A former Knox County Sheriff’s chief — who is accused of using the agency’s drug fund and credit card as his personal piggy bank and treating subordinates as his private construction crew — is no longer mentally competent to stand trial, his attorney says. Robert Kurtz says that David Henderson, the ex-chief of the narcotics unit, is showing signs of dementia and cannot meaningfully assist in the defense of federal charges filed against him earlier this year. The trial was set to begin Nov. 8, Tennessee Lookout reports. Given the claim, the court agreed to a competency hearing.

Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, received the Edward J. Devitt Award on Friday for distinguished, lifetime service to the judiciary. The ceremony was held at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., the Daily Memphian reports. In remarks at the ceremony, Gibbons said she has enjoyed the solitary and collective work of an appellate judge, along with years of work on judiciary panels. Her activities have included serving as chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Budget Committee, and member of the Judicial Resources Committee and Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Gibbons had actually been named the award recipient in 2021, but the pandemic delayed the public recognition and reception. 

The October episode of the TBA's BarBuzz podcast is now streaming. This month, the new TBA YLD and Law School Development Coordinator Laura Labenberg joins the show to discuss legal news and bar association events for the upcoming month and beyond. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and can be found on the TBA's website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 

The Associated Press reports that Albuquerque Cosper Head, a Tennessee man who dragged Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone into a mob of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to more than seven years in prison. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Head to seven years and six months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Read the full AP report here.

Sixth Circuit judges hearing a challenge to a Tennessee voting law expressed concern with portions of the law during arguments Thursday morning, the Tennessean reports. Under a 1994 law, only election commission employees are authorized to distribute absentee ballot applications. Anyone else doing so is committing a felony — even though the forms are freely available to download on the state's website. Senior Judge Helene N. White pressed the state during its rebuttal period on that point. "I could be sitting with my grandmother, I fill out the form for her, I go to the printer and I hand it to her, and I've committed a felony," she asked, "right?"

Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday launched the new School Safety Toolkit for Tennessee Families, a practical resource to help parents prepare and engage in their child’s school safety plan. This follows Executive Order 97, which directed state agencies to equip and engage parents, increase transparency and collaborate with local law enforcement and school districts. “As we continue our work to protect Tennessee children, the new School Safety Toolkit will provide parents with helpful resources and greater transparency to feel confident their child is safe at school,” said Gov. Lee. “I encourage every Tennessee family to prepare and engage in school safety by utilizing this Toolkit and downloading the SafeTN app.” Read more about the toolkit here.

Montgomery County Commissioner Lisa Prichard says the commission will be asking the state for help in bringing a Regional Juvenile Resource and Justice Center to the Clarksville area. Montgomery County has sent juveniles to counties as far as Bedford, Williamson and Putnam, which makes it harder for families to travel to see their children. Prichard has inside knowledge on the issue as she was a deputy for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and took in troubled youth over the years. "We've been farming our children out to various counties for various reasons because we have no place to put them," said Prichard. She is part of a new ad hoc committee to address the issue.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission today held its first public meeting in nearly four years after the Senate in August confirmed seven new members, reinvigorating a panel unable to adopt new policies since losing a quorum in early 2019. The agenda included a vote to finalize the commission's priorities for 2022-2023, which include implementing the First Step Act. That bipartisan legislation is aimed at easing harsh sentencing for nonviolent offenders and at reducing recidivism. Watch the meeting here.

Nashville attorney John Tarpley, a shareholder at Lewis Thomason, has helped form the Trucking Defense Advocates Counsel, a commercial transportation advocacy organization. The group recently held its first meeting with 300 participants. Tarpley defends trucking companies in state and federal courts and at mediations and settlements. He is chair of the firm’s Transportation Practice Group and a former TBA president.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division is now accepting applications for its Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) Class of 2023. DLI is a six-month leadership and mentoring program for Tennessee law students in their second, third or fourth years of study. Class size is limited to 20 to 25 students selected from across the state. The goal of the program is to have a diverse class, so selection is based in part on race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, background, geographical factors and law school attended. The application deadline is 5 p.m. CST on Nov. 18.