NPR reports a growing number of states are changing their statutes of limitations to allow sexual assault cases to be prosecuted years after the incident. The changes are aimed at benefitting victims who may need time to recover from trauma. "Every single state has an interest in making sure that individuals who are predatory are taken off the street and if that means someone speaking out later, that's something we should be supporting," said Laura Dunn, attorney and founder of advocacy group SurvJustice.

The front door of the Hamilton County-Chattanooga Courts Building will reopen for the first time since the fall of 2001 following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The Times Free Press reports visitors to the entrance will undergo the same security screening they do at the other entrances of the building.

The Brentwood Home Page reports Magistrate William C. Lebo was appointed to serve in Williamson County Juvenile Court. Lebo replaces Magistrate Joshua L. Rogers, who is leaving the position after nine years. Lebo previously served as a Guardian Ad Litem in private practice and as a Magistrate for the Montgomery County Juvenile Court.

Two class action suits filed against Pilot in Jefferson and Sevier counties accuse the filling station chain of allegedly breaching contract with customers and committing fraud by concealing information, WATE reports. The plaintiffs claim authorized messages appeared on card-readers for the amount they believed they had paid at the pump. The company, however, placed “holds” on their credit cards between $100-$500. Pilot Flying J said it has not received documentation of the lawsuit.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey named the first five appointees to the newly created Trial Court Vacancy Commission, which will screen candidates and send three finalists to Gov. Bill Haslam for appointment. The appointees are: Gilbert McCarter II, a Murfreesboro attorney; David Golden, chief legal officer and senior vice president of Eastman Chemical Company; J. Bartlett Quinn, a Chattanooga attorney; Jesse Cannon Jr., an internist in Tipton County; and Beverly Nelms, a partner in Knoxville's Frantz, McConnell & Seymour. Speaker of the House Beth Harwell joined Ramsey to appoint Nashville lawyer Tom Lawless to serve as chair of the commission. Harwell, R-Nashville, will appoint the remaining five members of the commission, the Nashville Post reports.

Former General Sessions Court Judge Mattie Joyce Mills Ward-Spradlin died Wednesday at 73 after a lengthy illness, the Citizen Tribune reports. Ward was first appointed as a General Sessions judge in 1978 to fill out an unexpired term and was the first woman to hold a general sessions judgeship in Hamblen County. She was instrumental in the creation of the county’s Recovery Drug Court program and remained in the position until her retirement. “Morristown is a better place because of Joyce,” said Third Circuit Criminal Court Judge John Dugger.

Plaintiff, a member of a Limited Liability Company that sells insurance products to credit union members, filed this declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that the LLC?s operating agreement does not require him to make a “telemedicine counseling” business opportunity available to the LLC. The operating agreement requires members to “disclose and make available to [the LLC] each and every business opportunity that is within the scope and purpose of [the LLC] . . .

Plaintiff filed a public records request for tax study documents. The request was denied, and Plaintiff filed a lawsuit for access to the records. The trial court denied access to the records, and Plaintiff appealed. This Court has determined that the plain language of Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-1701(6)‘s definition of ?tax administration? encompasses the documents in question and that Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-1702(a) makes ?tax administration information? confidential. The trial court is affirmed.

Following a jury trial, Doug Harold Morrison (“the Defendant”) was convicted of theft of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury as to the lesser included offense of attempted theft of property. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant, Thomas A. Isbell, was convicted of aggravated child abuse after his infant son was brought to Maury Regional Hospital with a spiral fracture of the left humerus. As a result of the conviction, Defendant was sentenced to fifteen years in incarceration as a Range I, standard offender and ordered to serve 100% of the sentence pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-501(i)(1) and (2)(K). He appeals both his conviction and sentence. After a review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.