Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp has introduced a resolution that would prevent high-level employees from using county resources for unofficial business and prohibit outside work that interferes with their day-to-day responsibilities, the Times Free Press reports. The change comes after a report that County Attorney Rheubin Taylor used his county email address and phone number as he worked on 80 cases while being employed full time by the county. Wamp attempted to fire Taylor last month, citing Taylor’s private work on county time. Commissioners then passed a series of resolutions reaffirming Taylor’s four-year contract and unanimously overrode Wamp’s subsequent veto of those resolutions. Officials have noted Taylor's contract allows him to conduct private work.

Five former Methodist Hospital employees have been indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to unlawfully disclose patient information in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). According to the indictment, between November 2017 and December 2020, Kirby Dandridge, Sylvia Taylor, Kara Thompson, Melanie Russell and Adrianna Taber were paid by Roderick Harvey to provide him with names and numbers of patients who had been in vehicle accidents. Harvey then sold that information to third parties, including personal injury attorneys and chiropractors. Read the press release from the U.S. Attorney, Western District’s office.

The Memphis Bar Association last week held its annual Access to Justice CLE & Pro Bono Awards program. MBA’s Access to Justice Committee holds the event each year to recognize judges, attorneys, law firms, legal departments and law students who have displayed a commitment to pro bono service and the pursuit of ATJ. Recipients of the 2022 Champion of Justice Awards were: Judge Deborah Henderson, Judiciary Category; Robin Warren, Public Interest Category; Dominique Defreece, Law Student Category; Memphis Area Legal Services, Law Firm Category; International Paper, Legal Department Category. Attorney Danielle Woods was honored with the Melanie R. Yelder Champion of Justice Award. See pictures from the event on the MBA’s Facebook page.

Thirteenth District Criminal Court Judge Gary McKenzie, a former Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, presides over the district’s Veterans Treatment Court. After being elected to the bench in 2014, McKenzie established the VTC program with the help of Judge Seth Norman. The program provides treatment, counseling and therapy for substance abuse as an alternative to incarceration. McKenzie credits the program’s success to a structure similar to that of the military. He also believes being a veteran himself is beneficial for the program. “I can communicate with them in a similar language, if you will,” McKenzie said. To date, the program has experienced success with only a 3% recidivism rate versus the average of 33% for other programs. Read the story from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Following scrutiny over the slow turnaround of sexual assault kit testing, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has asked for a $45.3 million budget increase, the Daily Memphian reports. TBI Director David Rausch asked Gov. Bill Lee for the increase yesterday during the fist day of the state government’s fiscal year 2024 budget process. Much of the increase would be spent on enabling faster processing times for the kits as well as funding 71 positions. Rausch asked for $5.8 million to fund 25 forensic scientists and 14 support personnel and another $27.6 million for “salary modernization.” Lee pushed Rausch for more details on how much faster turnaround times would be, but Rausch was unable to answer.

Tennessee state government offices and state courts will be closed tomorrow in observance of Veterans Day. See a full list of holiday office closure on that state’s website.   

A group of U.S. Republican lawmakers recently issued a warning to corporate law firms over their work advising clients on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, Reuters reports. The Republicans wrote to 51 large U.S. and global law firms to say they would use their congressional oversight powers "to scrutinize the institutionalized antitrust violations being committed in the name of ESG.”

News Channel 5 is raising questions about a part-time employee in the Nashville district attorneys’ office who allegedly works very little but receives a $75,000 annual salary. A piece by Phil Williams suggests that Michael Brook frequently lists his work hours as occurring in the “middle of the night when no one else is around” and is “almost never recorded swiping through the office security system, logging into the computer system or sending an email.” Brook previously was finance director for the office until retiring in January 2020. Within days, though, the station says, he was submitting part time hours for compensation, and has consistently submitted them every single week for more than two years. When asked about Brook, Funk told the station, “Michael Brook is an important member of our office, has been for years."

A new analysis from non-partisan think tank ThinkTennessee has found that the state’s policy of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay court debt has little impact on how much money the courts are able to recoup. According to the report, the practice creates additional challenges for people who are often living in poverty. “By making it harder to get to work and earn the money needed to pay off court costs, driver’s license revocations risk being a counterproductive policy, potentially trapping low-income Tennesseans in a cycle of court debt and poverty,” the report’s authors wrote. They added that the state should consider ending the practice. The practice was stopped and ruled unconstitutional in 2018, but the pause was temporary and was restarted in July 2021. The Commercial Appeal has more on the story.

The TBA Committee on Racial & Ethnic Diversity will host a free event on Monday featuring a panel discussion on diversifying the judicial branch. “Increasing and Retaining Judicial Diversity: the Why, the When and the How” is the first part in a series that will focus on providing minority lawyers the tools needed when seeking judgeships. The panel will be moderated by TBA Chief Diversity Officer Mary Beard and will feature 20th Judicial District Chancery Court Judge I'ashea Myles and Kingsport attorney Jimmie Miller who previously served on Gov. Bill Lee’s Council for Judicial Appointments. The virtual event will take place on Nov. 14 from noon until 1:30 p.m. CST. Read more and register here.