Rutherford County is seeking a new way to run its court probation program before its relationship with Pathways Community Corrections ends March 31, WSMV reports. County Mayor Ernest Burgess says choices include soliciting bids from the other private probation companies or starting its own probation program. PCC, which is currently under investigation by the Tennessee Department of Commerce, is closing April 1. The company is named in a federal lawsuit that claims the company and Rutherford County profited by keeping people on probation for extra time and charged excessive fees.

The online legal research firm Fastcase filed a lawsuit against Casemaker earlier this month after Casemaker’s parent company demanded Fastcase take down Georgia Administrative Rules and Regulations from its platform, Law Sites reports. Casemaker's parent company, Lawriter, has an agreement with the Georgia Secretary of State designating it as the exclusive publisher of the state's Rules and Regulations. But Fastcase CEO Ed Walters argues that "the law is not copyrightable. ... Someone needs to stand up for the proposition that public law is in the public domain."

Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw asked lawmakers to clarify the state’s mandatory reporting law, including the time frame of reporting. The judge’s request comes after he sent a case against three Ooltewah High School officials to a grand jury after the officials failed to report the abuse of a student. "There's an argument that could be made that Victim 1 was reported the next day, but that's not good enough. And there's no proof that the other three were reported," Philyaw said. Read more from WRCB.

An editorial in The Commercial Appeal supports Gov. Bill Haslam’s 2016-2018 Public Safety Action Plan, which supports tougher penalties against serial domestic-violence offenders. The editorial says that the plan also offers a “common sense” approach for altered sanctions for parole and probation violators that would help reduce the state’s 48 percent recidivism rate.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation charged an Oakland man after an investigation revealed he made more than 100 threats against a Fayette County judge via text messages. The Jackson Sun reports the threats were in response to a previous incarceration.

How do you break a Supreme Court tie? The Court’s 4-4 rulings will be knocked back down to the lower circuit courts that had previously ruled on the cases, and those prior rulings will stand. But Media General points out that accepted cases often follow opposing rulings from several circuit courts, so a 4-4 scenario could institute conflicting precedents in different regions. Justices may also postpone hearings until the court is back at full capacity.

The Lawyers' Association for Women - Marion Griffin Chapter extended the deadline for nominations for the Judge Martha Craig Daugherty Award and the LAW Rising Star Award through Feb. 19. The awards will be presented April 20. Nomination forms are available online.

The American Bar Association is accepting nominations for its 2016 Top 40 Young Lawyers awards through March 1. Nominees should exemplify a broad range of high achievement, innovation, leadership, and legal and community service. As of Aug. 30, nominees must be under 36 years old. Nominators do not have to be ABA members.

U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker say the next Supreme Court Justice should be chosen by the next president and not by President Barack Obama. "Under our Constitution, the president has the right to nominate, but the Senate has the right to decide whether to consent at this point in a presidential election year,” Alexander said. The Commercial Appeal notes the two Tennessee Republicans have in the past argued Supreme Court nominees should not be subject to a filibuster, except in extraordinary circumstances. Obama said he will attempt to fill the vacancy following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. 

Two men – accused of a 2012 killing of a man in an Antioch drug house – are now free following two jury trials. Jurors last week determined there was not enough physical evidence to connect Terrance D. Brown and Terrence J. Clark to the crime. A trial last June resulted in a hung jury. Read more from The Tennessean.