Lebanon-based behavioral health facility Ameri-Kare and its CEO Janie Ganaway have agreed to pay the state $86,595.96 to settle claims that they violated the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act. Per the settlement agreement, the state alleges Ameri-Kare submitted false claims for payment for TennCare members, false claims for TennCare services provided by a physician no longer employed by the facility and altered records to conceal wrongdoing. Read the full settlement from the Attorney General’s Office website.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and 20 attorneys general from across the country are asking President Joe Biden to withdraw his administration’s COVID-19 mandate for all federal contractors. Pursuant to Biden’s September executive order requiring federal departments to contractually require contractors and subcontractors to adopt COVID-19 safety protocols, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force in September issued a vaccination mandate, which Slatery called “simply not workable.” Read more from the AG’s website.  

Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, today announced he will temporarily resign as chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Tennessean reports. His announcement comes after he was charged Monday with violating several campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit his failed 2016 campaign for Congress. Kelsey, alongside the owner of Nashville social club The Standard, stand accused of moving “soft money” from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign committee to his federal campaign. Kelsey has called the indictment a “political witch hunt.”

Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, has proposed new legislation that would require any district attorney general refusing to enforce state law be replaced by a court-appointed attorney, the Tennessean reports. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, also co-sponsored similar bills that would fine or replace district attorneys who refuse to enforce state law. Rudd’s bill would directly affect Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk, who has publicly said he will not prosecute teachers for requiring masks and, earlier this year, announced he would not enforce a state law requiring businesses to post signs if they provide gender-friendly bathrooms to transgender people. “Prosecutorial discretion is part of our constitution,” Funk told The Tennessean upon learning the bill was filed.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has named Professor Demetria Frank as its new Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion. In this role, Frank will oversee the law school’s efforts in diversity and inclusion, while also remaining on the law school’s faculty. Frank has served for three years as the school’s director of the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, where she established the high school-focused Bass, Berry, & Sims Summer Trial and Advocacy Institute (STAI) and Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars Program (PLUS). During her tenure, preLaw Magazine has ranked the law school 13th in the nation for African American students, and Enjuris chose it as a Top 10 Law School for Black students.  

The Knox County Board of Education yesterday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to throw out a mask mandate ordered by a judge, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Four Knox County families sued Gov. Bill Lee and the Knox County Board of Education alleging the governor’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of a federal law called the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer blocked Lee’s order and required the school system to impose a mask mandate while the lawsuit plays out. 

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. “Bob” Simpson died on Oct. 18. He was 93. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Simpson worked in private practice before joining the Justice Department in 1966. Simpson was the longest serving assistant U.S. Attorney in the nation upon his retirement in 2008 after 42 years as an AUSA in the Eastern District. During his career, Simpson worked a variety of cases, most notable was the 1983 “Butcher” case involving the biggest banking scandal in Tennessee. A celebration of Simpson’s life will be arranged at a later date. Any consideration of memories may be made to U.T. College of Law, 1505 W. Cumberland Ave., Ste. 278, Knoxville 37996-1810 or to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Friends of the Smokies, P.O. Box 1660, Kodak 37764.

After amending Rule 13, Section 5(a)(1) yesterday to add “juvenile transfer proceedings” to the types of cases a trial court, in its discretion, may determine that investigative or expert services are needed to ensure the constitutional rights of the defendant are properly protected, the Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order that denies other parts of a petition relating to an indigent criminal defendant’s right to fees for expert, investigative, and other support services during criminal proceedings and in juvenile delinquency cases. The petition was filed by the Choosing Justice Initiative, Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Tennessee Post-Conviction Defender Organization and two private lawyers.

Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton has been reappointed to the Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council (DVSCC) by Deborah Taylor Tate, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The Council was created to increase the awareness and understanding of domestic and family violence and to reduce its rate in Tennessee. DVSCC creates domestic violence response policies for police and judicial officers and provides training and curriculum for law enforcement and those in the court who handle domestic violence situations. Judge Dalton will serve another four-year term, representing the judiciary of the Middle Grand Division. “Her abiding commitment to insuring victims of domestic or sexual abuse have access to justice in our system began as a young prosecutor and has continued throughout her stellar and historic judicial career,”  Tate said of Dalton. Read more on the AOC’s website.

Newly appointed 7th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Ryan Spitzer went straight to work after being sworn in on Sept. 1. “I was sworn in on Wednesday and had court on Thursday, so it was busy,” Spitzer told the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). He fills the seat of former Judge Donald R. Elledge who retired on June 30, leaving the district, which serves Anderson County, without a Circuit Court judge. Spitzer says his path to the bench was unexpected, but was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. “I was working in DA’s office and my boss was about 10 years older than me. I expected I would run for DA after he retired, but then my judge retired and this position was going to be open,” he said. Read more about Spitzer and his new role on the AOC’s website.