Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee last week announced a yearlong America 250 celebration across the state, unveiling the theme “Tennessee: The Original Frontier” and kicking off a 95-county tour to honor the state's contributions to America’s history and culture. Lee began the celebration July 1 with a Farmland Preservation Tour across the state’s three grand divisions, highlighting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and signing the Farmland Preservation Act. Additional events and grant opportunities tied to the celebration will be announced by the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial, with updates available at TN250.com.

Edward Kelley of Maryville was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to kill FBI agents as he awaited trial for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. He was sentenced July 2 by U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan in Knoxville after being convicted Nov. 20 of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing a federal official by threat, the Knox News reports. Investigators determined Kelley and another man made a list of agents who investigated his role in the riot and plotted to kill them, including discussing bombing the agents at their homes or in public places. A judge previously ruled that a pardon of Jan. 6 defendants would not apply to the conspiracy charge.

Roger James Bean of Tullahoma died July 5 at age 70. Bean earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Tennessee and practiced law for more than 45 years. Visitation will be held July 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. CDT at Kilgore Funeral Home, 215 Mitchell Blvd., Tullahoma 37388. Funeral services will take place July 11 at 11 a.m. CDT in the funeral home's chapel, with burial to follow at Franklin Memorial Gardens, Cowan Hwy., Winchester, TN 37398. Donations in Bean’s memory may be made to the Tullahoma Animal Shelter, 942 Maplewood Ave., Tullahoma, TN 37388.

William Lloyd “Bill” Brooks, a retired attorney and judge, died June 30 at his home in Nashville at age 83. Brooks practiced law in Tennessee for more than 55 years, beginning in 1966, both in private practice and as house counsel for two companies. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and often performed pro bono legal work. In addition to his law and counseling work, Brooks served as judge of the Belle Meade City Municipal Court for 10 years. Services were held at 11 a.m. CDT on July 8, at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 4715 Harding Rd., Nashville 37205, with visitation beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the church. Contributions may be made to the church or to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 311 W. Seventh St., Columbia, TN 38401.

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has named attorney Joe Byrd as interim executive director of the newly established Office of the Appointed Counsel Commission (AOC), which will coordinate statewide indigent representation in child welfare cases and criminal cases where district public defenders have conflicts. Byrd previously served as lead attorney for the AOC's indigent services team. Gov. Bill Lee’s amended budget, approved in the 2025 legislative session, included funding for the new office to address challenges in delivering indigent defense. “Joe Byrd is a trusted and seasoned attorney with the expertise required to lead this new office,” Chief Justice Holly Kirby said in a release. “The Supreme Court appreciates the support of the Governor, the legislature, judges, attorneys, the Tennessee Bar Association and the work of our team at the AOC. We are taking a transformational step forward to safeguard the fair and impartial administration of justice in Tennessee." Before joining the AOC, Byrd was an assistant attorney general in Tennessee, disciplinary counsel at the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and a municipal attorney in both Tennessee and Florida. Byrd previously worked as an associate at Logan Thompson PC, where his general practice included court appointments representing indigent clients in child welfare and criminal cases.

In the recent legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill creating a statewide conservatorship management task force. Public Chapter 417, effective July 1, established a nine-member body to provide resources and assist in promotion of effective conservatorships. The task force will review concerns involving education, centralized documentation, preventative training regarding fraud and abuse protections, and more. The task force also will review the capacity of the public guardianship program and determine the need for an independent conservator panel or professional conservators. Representatives include designees from relevant agencies, the Administrative Office of the Courts, an active judge, legal aid office member and a designee from the Conservatorship Association of Tennessee, among others.

On July 3, Shelby County lawyer Darryl Wayne Humphrey received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court found that after taking over representation of a personal injury client in a colleague’s absence, Humphrey negligently failed to file all discovery responses and reply to opposing counsel’s discovery inquiries. This led to a motion to compel being filed against the client. Humphrey then failed to notify the client of the motion and of the subsequent court ruling that the client pay the opposing party’s attorney fees. The court also found that the failure to maintain communication with opposing counsel resulted in injury or potential injury to the client. These actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4(a) and 8.4(d).

The July/August issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and arriving in mailboxes next week. This issue's cover story by Travis Vest is an in depth look at metadata: what it is and how you can use it in building a case. Feature stories include a trademark fight between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Cheatham Middle School Bearcats by Andrew Coffman and a primer on Tennessee's construction payment retainage law from Phillip Byron Jones. New TBA President Heidi Barcus shares her vision for the 2025-2026 bar year in her first President's Perspective, Buddy Stockwell explains the significance of the ABA's new Model Rule on conditional admission, Wade Davies breaks down the factors involved in calculating sentencing and Russell Fowler looks back 100 years to the Scopes Trial in Dayton. Read updates from TBA's Annual Convention, a book review, a legislative update and more!

The federal judge who formerly presided over the criminal case of five former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyré Nichols has recused himself from two more cases involving lawyers on the Nichols case. The Daily Memphian reports that U.S. District Judge Mark Norris has recused himself from a case involving 10 defendants charged with drug trafficking, one of whom is represented by Stephen Leffler, who also represented former Memphis police officer Demetrius Haley. In the other case, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Pritchard is prosecuting drug trafficking charges. He also was a prosecutor in the Nichols case. Norris previously removed himself from the federal sentencing of five former officers charged in connection with Nichols’ death and a pending civil rights lawsuit brought over the death.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for users accessing online pornography. It was the first time the court has imposed requirements on adult consumers in order to protect minors, NPR reports. The 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, affirms similar laws passed in nearly half of U.S. states, including in Tennessee. The ruling marks a setback for the Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry group that had challenged the law, arguing that it violated the First Amendment guarantee to free speech and expression.