The TBA will be closed Monday in observance of New Year’s Day. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. CST on Tuesday. Happy New Year!

A Hamilton County resolution providing $50,000 to support temporary housing for displaced guests of the Budgetel Inn went into effect Christmas Eve without Mayor Weston Wamp's signature, according to an email to commissioners, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The funding was part of an agreement with the city of Chattanooga that provided a total of $100,000 to the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition to extend hotel stays for families who had previously lived at the Budgetel Inn in East Ridge. The motel housed hundreds of people when it was shut down Nov. 16. Both boards approved their $50,000 support unanimously. Wamp, however, released a statement saying the "resolution came together hastily and lacked protections to ensure taxpayer money would only go to people in need."

Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 reports that one of the five teens who escaped from the Natchez Trace Youth Academy in Waverly says a staff member at the facility helped them get out. Investigators said following the escape early Wednesday morning, the teens had stolen a car in Humphreys County before carjacking someone in Hickman County. But DeJuan Prime — who says he was one of the teens involved in the escape — said that an employee at the youth academy helped the teens plan it out. Prime said the teens and the staffer had planned the escape during the week prior: “It's five youth who escaped to see their parents on the holidays. Yes, I'm one of them.” According to the youth academy, all five teens have been safely located.

The Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking (CCAHT) says between 90% and 95% of human trafficking victims will find themselves in the criminal justice system at some point, according to WBIR in Knoxville. CCAHT launched a program with the Bledsoe County Correctional Facility last year to “provide individual support and group services to women who are incarcerated, who have a history of trafficking or exploitation,” says Executive Director Kate Trudell. A new law goes into effect on Jan. 1 that will require training in departments such as the Tennessee Department of Corrections, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Department of Human Services to include ways to identify, intervene, prevent and help survivors of human trafficking. CCAHT helped push for the law.

The Tennessean reports that the Tennessee Department of Corrections failed to follow its own lethal injection protocol since it was introduced in 2018, according to the findings of an independent probe into the state's execution procedures released Wednesday. The probe, led by former U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton, found that the three drugs used in Tennessee's lethal injection protocol were not properly tested for endotoxins, a type of contaminant. This oversight was caused in part by a lack of communication: DOC never gave its lethal injection protocol to the Texas pharmacy contracted to oversee the procurement and testing of the deadly drugs, the probe found. Gov. Bill Lee tapped Stanton to lead the investigation into the state's lethal injection protocols in May, following a failure to properly test the lethal drugs the state planned to use to kill Oscar Franklin Smith.

Scammers often pose as legitimate businesses to try to get money from people, but there are often red flags that can warn you of a scam. The Florida Bar tells of Ronald Austin, who is licensed in both Florida and Georgia and received what appeared to be a legitimate request for legal services. When Austin investigated further, several small things — like minor misspellings in the email and an unreasonable end date to the proposed project — raised questions for him regarding the legitimacy of the request, which he ultimately refused. Read the full story here.

The U.S. Senate confirmed all six of President Biden’s nominees to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors on Wednesday, as lawmakers sought to finalize a flurry of legislation and appointments before the holidays. WPLN reports that the TVA Board is supposed to have nine, president-appointed members at all times. But, for nearly two years, the board has been short-staffed with only members appointed by former President Trump. That’s even though three of these new members were first nominated by Biden in April 2021. The Board acts as the federal utility’s main check on power, unlike private utilities that answer to a state public utility commission.

The Manchester Times reports that the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) announced a partnership with The Jason Foundation, Inc. (JFI) to further their mission of suicide prevention within the state. The Jason Foundation, headquartered in Hendersonville, is a nationally recognized leader in suicide awareness and prevention. This new partnership will allow for the information, tools and resources provided by The Jason Foundation to reach even more communities throughout Tennessee. Together, the two groups will work with state agencies and other non-profits to raise awareness and provide additional resources to Tennesseans.

More than a dozen laws will go into effect on Jan. 1, WKRN reports. Laws related to medical records, subscription service cancellations, early retirement for emergency communications personnel and mail-order pharmaceuticals are among some of the new laws that will be enforced starting in 2023. The most notable law taking effect in January is “Dallas’s Law,” named for Dallas “DJ” Barrett, who died after a fight with security guards at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row on Aug. 16, 2021. The law revises the required training necessary for someone working as a security guard/officer, adding de-escalation techniques, safe restraint techniques and emergency first aid/CPR training. Prior to the law’s passage, those hired as security guards by a “proprietary security organization” were exempt from those certain training requirements; now all those hired as security guards in Tennessee will be required to show proof of that training. Read summaries of the other laws taking effect.

Gov. Bill Lee last week granted clemency to 16 people, including two inmates who will be eligible for parole, the Associated Press reports. The governor approved 13 pardons and three commutations, including the elimination of parole restrictions for one 78-year-old man who has been out of prison for 18 years. Fourteen of the 16 are no longer in prison. Lee also issued expedited parole eligibility to 30 people in prison related to changes to a drug-free school zones law. This is Lee’s second round of clemency actions since taking office in 2019. The AP has more on all 16 who were granted clemency.