The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the status of a small amphibian found in Tennessee, WPLN reports. The conservation group alleges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to determine whether the yellow-spotted woodland salamander should be listed as an endangered species. The salamander lives in shale and sandstone rock faces, areas often targeted for mountaintop removal mining, which has destroyed more than 500 mountains and 1.4 million acres of Appalachian forest over the past 40 years. Regional Director Will Harlan said the species, identified in 2018, could be wiped out by mining and road construction in the coming years if action is not taken.

Gov. Bill Lee, joined by business leaders and legislative partners, has announced the formation of a committee to build support for a constitutional amendment that would ban a state property tax. According to the Daily Memphian, Amendment 2 would prohibit the General Assembly from enacting a future statewide property tax and will appear on the November ballot. Tennessee has not levied a statewide property tax since 1949, and currently only local governments impose such taxes. If approved, the measure would make Tennessee the first state in the nation to repeal the authority to enact a state property tax. Amending the Tennessee Constitution requires passage in two consecutive General Assemblies and approval by voters in a gubernatorial election year.

Lawyers for Metro Nashville and for the state presented arguments Thursday in two cases before the Tennessee Supreme Court concerning a potential reduction in the size of the Metro Council and a possible state restructuring of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. According to the Nashville Banner, the cases reflect ongoing tensions between the state legislature and the metropolitan government. One law would cut the 40-member Metro Council in half, while the other would shift appointment power over the airport authority board from the Nashville mayor to a group including the governor and legislative leaders. Attorneys for Metro argued the measures violate the Tennessee Constitution’s Home Rule Amendment by targeting Nashville specifically, while the state contended the laws address matters of statewide concern and apply broadly under legislative authority. Rulings are expected in several months.

Positioning itself as "Tinder for Attorneys," ReferU.AI recently announced the official launch of its AI-driven attorney "matchmaking" platform nationwide. ReferU.AI pairs its AI with billions of court dockets, filings, opinions, transcribed oral arguments, and attorney and judicial analytics to match consumers with attorneys who have demonstrable experience representing cases similar to what they are interested in pursuing. Read more in a press release.

Beginning in August, the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) will no longer be offered online in an effort to boost test security. Reuters reports that the move away from remote testing, which the council first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, comes amid escalating concerns over cheating. "We currently use a wide range of security measures before, during, and after testing to deter and detect potential misconduct," according to the announcement from the Law School Admission Council. The council went on to say that, "Moving to in-person testing will provide another important deterrent to anyone who tries to undermine the integrity of the test." Online testing will be offered to examinees with "limited" medical conditions and certain geographical hardships.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) has released the first study of state court resources in 13 years. According to the Tennessee Journal, the study found that 25 of the state's 32 districts need more judges or magistrates, especially in fast-growing areas like Rutherford, Cannon and Knox counties. Under a 2022 law, a judicial redistricting task force must present recommendations by 2027, but past efforts to redistrict have stalled. According to the paper, consolidation of districts also could prove costly. The comptroller's study shows that each judge in the 8th District in rural northeastern Tennessee spent an annual average of 255 hours traveling between courtrooms, while those in the 25th District in the southeastern part of the state spent an average of 229 hours. By contrast, judicial officers in single-county districts like Blount, Knox and Anderson counties, reported no travel time. Any restructuring would need to be enacted before the next judicial cycle begins after the August 2030 elections. Read a press release from the comptroller's office. Download the full report here.

Electronic voting in TBA's election for vice president will close Feb. 13 at 11:59 p.m. CST. TBA members were sent an email on Jan. 30 with a ballot for the two candidates running for TBA vice president. The email was sent from Intelliscan Inc. Members also were sent an email with profiles of the two candidates running for vice president. That email was sent from elections@tnbar.org. If you did not receive either email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If either email indeed was not received, please contact elections@tnbar.org to request that the missing email(s) be resent. The candidate profiles also are available on the TBA website. (An earlier version of this item in TBA Today listed the incorrect time for submitting ballots.)

Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) officials are seeking $1.7 million for drone detection technology to prevent contraband from being airdropped into state prisons, the Nashville Banner reports. TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada discussed the request Tuesday during a budget hearing with the Senate State and Local Committee. Strada said the technology would be part of a broader intelligence-gathering initiative. Keeping contraband out of prisons is complicated, in part because staff members are sometimes involved in smuggling schemes, the paper reports. For example, reports on criminal cases at the CoreCivic-operated Trousdale Turner Correctional Center include charges of employees bringing in drugs or cellphones, and a 2024 federal lawsuit highlighted the use of drones to deliver drugs to the prison yard.

A new Tennessee law allows facility dogs to assist victims and witnesses testifying in court with a judge’s approval. According to Chattanoogan.com, the trained dogs provide comfort to witnesses, including children, and offer an added sense of security for those discussing sensitive topics in often high-stress situations, such as jury trials. To use a facility dog in a case, a motion must first be filed with the court. The judge then will decide whether the circumstances warrant allowing the dog.

A Shelby County judge ruled Monday that only four Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) board seats will appear on the 2026 ballot, finding that county commissioners “exceeded their authority” by voting last fall to place all nine seats on the ballot, the Daily Memphian reports. Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson said the commission added language not included in a new Tennessee law allowing alignment of school board terms with the county’s four-year election cycle, improperly cutting short the terms of five board members. As a result, only seats representing Districts 1, 6, 8 and 9 will be on the ballot, while Districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 will not. The ruling, delivered from the bench ahead of upcoming election deadlines, follows a lawsuit filed by MSCS in December challenging the commission’s resolution. Prior to Monday's ruling, a temporary restraining order prevented candidates from pulling petitions for the seats in question.