Judge Michael Collins this week announced he will run in the Republican primary to keep his seat on the 15th Judicial District Circuit Court, covering Wilson, Smith, Macon, Jackson and Trousdale counties, the Lebanon Democrat reports. Collins was elected to serve as the district’s General Sessions judge in 2014 before being elected to the Circuit Court in 2020, filling the vacancy created by Judge John Wootten’s retirement. Collins was appointed by former Gov. Bill Haslam to serve on the Recovery Court Advisory Committee to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and awarded the Community Impact Award from the Drug Prevention Coalition. He also founded the district’s first Misdemeanor Recovery Court and has been recognized for his work in addiction recovery.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III today provided an update on the $26 billion opioid agreement with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen, for the companies’ roles in the opioid crisis. Last year’s settlement hinged on a “critical mass” of participation from states, who had 30 days to join the deal, and local governments, who had five months. In Tennessee, more than 150 local governments have joined the settlements, including every county and all cities with populations of 25,000 or more. “Today we have every reason to be encouraged: we have impressive participation, nationally and locally, to get this settlement across the finish line,” Slatery said. Read more from the AG’s website.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has temporarily postponed plans to raze 2,000 acres of hardwoods on state-owned land in White County, Fox17 Nashville reports. TWRA had previously announced it would clear the land, gifted to the state by Bridgestone Americas, to create grassland habitat for the Northern bobwhite quail and keep all profits from the sale of the land’s timber. Earlier this month a private citizen filed a 60-day intent to sue letter if the deforestation plan was not stopped, and a bipartisan group of 34 state legislators condemned the plan in a letter, criticizing the TWRA’s “shameful lack of communication and transparency.” A bipartisan bill was also introduced this week that would require TWRA officials to transfer all proceeds from the sale of the state’s natural resources into Tennessee’s general fund. Following those developments, the TWRA yesterday said it "will be suspending any plans to do any cutting until this situation is resolved."

A Nashville man who was exonerated in a 2000 murder of a North Nashville woman is suing the city for $18 million, the Tennessean reports. Paul Shane Garrett was exonerated in August after a push from the Tennessee Innocence Project and a report from the Davidson County District Attorney's Conviction Review Unit. Garrett filed the suit Friday, naming the city and five individual police officers for their involvement in the investigation that sent him to prison for 10 years. The lawsuit claims officers tried to coerce Garrett into confession to the crime that he told officers nearly 50 times he did not commit. Two detectives involved in the case were later found to have “lied under oath and/or fabricated evidence on multiple occasions,” including around the time of the investigation into Garrett.   

Judge Sandra Donaghy has announced she will run for reelection in the 10th Judicial District Criminal Court, covering Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Donaghy was a judge, prosecutor, public defender and in private practice before being elected to the criminal court in 2014. According to a release from her campaign, since 2014 and through the start of COVID-19 restrictions, Donaghy has decreased her backlog by 9% and, in conjunction with Judge Andrew Freiberg, has resolved more than 15,000 cases. Donaghy also recruited multi-disciplinary teams to start a Veterans Treatment Court and obtained state funding for a criminal justice liaison for a Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy (ROCS) recovery court. Read the full release from Donaghy’s campaign.

After two lawsuits were filed, Tennessee has decided to release a $1.5 million taxpayer-funded report detailing recommendations on improving “government effeciencies,” the Tennessean reports. Private contractor Thomas Wesley filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Human Resources in December, followed by a second suit this month from Nashville Post parent company FW Publishing and reporter Stephen Elliott. The state’s decision to release the report, created by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was made days before a show cause hearing was set in Wesley’s case. The hearing was canceled after the attorney general’s office said it planned to “grant public access” to the record. A show cause hearing in the Nashville Post’s suit, which was broader in scope, was still scheduled for this afternoon.

Applications are now being accepted for two vacancies on the Eastern Section of the Court of Criminal Appeals following announcements that Judge Norma McGee and Judge D. Kelly Thomas Jr. will not seek retention. Qualified applicants are licensed attorneys who are at least 30 years old, residents of the state for at least five years and current residents of the Eastern Section. Those interested should submit an application to the Administrative Office of the Courts by noon CST on Feb. 8. The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will hold a virtual hearing for both vacancies via Zoom on March 3 and March 4. The hearing will be livestreamed on the AOC’s YouTube page. The AOC has more on application instructions and how to attend the hearing in person.  

The full state Senate will vote on whether to expel Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, from office on Feb. 2, the Commercial Appeal reports. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, announced the decision days after a Senate Ethics Committee recommended the expulsion, determining that Robinson violated the body’s code of ethics. Robinson is awaiting sentencing after being convicted on two counts of federal fraud charges relating to the mismanagement of federal funds connected to her nursing school.

Longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper today announced he will not run for re-election as a Republican redistricting plan that will split Davidson County into three congressional districts moves forward, the Tennessean reports. Cooper’s announcement came less than 24 hours after the state House approved redistricting plans on a 70-26 party-line vote. Cooper, who has represented Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District for 32 years, in a statement said he “explored every possible way” to keep the General Assembly from “dismembering Nashville.” He said he chose to make the announcement now to allow others more time to campaign. The 5th District will now include parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties, along with rural Lewis, Maury and Marshall counties. “For everything there is a season, a time and place under the sun,” Cooper said. “My time in Congress is ending, but I can’t wait to start the next adventure.”

A private citizen has notified state wildlife officials of his intent to sue within 60 days should a plan to raze 2,000 acres of hardwoods on state-owned land in White County proceed, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The land sits on 16,000 acres that was gifted to the state by Bridgestone Americas. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) plans to raze the land and use it to create grassland habitat for the Northern bobwhite quail. In the Jan. 10 notice, Marvin Bullock, president of the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce, and his attorney, Austin Warehime of Nashville’s Ortale Kelley Law Firm, claim the plan may harm numerous protected species in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. The plan has upset locals, environmental groups and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, who are critical of TWRA’s lack of transparency and its plan to keep all profits from the sale of the timber. TWRA is the only state agency allowed to keep proceeds from the sale of the state’s natural resources.