The Tennessee Department of Revenue conducted an audit of a business and assessed unpaid taxes against the business. After an informal review by the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the business filed suit in the Chancery Court for Davidson County to challenge the assessment. The trial court concluded that the complaint was not timely filed, thus preventing the court from exercising subject matter jurisdiction over the complaint. Finding no error, we affirm the chancellor’s decision.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue audited a car dealership and assessed unpaid taxes against the business. After an informal review by the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the auto dealership filed suit in the Chancery Court for Davidson County to challenge the assessment. The trial court found that the auto dealership’s complaint had been filed one day past the applicable filing period and dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Finding no error, we affirm.

Earn three general hours with this Bankruptcy 1-Click package. The first session will feature a Chapter 13 trustee and a staff attorney to the Chapter 13 trustee for the Eastern District of Tennessee (Southern Division) who will highlight differences between their areas and highlight current issues in Chapter 13 cases. Also, learn about recent developments impacting mortgages in bankruptcies in the second session. Last up is a 1.5 hour long presentation highlighting bankruptcy case law updates.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of a special counsel interview with Democratic President Joe Biden. The measure passed 216-207 on a party-line vote with one Republican joining Democrats in voting no. Garland is the third attorney general to be held in contempt: both Eric Holder (under President Barack Obama) and Bill Barr (under President Donald Trump) were held in contempt, but the Justice Department did not pursue charges in either case. Reuters has the story.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Dumitru on Tuesday ruled that Demetrus Coonrod, a Chattanooga City Council member representing District 9, lives within her district and can continue to represent it. Chattanoogan.com reports that a residency challenge was made after Coonrod purchased a house in Harrison, but she testified that she lives primarily in District 9. The judge directed the city to reimburse Coonrod's legal bills.

The chair of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, Hank Fincher, told the Tennessee Journal in a text message that the registry's referral of a collusion complaint to the state attorney general is "very serious." The complaint states the treasurer of the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC, which has published ads attacking incumbent Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, is also the treasurer for U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger, a Kingsport Republican. The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger said such referrals "happen all the time," but Fincher maintained that referrals reflect "probable cause" that violations occurred.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will host the eighth annual Strategic Code Enforcement Management Academy (SCEMA) this Wednesday through Friday. The two-day SCEMA program focuses local teams of government managers, attorneys and community partners on the core principles and practices of strategic code enforcement tailored to the priorities and challenges confronting each team's community. This year, a record 11 cities will take part in the law school-hosted academy, with teams from Memphis; St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Rockford, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Chandler, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Washington, D.C.

Belmont’s College of Law classes 2024 and 2025 received back-to-back 100% pass rates for the fall and spring administration of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, known as the MPRE. Required by the American Bar Association and administered three times a year by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the MPRE measures a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of established standards related to the professional conduct of lawyers. The exam covers a variety of topics including conflicts of interest, how to handle clients’ money, keeping a client’s confidence and other subjects meant to indicate an individual’s knowledge of rules that govern the profession. Read more in a release from the law school.

A Meigs County woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Judge Casey Stokes, Sheriff Jackie Melton, Probation Officer Carol Petitt and Deputy Ben Christian, reports Chattanoogan.com. The complaint alleges that Stokes saw the woman, Hannah Ashbrook, in the hallway of the Meigs County Courthouse and ordered a drug test without probable cause. Ashbrook's suit says she was taken into a bathroom and given 30 seconds to give a urine sample and the sample was then tossed. According to the complaint, Stokes then entered a judgment that she be held in the jail for 10 days for "contempt" and denied her the right to counsel.

The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) on May 6 sent a letter to guardians and families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in state-run homes. The letter informed them that the homes would be decommissioned for adults and repurposed to house children in custody of the Department of Children's Services (DCS). “They are using the plight of young people in DCS custody to encourage the conservators and families to get these people to move,” said Zoe Jamail, policy director for Disability Rights Tennessee, which has written its own letter to the families saying they are under no obligation to move their loved ones out of the homes. DIDD officials said in a statement last week that “no one is being evicted from their homes and we have stated that in conversations with family members.” The Tennessee Lookout has the story.