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.

Congress has approved a $1.5 trillion spending plan that includes a 6.1% boost in funding for federal judiciary security, Reuters reports. A total of $704.8 million was allotted for court security. Included in the funding is money for the creation of a program aimed at identifying and pursuing the voluntary removal of judges' personal information from the internet. The judiciary is also seeking approval of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which would allow federal judges to redact personal information on government websites and bar people and businesses from publishing such information online if written requests are made not to do so. The measure is named after the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered in an attack at the New Jersey judge’s home in 2020 by a disgruntled lawyer.  

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Bouie Donald is the featured guest on a new podcast episode from Littler Mendelson. Littler’s Inclusion, Equity & Diversity podcast series is hosted by Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas, who talks with Donald about President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Donald reflects on lessons from her own personal journey as a pioneer in U.S. judicial history, why diversity of SCOTUS is so important, why Black women have not equally benefitted from women’s movements and much more. Read more and stream the podcast on Littler’s website.

Former Nissan U.S. executive and Williamson County resident Greg Kelly yesterday returned to Tennessee after a nearly four-year legal battle, the Nashville Post reports. A Japanese court found Kelly guilty of underreporting pay for his former boss, Carlos Ghosn. He was acquitted of several other charges. He was allowed to return home to Tennessee following his suspended sentence. Kelly maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the conviction in a Japanese court, arguing that he was targeted by some Nissan executives out of fear of a potential merger with a French company. “This was a case where a trial showed there was no crime,” Kelly said. He was welcomed home by U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty who called Kelly’s situation “very regrettable.”

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.

Mark your calendars for the TBA CLE’s Local Government Forum 2022. The live virtual program will take place from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. CDT on May 24 and will be worth one dual and three general credit hours of CLE. More information on the program will be released soon. If you are not a TBA Member, you can join now to receive CLE discount prices and three prepaid credits.

Keep up with the latest bar association events and top legal news with the TBA’s BarBuzz podcast. Attorney Sean Martin of Nashville’s Martin, Heller, Potempa & Sheppard law firm co-hosts this month’s episode, now streaming on the TBA’s website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. BarBuzz, one of five shows in the TBA Podcast Network, premiers a new episode each month.

District Attorney General Ray Crouch Jr. of the 23rd Judicial District recently talked with students in Lipscomb University’s Law, Justice, and Society program about the district’s successful recovery court program. Crouch shared the cost savings generated by placing non-violent defendants in the recovery program compared to the cost of incarceration. He explained that much of his caseload involves repeat drug offenders and how recovery court is one method for getting at the root of the problem. Lipscomb University’s Recovery Court class is the first college course in Tennessee, second in the nation, devoted entirely to training students about the recovery court model. The course is taught by adjunct professor Kevin Batts, who also serves as a director of the 23rd District Recovery Court.