Tennessee prison guards will receive a pay raise in a slew of state employee salary increases announced last night by Gov. Bill Haslam during his State of the State Address. The Republican governor, unveiling a $34.8 billion budget, focused much of his annual speech on education investment and revealing plans to invest $261 million in new money for K-12 education in areas ranging from teacher pay to adding a 12th month of state funding for teacher health insurance. Last year, he proposed expanding Medicaid to an additional 280,000 Tennesseans through the Affordable Care Act, but no mention of that was made in Monday's speech. Read more from the Times Free Press.

A new Mental Health Court opened today in Memphis and will handle nonviolent, misdemeanor cases involving mental health patients, WMCActionNews5 reports. An estimated 25 percent of all Shelby County inmates have a mental illness. Judge Gerald Skahan will oversee the court, which is located at 201 Poplar Ave.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., said today that he will not seek re-election, The Commercial Appeal reports. Five Republican candidates announced they will run for his seat: State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown; George Flinn, a Memphis radiologist; Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds; David Kustoff, former U.S. attorney; and Steve Basar, Shelby County Commissioner.

House Republicans elected Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, as their new House Majority Whip, The Tennessean reports. The position was previously held by Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, who stepped down in January following allegations that he sent inappropriate text messages to women. Hill defeated Rep. Ron Travis, R-Dayton, with a 38-33 vote.

Davidson County Election Commission Chairman Ron Buchanan announced today plans to resign amid a WSMV investigation questioning the commission’s expenses. Buchannan’s resignation comes after he called a WSMV female reporter an obscenity for allegedly violating interview guidelines. “I said it. I meant it. I still mean it,” Buchanan said. “That was the one word that I could think of that accurately conveyed what I was thinking at that time." Read more from The Tennessean. 

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The sexual harassment advisory committee established last week by House Speaker Beth Harwell met privately this morning, The Tennessean reports. Harwell tasked the committee with reviewing the legislature’s sexual harassment policy. Committee member Frank Gibson, public policy director for the Tennessee Press Association, said that the group did not make any formal decisions today. “All meetings going forward will be substantive in nature and will be open to the public.” Harwell, R-Nashville, said.

The ABA Section of Family Law Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award Committee is accepting nominations for attorneys who have made significant contributions to family law clients on a pro bono basis in their communities. The award includes $1,500 and reimbursement for travel expenses of up to $1,000 to attend the Family Law Section’s Award Luncheon in San Francisco. Nominations are due May 20. Crowe was the TBA's 2013 Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year.

Derwyn Bunton, chief public defender in New Orleans, speaks with NPR about his office’s decision to stop accepting new cases in an effort to highlight underfunding. The office is now being sued by the ACLU. "We depend on fines, fees and costs paid by people going through our criminal justice system to actually operate our criminal justice system,” Bunton said.

Bibles in prison and “fancy eggs” are the focus of the Office of the Repealer during the 2016 legislative session. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the office suggests eliminating a "fancy fresh egg marketing program" established in 1951; two Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would dissolve the program. The office also suggests doing away with an 1829 mandate for providing a Bible to every prison inmate.