The Davidson County Election Commission today voted to remove Luvell Glanton from the May 3 Democratic primary ballot for circuit court judge after a challenge to his residency, the Nashville Post reports. Glanton’s opponent in the race, incumbent Judge Kelvin Jones, filed the challenge last week, arguing that Glanton resides in Williamson County. Glanton’s mother currently lives in the home and Glanton says he moved to his Nashville offices last summer. The commission voted 3-2 to remove Glanton from the ballot. Glanton is deciding whether to appeal the decision in Davidson County Chancery Court.

The Chattanooga branch of the NAACP is calling on Hamilton County district attorney candidate Coty Wamp to apologize for comments she made during a women’s group meeting, the Chattanoogan reports. Speaking to the Tennessee Valley Republican women on Tuesday, Wamp remarked that she does not support the NAACP, saying that, in addition to listing how many Black people are shot by police each year, it should list “how many African Americans are shot by African Americans” or “how many police officers are shot by anybody…” to its website. Local Branch President Rev. Ann Jones Pierre on Friday said Wamp "does not understand the purpose of the NAACP and should apologize for misleading the public.”

Circuit Court Clerk Debbie Moss has announced she is seeking reelection to the post, which serves the Wilson County Circuit, Criminal, Juvenile and General Session courts. Moss touts her work providing technological upgrades to the courts, including a newly rebuilt website that now offers more information, the ability to pay fines online and an expansion of e-filing for civil cases. She also says she has hired two new deputy clerks, one who is bilingual and one who is proficient in sign language. Since taking office, Moss has served as a board member and president of the Middle Tennessee Court Clerks Association, and as a committee member on the State Court Clerks Legislative and Education committees. She also currently serves as president of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Wilson County. Read her campaign announcement in the Wilson Post.

New special prosecutor Roger Moore from Nashville is expected to be assigned to a shooting case in Soddy Daisy, Chattanoogan.com reports. Moore would replace Tammy Meade, who was named to the case in January after local district attorney Neal Pinkston recused himself. Pinkston stepped down after accusing a political opponent, Coty Wamp, of obstruction of justice and witness tampering in the case. Meade agreed with Wamp that the wrong man had been arrested and had charges dropped against Hugo Garcia Padilla. She then identified Hugo Garcia Robles as the perpetrator and said she would seek an indictment with the local grand jury. 

Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Martin today announced he will run in the Republican primary for the vacant state House District 26 seat, the Chattanoogan reports. Martin served on the Hamilton County School Board from 2012 until 2016 when he was elected to the Board of Commissioners. “Over the past 10 years of public service, I’ve learned many things which will help me represent the voters of House District 26, such as balancing a budget, making hard decisions about competing priorities and working towards one goal – what is best for the people I represent,” Martin said in a statement. Former Rep. Robin Smith vacated the House District 26 seat following her indictment on federal wire fraud charges.

The Tennessee House yesterday approved a bill that would implement residency requirements for all Republican or Democratic U.S. House or Senate candidates, the Associated Press reports. The legislation would require candidates be state residents for at least three years and residents of the county they would represent for at least one year – the same criteria imposed on state legislative candidates. The bill would only take effect after the November midterm and would not apply to incumbents. The state Senate last month passed a slightly different version of the bill, so both chambers must now decide on which version to adopt. It’s unclear if the legislation is legal under the U.S. Constitution, which says candidates be a citizen for at least seven years, at least 25 years old and an “inhabitant” of the state in which they want to be elected.

Judge Suzanne M. Lockert-Mash has announced she’s running for reelection to the 23rd Judicial District Circuit Court, Division III, the Cheatham County Exchange reports. Lockert-Mash was elected to the bench in 2014. She has presided over criminal, civil, probate and chancery cases throughout the district and is currently the presiding judge of the district’s Drug Court program. Prior to being elected as judge, Lockert-Mash was in private practice before becoming an assistant district attorney in 1990. “Being elected as a Circuit Judge was a great honor for me and a culmination of the hard work I have put in as an attorney in this district. I would like to continue my service to the citizens of this district,” she said.

Assistant District Attorney Caleb Bayless has announced he is running for judge in the 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court, Part IV. Bayless, who will run on the Republican ticket, seeks to fill the seat now held by retiring Judge Stella Hargrove. For more than a decade, Bayless has served in the 22nd Judicial District, which covers Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties. Bayless “has a reputation of being tough on crime and committed to justice,” according to a release from his campaign. “I will always follow the rule of law and hold dangerous criminals accountable,” Bayless said in the release.

As part of a new initiative, the TBA Criminal Justice Section has begun surveying candidates in contested district attorney general races across the state to raise awareness of their positions and priorities for the office. In this first edition, we hear from candidates in the hotly contested Davidson County District Attorney General race: Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk (incumbent), Sara Beth Myers and P. Danielle Nellis. We asked them seven questions; the participants' respective responses can be viewed using this link.

The Knoxville Bar Association on Friday released the results of its Candidate Member Survey for 20 judicial races that will appear on the local May 3 primary ballot. The survey asked each member to assess whether the candidates have demonstrated the knowledge, skill, experience, training, education, professional ethics and temperament to fulfill the duties of the offices to which they aspire. The KBA also recently launched a “Get To Know Your Judicial Candidates” section on its website to provide information about state court candidates in Knox County. The site includes educational resources, biographical profiles and a link to a video interviews with candidates.