The Defendant, Nathan David Bassett, pled guilty in the Madison County Circuit Court to theft of property valued $10,000 or more. Pursuant to the plea agreement, he received a five-year sentence as a Range I, standard offender with the trial court to determine the manner of service of the sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered that the Defendant serve the sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by denying a sentence alternative to confinement. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Following an automobile accident, Appellant filed a complaint for negligence and personal injuries against appellees, the at-fault driver and her husband. Appellees moved for summary judgment, arguing that appellant’s claims should be dismissed because she settled with appellees’ insurance carrier and released her claims against them prior to filing suit. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment. Because there are disputes of material facts concerning whether appellant agreed to settle and release her claims, we reverse.

A petitioner obtained an ex parte temporary order of protection in general sessions court. The respondent counter-petitioned to dismiss under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (“TPPA”). After a hearing, the general sessions court denied the respondent’s petition, but it also declined to extend the temporary protective order and dismissed the underlying petition for lack of proof. The respondent appealed the decision on “attorney’s fees” to circuit court. After a de novo review, the circuit court determined that the respondent was not entitled to attorney’s fees under either the order of protection statute or the TPPA. In this appeal, the respondent challenges denial of his request for attorney’s fees under the TPPA. Because the circuit court lacked appellate jurisdiction over the general sessions court’s order denying the petition to dismiss under the TPPA, we vacate in part and remand.

Pro se Appellant, Michael Adams, has appealed an order of the Shelby County Circuit Court that was entered on November 1, 2024. We determine that the trial court’s order does not constitute a final appealable judgment. As a result, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed.

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) released its first immigration report today summarizing data from local law enforcement on individuals not lawfully present in the U.S. who were charged or convicted of a crime in the state during the previous year. According to a press release from the TNDAGC, the report covers the period from Oct. 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024, with 73 of Tennessee’s 95 counties submitting monthly reports and 71 of those counties providing data for all three months. During that time, TNDAGC received about 2,719 reports of individuals charged or convicted of a crime, including 447 violent offenses. The report also notes that 11 homicides were reported statewide during the three-month period. The full report is available on the TNDAGC website.

The Rutherford County School Board passed a resolution Thursday urging state lawmakers to "expedite the closure of the nation’s borders," WKRN reports. Board members cited a surge in students needing English language learner courses, which they say is placing a financial strain on the district and has created a need for 25 additional positions. As a result, the board is seeking more federal funding to cover the cost of the language services it is required to provide for students for whom English is not their first language.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) will hold a clinic in Washington County on Saturday at Good Samaritan Ministries, Inc., 100 North Roan St., Johnson City 37601. The event will provide free legal assistance to individuals in need, focusing on various legal issues. For more information, visit the LAET website.

TBA members were sent an email today with a ballot for the two candidates running for TBA vice president. The email was sent this morning from Intelliscan Inc. If you did not receive the email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you still did not receive it, contact elections@tnbar.org to request that it be resent. Electronic voting begins today and will close on Feb. 14.

Rep. Jesse Chism, D-Memphis, was named chair of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators (TBCSL) earlier this month. Chism has been a member since 2019 and has served as vice chair for the past two years, the Daily Memphian reports. As chair, he says the caucus' primary goal is to safeguard positive outcomes for Black people in Tennessee and ensure progress for the community's future advancements. The TBCSL’s Legislative Retreat and Leadership and Education Foundation are initiatives he hopes to expand upon. "I envision the TBCSL as a beacon of light that is focused on providing opportunities for Black Tennesseans to have economic growth, safe communities and great health care," Chism said in a statement after his election.

Knoxville attorney Stephen Ross Johnson has worked to reestablish the University of Tennessee College of Law Legal Clinic’s commitment to addressing wrongful convictions. In 2000, Johnson, a student at the time, was one of the founding members of an innocence project, which developed into the Innocence and Wrongful Convictions Clinic. In 2018, the clinic was temporarily shut down to develop the Tennessee Innocence Project (TIP), a statewide organization with a mission to exonerate individuals with innocence claims. Since TIP, now based in Nashville and Memphis, has thrived, Johnson is returning his focus on wrongful conviction work in East Tennessee and Appalachia. The new Wrongful Convictions Clinic will maintain a small caseload of clients referred by local courts, prosecutors, defense attorneys or through collaborations with innocence clinics nationwide. Johnson, a partner at Ritchie, Johnson & Stovall, has spent three decades defending criminal cases in state and federal courts nationwide. Read more in a press release from the law school.