State Rep. Antonio Parkinson says he plans to introduce legislation making it mandatory to test all rape kits. Coming weeks after Memphis police admitted that 12,000 rape kits -- dating back to the early 1980s -- have not been tested, the bill requires that evidence be submitted within 10 days of collection to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) or to a TBI-authorized lab for testing, Parkinson said. Once those kits are submitted, whoever is testing them would then have six months to make sure they are processed. WREG News Channel 3 has more.

One year after various media coalitions sued the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for access to child death records, WREG news Channel 3 reviews the changes and progress DCS has made. In the past year, DCS has made major staff and policy changes and revised its child death review process. Agency leaders say the abuse hotline is dropping fewer calls, case workers are training with the TBI and more data will be added online, like a child’s age, gender and history with the department before the full case file is posted. “We’re trying every way we can to be more open, we think that, that makes us better, we invite the oversight,” says Commissioner Jim Henry.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said Tuesday that Supreme Court justices should work as long as they can and shouldn't manipulate their retirement so a like-minded president can appoint their successor, the Associated Press reports on WRCB Channel 2. Some liberals have recently called on the 80-year-old Ginsburg to retire so President Barack Obama can choose her replacement. If she stays beyond his term, it would leave open the possibility that a Republican would name the liberal justice's successor.

The Memphis Police Department released an official policy instructing officers not to interfere with civilians who film them in public, the Commercial Appeal reports. The policy comes after two incidents in October in which several people accused Memphis Police officers of violating their First Amendment rights by ordering them to stop filming, confiscating their cellphones and arresting them for disorderly conduct. The policy, signed by Police Director Toney Armstrong, states that civilians have the right to video record, photograph, and audio record MPD members while they are performing their duties in public spaces “unless such recordings interfere with police activity.”

Gallatin City Recorder and Judge Connie Kittrell was publicly reprimanded by the Board of Judicial Conduct for violating state judicial conduct rules when she had a city employee dismiss her daughter’s traffic citation in 2012. According to the board’s website, a public reprimand “details the findings of judicial misconduct and lists reasons why such conduct is improper and a discredit to the judiciary.” It is the least public discipline that the state board can impose by law, the Tennessean reports.

Memphis Mayor AC Wharton and Shelby County Mayor Mark Lutrell today presented Shelby County legislators with a joint list of requests, plus separate city and county requests, for the upcoming legislative action. The mayors asked for new authority from the state to attack blight in Memphis and Shelby County and for an increase in money for health, education, anti-crime and job-training programs. The Commercial Appeal has more.

Ron Parson, an administrator in the sheriff's office, has decided to run in the Republican primary for Circuit Court clerk against County Commissioner Larry Henry. For more on Hamilton County election news, visit the Chattanoogan.

April Rebecca Mims has been temporarily suspended from the practice of law for failing to substantially comply with a monitoring agreement with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. Download the BPR notice.

Middle Tennessee journalists will tackle the topic of the media and the courts at a program sponsored by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. The event will be on Jan. 16 at Waller Law Offices in Nashville from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Following a reception, there will be a panel discussion featuring journalists and judges.

Rep. Eric Watson represented Tennessee in a discussion on drug policy issues facing the nation, the Chattanoogan reports. Topics at the Washington, D.C. conference included opioid abuse and diversion, “smart on crime” initiatives, and intergovernmental strategies for states to partner with the Office of National Drug Control Policy. As chairman of the House Criminal Practice Committee, Rep. Watson oversees efforts to prevent illegal drug use in Tennessee communities, strengthen drug treatment services, disrupt domestic drug production and trafficking, and improve drug-related information systems.