Carleton “Carl” Edward Knechtel, 86, of Dallas, Texas, died Jan. 23. Born in Fortaleza, Brazil, to missionary parents, he held triple citizenship at birth by virtue of being born in Brazil to a Canadian father and American mother. After a varied 20-year career, Knechtel received his law degree from University of Tennessee (now Winston) College of Law in 1971. He worked for more than 31 years as an attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for the Criminal Tax Division, initially in Chicago for 15 years and then in Dallas for 16 years. Following his retirement from public service in 2003, Knechtel practiced law in the Dallas area on a limited basis and served as an expert witness in criminal tax trials. A visitation will be held on Feb. 14 at Chattanooga Funeral Home - North Chapel, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson 37343, from 1–2:30 p.m. EST with a services immediately following. Interment will follow at Hamilton Memorial Gardens, 5351 Highway 153, Hixson 37343. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Knechtel's memory to the Salvation Army or a local food bank.

Longtime Shelby County Democratic state representative John DeBerry, who served in the state legislature from 1995 to 2020, has announced his candidacy for Shelby County mayor in the Republican primary. “What folks want is basic,” he told Action News 5. “They want safe streets. They want good schools. They want to be able to take care of their families, and I think that’s not Democrat or Republican … that’s American.“ DeBerry, who currently serves as a special advisor to Gov. Bill Lee, joins Davis Henson and Gerald Kiner in vying for the Republican nomination. At least eight people have filed to run as Democrats. The countywide primary is May 5. After the May primary, Shelby County voters will return for the county general and statewide primary on Aug. 6 and the state and federal general election on Nov. 3.

Tennessee State University’s (TSU) College of Liberal Arts and the Metropolitan Historical Commission will host the 45th Annual Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture (NCAAHC) on Feb.13 at TSU's Avon Williams Campus. This year's theme is “From Roots to Resilience: Reclaiming Black Journeys, Stories, and Legacies Across Tennessee." Learn more and purchase tickets on the event's website. Across town, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) at Vanderbilt Law School has announced a series of events to celebrate Black History Month. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the admission of the first Black students to the law school. The theme is "From Pioneers to Progress: 70 Years of Black Legal Advancement in the Face of Resistance." The BLSA will host a panel featuring Vanderbilt Law alumni on Feb. 18. Kristen Clarke, who served as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2021 to 2025, will deliver the keynote address on Feb. 26. More information is available on the law school's website.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) has released the first study of state court resources in 13 years. According to the Tennessee Journal, the study found that 25 of the state's 32 districts need more judges or magistrates, especially in fast-growing areas like Rutherford, Cannon and Knox counties. Under a 2022 law, a judicial redistricting task force must present recommendations by 2027, but past efforts to redistrict have stalled. According to the paper, consolidation of districts also could prove costly. The comptroller's study shows that each judge in the 8th District in rural northeastern Tennessee spent an annual average of 255 hours traveling between courtrooms, while those in the 25th District in the southeastern part of the state spent an average of 229 hours. By contrast, judicial officers in single-county districts like Blount, Knox and Anderson counties, reported no travel time. Any restructuring would need to be enacted before the next judicial cycle begins after the August 2030 elections. Read a press release from the comptroller's office. Download the full report here.

Electronic voting in TBA's election for vice president will close Feb. 13 at 11:59 p.m. CST. TBA members were sent an email on Jan. 30 with a ballot for the two candidates running for TBA vice president. The email was sent from Intelliscan Inc. Members also were sent an email with profiles of the two candidates running for vice president. That email was sent from elections@tnbar.org. If you did not receive either email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If either email indeed was not received, please contact elections@tnbar.org to request that the missing email(s) be resent. The candidate profiles also are available on the TBA website. (An earlier version of this item in TBA Today listed the incorrect time for submitting ballots.)

The Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers (TABL) and the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) Diversity Committee will hold a networking mixer on Feb. 20. The free event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EST at Blue Orleans Seafood Restaurant, 1463 Market St., Chattanooga 37402. Special thanks to Geeter Law Office PLLC for sponsoring this event. All are welcome but an RSVP is required by Feb. 13. See a flyer for more information.

Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) officials are seeking $1.7 million for drone detection technology to prevent contraband from being airdropped into state prisons, the Nashville Banner reports. TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada discussed the request Tuesday during a budget hearing with the Senate State and Local Committee. Strada said the technology would be part of a broader intelligence-gathering initiative. Keeping contraband out of prisons is complicated, in part because staff members are sometimes involved in smuggling schemes, the paper reports. For example, reports on criminal cases at the CoreCivic-operated Trousdale Turner Correctional Center include charges of employees bringing in drugs or cellphones, and a 2024 federal lawsuit highlighted the use of drones to deliver drugs to the prison yard.

A new Tennessee law allows facility dogs to assist victims and witnesses testifying in court with a judge’s approval. According to Chattanoogan.com, the trained dogs provide comfort to witnesses, including children, and offer an added sense of security for those discussing sensitive topics in often high-stress situations, such as jury trials. To use a facility dog in a case, a motion must first be filed with the court. The judge then will decide whether the circumstances warrant allowing the dog.

A Shelby County judge ruled Monday that only four Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) board seats will appear on the 2026 ballot, finding that county commissioners “exceeded their authority” by voting last fall to place all nine seats on the ballot, the Daily Memphian reports. Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson said the commission added language not included in a new Tennessee law allowing alignment of school board terms with the county’s four-year election cycle, improperly cutting short the terms of five board members. As a result, only seats representing Districts 1, 6, 8 and 9 will be on the ballot, while Districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 will not. The ruling, delivered from the bench ahead of upcoming election deadlines, follows a lawsuit filed by MSCS in December challenging the commission’s resolution. Prior to Monday's ruling, a temporary restraining order prevented candidates from pulling petitions for the seats in question.

Brentwood-based nonprofit Compassion Legal and the Nashville law firm of Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison have filed an amicus brief in a federal appellate case challenging Tennessee laws that limit speech about reproductive health care options in other states, the Nashville Banner reports. The brief urges the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm a district court ruling that speech about health care available in other states is constitutionally protected, even when the care is not legal in a person’s state of residence. “If states are allowed to criminalize speech about reproductive health care options available in other states, they could just as easily criminalize speech about end-of-life health care options, such as medical aid in dying, available in other states,” Veronica Darling, director of litigation at Compassion Legal, said in a news release. Sherrard Roe is representing Compassion Legal pro bono.