Following scrutiny from lawmakers, Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction (TRICOR) announced it will cease providing meals to the Tennessee Department of Correction. The business will also eliminate its Cook Chill program, which for the last five years employed roughly 60 inmates. The program has created millions of meals for Tennessee prisons, but lawmakers have criticized TRICOR after an audit revealed incomplete financial statements and a nonexistent contract between TRICOR and the state Department of Correction. Read more from The Tennessean.

Inmates at the Rutherford County Detention Center were able to spend time with their families Saturday at New Vision Baptist Church’s annual Christmas event. The Tennessean reports more than 300 children and families were in attendance. The event was coordinated by Prison Fellowship, an organization that helps facilitate similar gatherings across the country.

Legal experts tell USA Today that despite legal troubles for popular fantasy sports sites Fan Duel and DraftKings, fantasy games are too lucrative to disappear. A New York state appeals court decided Friday to temporarily allow the two websites to operate in the state, blocking a lower court’s ruling earlier that day to ban the websites from taking bets. “I think that this is just one move in a series of moves that is going to be made both in the courts and in legislatures and also before regulatory bodies, perhaps, that will ultimately wind up in the regulation of fantasy sports and not its removal,” Alfred Yen, director of the Emerging Enterprises and Business Law Program at Boston College, said.

The Tennessee Bar Association will offer three tracks of live dual and general credit CLE programs at the 2015 CLE Blast to help you meet your last-minute CLE needs. This four-day program at the Tennessee Bar Center will be held Dec. 28-31 from 7 a.m. – 6:45 p.m. You can create your own schedule and attend as many CLE programs as you need.

The Tennessee Municipal Judges Conference honored Nolensville Municipal Judge James Petersen with the Sharon G. Lee Award of Excellence for his outstanding service to the conference. Petersen has been the municipal judge in Nolensville since 1999. “I was surprised by this award. I know a lot of other judges who deserve it as much or more," Petersen said. "The work I do for the Municipal Judges Conference is enjoyable, and hopefully contributes something to our municipal courts in Tennessee.” 

Judges in the 20th Judicial Distrct invite you to a holiday celebration on Dec. 17, 4 – 7 p.m., at Ms. Kelli’s located in Printers Alley in Nashville. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served and a cash bar is available.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld that Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) was not entitled to prior notice of the sale of mortgaged land in Hamilton County because it did not have an interest in the land that is constitutionally protected under the Due Process Clause. Purchasers of the land borrowed money from a MERS member lender but later sold the note to another lender, who failed to pay 2006 property taxes. Hamilton County initiated tax foreclosure proceedings and did not notify MERS of the proceedings. MERS filed a lawsuit to set aside the tax sale. The Court affirmed the trial’s court judgment, saying Hamilton County was not required to give MERS notice before it sold the land. Read the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. v. Carlton J. Ditto opinion, authored by Justice Holly Kirby.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands relocated its Clarksville office from 120 Franklin Street to 109 South Third Street in downtown Clarksville. The new 3,700 square foot office houses seven employees and is located across from the Clarksville courthouse. “A more accessible, updated and welcoming office promotes the dignity of our clients and sets the tone for advocating for their rights and well-being," Gary Housepian, Legal Aid Society’s executive director, said.

The legislative agenda for Tennessee’s district attorneys includes increasing the punishment for child porn videos, Kingsport Times-News reports. "We can enhance punishment depending on how many images you have," Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus said. "Currently, one photo and one video (of child porn) are the same. We want to propose that one video, which is made up of multiple images, be counted as 51 photos." The agenda also includes toughening laws for school bus drivers who use electronic devices while operating a bus and establishing aggravated sexual battery as a lesser offense.

Five candidates filed petitions to run for the 19th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Part III, a position now vacant due to the Dec. 1 retirement of John Gasaway. The Republican candidates are Ted Crozier Jr., Roger Nell and Herb Patrick; the Montgomery County Republican Primary is scheduled for March 1. The winner of the Republican nomination will run against the independent candidates Merriel Bullock-Neal and John E. Finklea on Aug. 4. Jill Bartee Ayers and Robert T. Bateman are running for the Republican nomination in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Part IV race. Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Ayers earlier this year to fill the newly created seat. The 19th Judicial Circuit encompasses both Montgomery and Robertson counties. Read more from The Leaf-Chronicle.