Computer networks, telephone and email services have been disrupted at the Nashville Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, several boards and commissions and Davidson County courts due to the explosion in Nashville on Christmas day. The following is an update from the AOC as of Monday morning:

• The Nashville Supreme Court Building, including the Appellate Clerk’s Office, is closed through Dec. 28 while emergency services are restored and tested. All methods of filing will still be available, including the drop box located outside of the building, e-filing, fax filing, U.S. mail and commercial delivery services. Questions can be directed to the Appellate Court Clerk offices in Jackson at 731-423-5840, or Knoxville at 865-594-6700
   
• All three clerk offices are open, but there are phone and elevator issues in the buildings. To enter the Circuit Court Clerk or Chancery Clerk and Master, enter the Historic Courthouse on James Robertson Parkway only. After entry, a guard will take you to the clerk office. The Criminal Court Clerk in the Justice A.A. Birch Building is open. 
   
• The tncourts.gov website and email addresses with a tncourts.gov domain have been restored, but emails sent on Christmas day or after may have been delayed, mis-timestamped or made inaccessible on smartphones
   
• The AOC’s physical office is closed for the week, with staff working remotely. Technology staff may be on hand to work on servers and systems. Phone lines into the AOC have not yet been restored, but email is working
   
• The Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program offices are located in the blast zone and received heavy damage. The physical office is closed. The website and email are functioning. Email sent between Friday morning and late Sunday may be delayed, mis-timestamped or made inaccessible on smartphones. The phone lines are not currently working. If you have an emergency, please call this cell number: 615-393-2985
   
• The Board of Law Examiners will be open, with email and website capabilities. Phone lines to BLE have not yet been restored
   
• The Board of Professional Responsibility is expected to be open and functioning as planned
   
• Many of the Davidson County court offices are located within, or just north of, the blast zone. They are on a pre-planned reduced schedule this week. The court clerk offices are scheduled to open today, but may have limited phone and email capabilities
   
• The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims is experiencing a disruption in normal phone service. For this week only, settlement call-in numbers for the Nashville judges are as follows: Judge Josh Baker, 423-634-0163; Chief Judge Kenneth Switzer, 855-543-5041. All attorneys with approvals this week must contact the injured workers to convey this temporary change in plans. Bureau staff will be contacting the attorneys by phone or email as well
   
• As of Tuesday afternoon, phone lines at the Davidson County District Attorney's Office are down 

The TBA will be closing at 3 p.m. CST today and will remain closed all day on Thursday and Friday in observance of the Christmas holiday. We will reopen Monday at 8 a.m.  Online CLE programming will remain available throughout the holidays.

Gov. Bill Lee has issued Executive Order 72, which extends remote notarization and witnessing of documents through Feb. 27, 2021. He also issued Executive Order 71, which extends authority for remote meetings.

The U.S. Senate this week confirmed former House speaker Beth Harwell and East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland to serve on the board of directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Associated Press reports. Harwell, a longtime Nashville Republican lawmaker, was elected speaker in 2011, but left the legislature in an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018. Since the race, she has been working as a visiting professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. Noland has been president of Johnson City’s ETSU since 2011. President Donald Trump nominated both Harwell and Nolan for the board in January.  

Greene County General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth Bailey was recently named the recipient of a 2020 Volunteer Spirit Award. Bailey was chosen for the award for his contributions to the betterment of Greene County and its citizens, including the role he played in bringing a much-needed Isaiah 117 house to the area. Isaiah 117 houses provide housing for children who are waiting to be placed in foster care after being removed from their homes. Bailey also presided over the Greene County Recovery Court, a program focused on nonviolent offenders with substance use disorders. Now in its 19th year, the Spirit Award is presented by the Greeneville Sun newspaper and the organization Youth Builders of Greeneville. Read more on the story from the Administrative Office of the Court.

Crowded holiday parties and family gatherings may feel like Christmastime traditions of the past, but in an article for the Tennessean, Memphis attorney and former TBA president Bill Haltom writes of his gratefulness for Christmases past and his optimism for those yet to come. “COVID Christmas,” Haltom says, has even made him long for the stressful events of past holiday seasons, like frantic shopping sprees, assembling toys into the night on Christmas Eve and the Haltom Family’s annual “Christmas Fight.” Even still, Haltom says he is experiencing an unexpected feeling of gratitude this Christmas and looking forward to future holidays. “And I during these silent nights, I will be dreaming of Christmases yet to come after the advent of vaccines and the epiphany that the pandemic has passed.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court today ordered the law license of Robert Hamm Moyer be transferred to disability inactive status pursuant to Section 27.4 of Rule 9. Moyer cannot practice while on disability inactive status. He may petition the high court to remove his disability and reinstate him to the practice of law.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a statewide order suspending all in-person proceedings in municipal, juvenile, general sessions, trial, and appellate courts beginning Dec. 28 through Jan. 31, and all jury trials through Feb. 26. According to the order, the decision was made due to the “recent record number of COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations” and applies to all courts and court clerks’ offices except administrative courts within the Executive Branch, and federal courts and federal court clerks’ offices across the state. The suspension of trials is subject only to exceptions which may be granted by Chief Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins on a case-by-case basis. Read more from the Tennessean.

Fulfill your CLE requirements in one click with the Legal Essentials CLE Package. Part of the TBA’s Year End CLE Blast, this package offers a variety of programming worth a total of eight CLE hours. Topics include legal ethics and technology scams, legislative updates, Clio’s guide to working from home and much more. Check out our full list of CLE packages and choose by hours needed or by topic.

A North Carolina task force on racial justice has formally released recommendations for changes to the state’s police, criminal justice and court systems to help combat racial inequity. The North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice was assembled under Gov. Roy Cooper’s direction in the days following the death of George Floyd earlier this year. The task force’s final report urges more vigorous formal police standards involving the use of force, more education of officers on racial bias, and more transparency about officer misconduct. It also recommends decriminalizing low-level offenses like marijuana possession. The report ultimately gave 125 recommendations, including eliminating cash bail for criminal suspects not believed to be threats to the public and reducing court costs and fines paid by those who are convicted. The Associated Press has more on the report.