The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is asking contractors for proposals to determine what it would take to implement a statewide e-filing system, the Nashville Post reports. The AOC is looking for someone to study the current state of court filing systems in Tennessee and to “provide comprehensive recommendations to move Tennessee courts to a unified e-filing system.” The contractor would have three months to conduct walk-throughs and interviews with 10-15 court clerks and speak with stakeholders, including lawyers. They’d also be asked to evaluate two and four e-filing providers and to create a “roadmap” to setting up a system. According to the request for proposal, “there are 11 courts in Tennessee that are utilizing e-filing systems and 20 additional courts that have been approved for implementation of an e-filing system. There are over 300 courts in the state.” The request for proposals will close early next month. 

Cade Cothren, former chief of staff for ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, is challenging a subpoena to testify before the Registry of Election Finance regarding a political action committee he secretly ran, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The Registry subpoenaed Cothren in January after a former girlfriend testified she formed the Faith Family Freedom Fund Political Action Committee at Cothren’s request so he could run it secretly. Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood of Nashville, claims the court should not hold him in contempt for invoking his right against self-incrimination in response to subpoenas. Ahead of a September hearing in front of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, Sherwood is arguing that overlapping cases against Cothren should circumvent the state subpoena. The court filing acknowledges the Registry’s authority to refer cases for criminal prosecution but says “the authority to subpoena Mr. Cothren should yield to Mr. Cothren’s constitutional right against compelled testimony.”

The ABA Center for Innovation has released its inaugural “Innovation Trends Report,” a collection of essays and commentaries that focuses on internal ABA innovation, advances in law and technology and regulatory innovation. The report features eight authors who highlight some of the most innovative and forward-thinking efforts nationally in the delivery of legal services. It includes a report from legal tech company Rocket Lawyer, detailing their experience with Utah’s “regulatory sandbox” – a program created to test whether alternative business models for legal services improves access to justice. Read the full report here.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert has announced her office will be closed to the public for two weeks to “catch up on critically outstanding services,” the Daily Memphian reports. The clerk’s office will be closed the weeks of Aug. 22-26 and Sept. 19-23. The office has faced criticisms recently for a backlog of thousands of license plates and vehicle tags. Shelby County commissioners voted last week to call for state oversight, specifically by the state comptroller’s office, of all functions of the office, including the backlog of license plates and car tags renewed by mail and online. Halbert says her office is not to blame for the backlog. She notified commissioners earlier this month that the office would likely close to make up for work not done while addressing the license plate backlog.

TBA CLE’s Disability Law Forum 2022 will cover a variety of topics applicable to disability law practitioners, including a panel discussion on in-person hearings, a session dedicated to appealing ALJ decisions and more! Join the program on Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. CDT via Zoom Meeting. Learn more and get registered here.

The Tennessee Department of Correction yesterday announced it has received a $200,000 grant that will help temporarily house indigent people who are leaving prison, the Associated Press reports. In partnership with the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, the grant will pay for up to 60 days of housing for those who qualify for the program. TDOC Commissioner Lisa Helton says the program will give those leaving prison “time to focus on securing employment and saving for permanent housing when they first leave incarceration.” She also says affordable housing “helps to reduce the likelihood of re-offending.”

As executive assistant and events coordinator at the TBA, Karen Belcher works closely with Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson and the TBA’s Board of Governors and House of Delegates to keep meetings and events, like our Annual Convention, running smoothly! She’s undeterred by complex business meetings, but don’t ask Karen to go on a canoe trip – she’s terrified of snakes and thinks it’s probable that one could fall from a tree into the canoe!

Ever wanted to know more about the moving parts, projects and people of the Tennessee Bar Association? Look for a #TeamTBA post on all our social media outlets and in TBA Today for a closer look at each staff member, their role in the association and maybe a fun fact or two! #TeamTBA profiles are posted every Wednesday. Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. CDT today for Tennessee’s primary election to determine party nominees for governor, Congress and state legislative seats, the Associated Press reports. Early voting turnout was down 23.8% this year compared to the 2018 election when there was an open governor’s race with contested Republican and Democratic primaries. Compared with the same point in 2014, turnout is down 15.4%. The AP has a statewide look at tonight’s election and more information. Live results from local elections can be found here for Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Shelby counties. Results from any race can be found on the Tennessee Secretary of State's website. 

The U.S. Justice Department today charged four current and former Louisville, Kentucky, police officers for their roles in the 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, Reuters reports. Former Louisville Metropolitan Police Department Detective Joshua Jaynes and current Sergeant Kyle Meany were charged with civil rights violations and obstruction of justice for using false information to obtain the search warrant that authorized the raid. Current Detective Kelly Goodlett was charged with conspiring with Jaynes to falsify the warrant and then cover up the falsification, and former Detective Brett Hankison was charged with civil rights violations for allegedly using excessive force. Taylor, a Black woman, was in killed in her home during a nighttime raid in March 2020 as police looked for her former boyfriend.

The Beck Cultural Center in Knoxville is calling on Gov. Bill Lee to exonerate Maurice F. Mays — a Black man the center says was wrongfully executed in 1922. Mays was accused of killing a 27-year-old white woman during a home invasion in 1919. He was identified by the victim’s brother in a quick police lineup, convicted of the crime one month later, and executed in 1922 at the age of 35. The Beck Center is working with a legal team to ask the governor for a formal exoneration. Beck Center President Renee Kesler would like to acknowledge Mays “and his death in a proper way.” The Beck Center will open a permanent exhibit devoted to Mays at the end of the month. Read more from Knoxville’s WBIR.