Chal Thompson has announced his candidacy for Circuit Court Judge, Part 3, for the 10th Judicial District in the May 6 Republican primary, the Cleveland Daily Banner reports. Thompson cited his 27 years of experience as an assistant district attorney, his seven years serving on Drug Court, along with his total 33 years as a practicing lawyer, as qualifications for the position. The Part 3 circuit judge handles criminal cases, along with the criminal court judge.

Knox County Chancellor Daryl Fansler has drawn opposition for the first time since being elected in 1998. Fansler, a Democrat who presided over the 2007 case in which the Knox County Commission was sued for violating the state’s open meetings law, will face lawyer Clarence E. “Eddie” Pridemore, who is running as a Republican. Knoxnews has more.

Three Republican candidates are seeking to fill the 18th Judicial District Circuit Court judgeship vacancy created by the sudden death last week of C.L. “Buck” Rogers. Gallatin attorneys Mark Smith and Joe Thompson had qualified to run as Republicans for the seat of Chancery Court Judge but have withdrawn to seek the Circuit Court judgeship. Hendersonville attorney and former White House municipal judge Charles Bobbitt Jr. is also running as a Republican. It has yet to be determined if independent candidate Thomas Boyers V of Gallatin will be allowed to run in the Aug. 7 general election. The Tennessean has more.

The Governor's Commission for Judicial Appointments today recommended Jeffrey S. Bivins, Linda W. Knight and Larry K. Scroggs as candidates to fill the Tennessee Supreme Court position being vacated this summer by Justice William C. Koch Jr. The three now go to Gov. Bill Haslam for consideration. View each candidate’s application at the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Sumner County Election Commission has set a new qualifying deadline for potential candidates to fill the seat of 18th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge C.L. “Buck” Rogers, who died suddenly yesterday. He was the only candidate to qualify for that position. Potential candidates for the office must submit petitions by March 6 in the Sumner County Republican Primary only. Gallatin attorney Thomas Boyers V today filed a lawsuit against the election commission after being denied a qualifying petition to run as an independent, citing state law regarding the death of a candidate. Boyers was later issued a petition after Sumner County Chancellor Tom Gray issued a temporary restraining order against Sumner County Administrator of Elections Lori Atchley. The Tennessean has more.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will visit the University of Tennessee College of Law April 14-15. He will present the Rose Lecture on April 15 in the Alumni Memorial Building’s Cox Auditorium. The event is open to law students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the campus community.

Court reporters and captioners last week celebrated 2014 National Court Reporting and Captioning Week during a gathering in Chattanooga, the Hamilton County Herald reports. “Court reporting and captioning are part of the lifeblood of law and culture in our society,” said Nancy Varallo, president of the National Court Reporters Association. “I encourage everyone in this profession to let their enthusiasm inspire a student to explore this profession.”

The protest group 99Rise has posted what appears to be the first video of the Supreme Court taken inside the courtroom with the court in session, WRCB reports. The Supreme Court forbids cameras and all other electronic devices, but members of 99Rise appear to have shot video on two separate occasions since October. A court spokeswoman said the court is reviewing the video and courtroom screening procedures.

Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) groups are targeting attorneys across the United State with a sophisticated debt fraud scheme, the FBI is reporting. The TOC groups hire unwitting attorneys to represent them for a fraudulent legal scenario, solicit them to deposit large counterfeit checks into their client trust accounts, and then persuade them to immediately wire the deposited amount to a foreign bank account controlled by members of the TOC group. The FBI issued an advisory to inform the legal community how the scheme works, how to help mitigate the threat, and how to report incidents to law enforcement.

Starting next week, voters in Tennessee and nine other states will be required to present photo identification before casting ballots in primary elections — the first major test of voter ID laws after years of legal challenges arguing that the measures are designed to suppress voting. This year, new or stricter photo-identification voting laws take effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Tennessee. The debut of the new laws in a few smaller-scale elections over the last year has exposed some problems, such as mismatched names, confusion over absentee voting provisions and rules that require voters to travel great distances to obtain proper documentation, Knoxnews reports from the Associated Press.