows hospital visitation for COVID patients who are nearing the end of their lives. Lee says that the hospital provision needs to be clarified to make sure it reflects the intent of the General Assembly. Though lawmakers intended to limit the provision to patients near death, it was written to apply to all hospitalized patients. Other affected industries opposed to specific components of the bill did not push for a veto, instead turning their focus to making amendments to the legislation next year.

State Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris, will be vacating his seat in the state legislature to run for circuit court judge in the 24th Judicial District, The Paris Post-Intelligencer reports. Griffey announced the decision to seek the position held by Judge Donald Parish yesterday. Parish is retiring at the end of his current term next year. Griffey was elected in 2018 to the 75th House District, which includes Henry, Benton and Stewart counties. He previously served as an assistant district attorney and an assistant Tennessee attorney general. Two other candidates, Vance Dennis of Savannah and Terry Leonard of Camden, also have announced their candidacies to fill Parish's spot.