An agreement to temporarily transfer administration of Shelby County's juvenile detention center from the sheriff's office is awaiting approval from Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., The Daily Memphian reports. According to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, if the sheriff agrees, the county corrections division and mayor’s office would take over operations on an interim basis, subject to the Juvenile Court judge’s authority. This would include transporting minors for court hearings and providing training for correction guards transitioning from handling adult prisoners to managing juvenile detainees. The agreement would end a court dispute stemming from Bonner’s 2024 announcement that he would cease operating the Youth Justice and Education Center and stop transporting juveniles to court for hearings. In response, Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon filed two lawsuits against Bonner.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Board recently held its winter meeting in Nashville. YLD President Sean Aiello presented Stars of the Quarter to Nashville attorney Darius Walker Jr. for his role as treasurer, Nashville attorney Alix Rogers for her role as Middle Tennessee Governor and Lewisburg attorney Savannah Oliver for her role as chair of the Public Service Committee. The board also welcomed the Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) Class of 2025 for its first in person meeting. Special thanks to YLD Board members Ginny Blake, Grace Burnett, Billy Leslie, Alix Rogers, Jennifer Safstrom, Darius Walker Jr. and Rod Watson who held programming for the students. The DLI class will join the board again at the Mock Trial Competition in March and the TBA's Annual Convention in June. See photos from the event.

Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group, last week sued the Trump administration to block fast-track deportations of people in the country illegally. The lawsuit claims that the policy issued by the Department of Homeland Security, known as "expedited removal," violates the constitutional right to due process as well as immigration and administrative law since people facing fast-track deportations do not have access to an attorney and are unable to present evidence against their removal. Additionally, Quaker groups sued on Monday to prevent U.S. immigration agents from carrying out arrests and searches in houses of worship, after the Department of Homeland Security rescinded a Biden administration order that limited immigration enforcement in "protected areas" such as hospitals, shelters, playgrounds and food pantries. Reuters reports on both lawsuits.

TBA members were sent an email today with profiles of the two candidates running for TBA vice president. The email was sent this afternoon from the email address elections@tnbar.org. If you did not receive the email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If the email indeed was not received, please contact elections@tnbar.org to request that it be resent. Electronic voting will begin on Jan. 31 and close on Feb. 14. Watch for an email with a link to the ballot from Intelliscan Inc.

Shelby County commissioners on Monday announced the process and timeline for filling a vacancy that will be created with the March 1 retirement of Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Bill Anderson. The Daily Memphian reports that the commission will consider a resolution setting a deadline of Feb. 12 for attorneys to apply for appointment, and then interview applicants on Feb. 19 and make the appointment at its Feb. 25 meeting. Under the proposed process, the appointee will serve until the winner of an August 2026  special election, which will appear on the county general election ballot, is certified. The winner of the election will serve out the remainder of Anderson’s eight-year term, which began in September 2022.

Chancellor Jim Kyle was elected to the bench in 2014 and spent the next 10 years serving the people of the 30th Judicial District, which covers Shelby County. “Having a judicial career has meant a lot to me,” Kyle says. “In every job I’ve had it’s been important to me to feel I am helping others.” Before serving on the bench, Kyle served as a state senator for the 28th and 30th districts for 31 years. After temporarily stepping away from the bench in June of last year to manage a nonfatal autoimmune disorder, his retirement was effective on Jan. 3. Read more in this announcement from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Gov. Bill Lee has announced that his seventh State of the State Address will take place on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. CST. The speech will be presented in the House Chamber of the Tennessee State Capitol. In the announcement, Gov. Lee emphasized Tennessee's role as a leader in opportunity, security and freedom, and expressed his commitment to innovation for the state's future. He also indicated that he would share his budget and legislative priorities for the year during the address. The address will be live streamed on the governor’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

At its January meeting this past weekend, the TBA Board of Governors certified election filing results. One contested election will be held this year for the office of vice president. Nashville attorneys Amy Bryant and John Farringer are both running to become TBA’s president in 2027-2028. TBA members will receive an email tomorrow with more information about the candidates. Electronic voting will begin on Jan. 31 and close on Feb. 14. Watch for an email with a link to the ballot from Intelliscan Inc.

The board also declared election results for uncontested seats with seven individuals deemed to be elected because they were the only duly qualified candidate for that seat. Finally, the board declared a vacancy in the three positions: Fourth District Governor, East Tennessee Governor and young lawyer delegate to the ABA House of Delegates (position 3). To be considered for any of these positions, email TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright at barED@tnbar.org with a statement of interest and resume by March 3. The board will consider nominees at its March 20 meeting.

For positions in the TBA House of Delegates, the House met on Jan. 17 to declare the election of 25 uncontested delegates. They will take office on June 11. It also declared a vacancy in 13 seats. To be considered for any of these positions, email TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright at barED@tnbar.org no later than March 3. See the full list of certified candidates and all available vacancies on the TBA website.

A proposed Metro Nashville law detailing how police surveillance technology can be used across Davidson County won approval on the first of three readings last week. According to the Tennessean, the measure would allow the use of a “community safety camera network” and outline where such cameras can be installed, who can access them and how they may be used. The proposal specifies that public safety cameras would not be allowed in locations where there is an expectation of privacy and requires the Metro Nashville Police Department to post a map of any cameras it owns and operates on its website. The next vote is expected on Feb. 4. Last month, the Nashville Metro Council voted against a resolution to approve Fusus, a software program that would have allowed the police department to access security camera footage from willing private business owners. The city of Knoxville passed similar legislation earlier this month.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family of David Batts, a former Knoxville Area Transit employee who died after leaving the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility on Jan. 7. Crump, along with the Batts family, is calling for the immediate release of all footage related to Batts' death, Knox News reports. The Batts family met with Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen last week, and she informed them that her office would not bring charges against jail employees. Batts' autopsy revealed he died from meningitis and also had fentanyl in his system. In a statement, Allen said meningitis led to Batts' "assaultive or resistive" behavior and “based on my review of the body camera footage and the Medical Examiner’s preliminary findings, I have concluded that the officers involved responded to Mr. Batts’ assaultive and resistive behavior with appropriate force under the circumstances." Knox News requested video footage of Batts in the jail earlier this month, and the sheriff’s office responded last week, saying it expects to release the footage in the coming weeks.