The Memphis Police Department is beginning a town hall series, relaunching a podcast and working on what the department calls "a special project" to make Memphians more aware of department initiatives, the Commercial Appeal reports. The projects are meant to "foster more open lines of communication” to address crime issues and encourage discussion of solutions to move the city forward. The efforts follow a commitment by department leaders to communicate more consistently with the Memphis community after the death of Tyre Nichols. 

The Covenant School in Nashville is asking a Davidson County court not to release some of the writings of a shooter who killed six at the school last month, NewsChannel 5 reports. Attorneys for the school filed motions in two of the three lawsuits requesting that the assailant's writings not be released. The filings suggest the documents may include sensitive information, including schematics of the facility and confidential information about school employees and students.

Former Memphis attorney Leigh M. Chiles pled guilty in connection with a scheme to defraud an estate over which she was appointed to serve as executrix, U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz recently announced. Chiles was appointed executrix in 2018 and was responsible for collecting estate assets and distributing them to heirs and beneficiaries. In violation of her fiduciary duty, Chiles used approximately $124,000 in estate funds to write checks to herself and to pay her personal credit card. The ABA Journal reports that Chiles had worked at Baker Donelson in Memphis but was no longer with the firm when the criminal activity occurred. She was suspended from practicing law in July 2018. Chiles, currently of Little Rock, will face sentencing before Memphis-based federal judge John T. Fowlkes on July 17.

Knoxville attorney and University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus Douglas A. Blaze will be honored next month with the prestigious William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award. Named for former Attorney General William M. Leech and presented by the Fellows of the TBA Young Lawyers Division, the award is given to a Tennessee lawyer who has been of outstanding service to the profession, legal system and the community. Blaze joined the UT Law faculty in 1993 as the director of clinical programs. He also served as director of the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution and interim associate dean for academic affairs. He was named dean of the law school twice and served from 2008-2015 and then again from 2020-2022. Blaze helped found the college’s Institute for Professional Leadership and served as its first director. He retired from full-time teaching in July 2022. The Leech Award will be presented at the TBA Annual Convention in Knoxville on June 16 during the Lawyers’ Luncheon. Read the TBA's full press release on the award.

U.S. Chief District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. has ruled that former Tennessee senator Brian Kelsey will not be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea for violating federal campaign finance laws, reported the Tennessean. Crenshaw criticized Kelsey's legal argument that he did not fully understand the implications of a criminal felony plea given Kelsey’s career as a constitutional lawyer and state lawmaker. Kelsey pleaded guilty in November 2022 and filed to withdraw his plea in March 2022. Sentencing is expected in July.

Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Tuesday creating the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, reported WJHL News Channel 11. The announcement was held at the University of Tennessee Zeanah Engineering Complex. The council will consist of 15 members, including members of the Lee administration, the Tennessee General Assembly and Tennessee’s congressional delegation. The council will make recommendations on legislative policy related to nuclear energy facilities in Tennessee, storage and waste practices and potential partnerships with federal agencies.

John Crawford, the education manager for Tennessee's Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), was presented the 2022 Public Service Award at the Tennessee State Clerks of Court Education Conference in Nashville. Gary Behler, juvenile court clerk of Hamilton County and 2022 conference president gave Crawford the award “in recognition of an awesome job of dedicated service for the Court Clerk’s Education Conferences and outstanding assistance to the State Court Clerk’s Association of Tennessee for just being there to answer our questions.” Read more from the AOC.

The Tennessee Department of Health announced that Tennesseans will continue to have access to free COVID-19 vaccinations while supplies last even though the federal public health emergency officially ended Thursday. Vaccines will also be available through in-network insurance providers and Affordable Care Act plans. Private insurers and Medicare are now no longer required to provide free distribution of at-home COVID-19 tests. International travelers entering the United States are also no longer required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to enter the country. Read more about the end of the federal requirement from the Tennessean.

Memphis City Council members are set to consider two ballot referendums tomorrow that would allow Memphians to vote on whether handguns without permits should be banned within city limits and whether the sale of assault rifles should be banned in the city, the Commercial Appeal reports. If approved by council members and then by voters, the ordinances would directly contradict state law. In 2021, Tennessee became a permitless carry state, allowing for both concealed and open carry of handguns without a permit. Tennessee law also states that local firearms ordinances will be preempted by state law.

The American Bar Association (ABA) is pausing a plan to allow law schools to go fully test-optional for admissions by 2025, Reuters reports. The council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar had planned to resubmit the proposal to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration at its August meeting after the House rejected the proposal in February. Now, the council has decided to remove the agenda item from the August meeting in response to concerns from hundreds of law school deans and stakeholders. The pause will allow the council “to evaluate the concerns and determine what is best for law schools and applicants,” a spokesperson said. Reuters reported earlier that deans from more than half the nation’s law schools were backing a compromise that would allow them to admit up to 25% of students without a standardized test score — up from the current 10% allowance.