WPLN reports that Tennessee State University’s Board of Trustees has been granted a one-year reprieve by a joint committee with the General Assembly. A recent state comptroller’s audit recommended that TSU vacate top management positions. The Board of Trustees has agreed to make changes suggested in the audit, most of which require more frequent reporting. In response, the joint committee is recommending that TSU’s Board of Trustees be extended for one year.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission met today to consider six candidates for the chancery court vacancy in the 7th Judicial District, which includes Anderson County. The vacancy was created by the resignation of the Hon. M. Nichole Cantrell, effective Jan. 31, 2023. After holding a public hearing and conducting public interviews, the Commission selected James W. “Jamie” Brooks Jr., Karen G. Crutchfield and H. Daniel Forrester. The Commission has forwarded the names to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration.

Bar passage rates remained steady in 2020, according to information from the American Bar Association’s section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, though the first-time passage rate fell by about 2 percentage points. The new data shows that in the aggregate, 91.44% of 2020 law graduates who sat for a bar exam passed it within two years of graduation (91.87% with Diploma Privilege). The two-year “ultimate” aggregate success rate is slightly better than the 91.27% comparable figure for 2019 graduates. The 2020 ultimate bar pass data also reveals that 92.58% of all graduates sat for a bar exam within two years of graduation. Spreadsheets are available on the section’s webpage under Legal Education Statistics, which report these outcomes under ABA Required Disclosures on a school-by-school basis and in more detail.

The Madison County Election Commission on Thursday discussed, and ultimately rejected, a proposal to extend early voting hours, WBBJ in Jackson reports. Election Commissioner Wendy Trice Martin reported that “it’s been brought before myself and other commissioners to just not even change, but adjust. And that would not cost any more money, any more staffing. Just to have people to be able to have time to get off work and to vote.” Opponents of the change cited Tenn. Code Ann. 2-1-106, which says that any person entitled to vote in an election held in the state may be absent from any service or employment on the day of the election for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed three hours, necessary to vote during the time the polls are open in the county where the person is a resident. 

Ken Moody, special assistant to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, is leaving the mayor’s office for a new position at the University of Memphis, effective March 3. ABC24 reports that Moody has been with Memphis government for more than 20 years. Mayor Strickland said in a news release that “Ken has been an invaluable member of our senior leadership team and has made a real difference in city government.”

WSMV reports that former Springfield Alderman Bruce Morris Head was arrested on Thursday on money laundering, tax evasion and sales tax fraud. The Department of Revenue (TNDOR) announced that the president of Stewart Williams Company in Springfield was indicted and arrested after an investigation by the Special Investigations Section of the TNDOR. The Robertson County grand jury indicted Head on Feb. 15 on one count of theft over $250,000, one count of money laundering, one count of tax evasion and eight counts of sales tax fraud. The indictments allege Head, an alderman for more than 25 years, filed false sales tax returns with the TNDOR on behalf of Stewart Williams.

Tennessee legislators have introduced bills that would restrict the use of trotlines in Tennessee waterways. Senate Bill 1308 is sponsored by Sen. Paul Bailey (R, Dist. 15) and the corresponding House Bill 1260 is sponsored by Rep. Paul Sherrell (R, District 43). Members of the American Canoe Association said such legislation was likely after the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission (TFWC) failed to take action on their requests recently. NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga explains that trotlines are long lines, placed under water containing multiple hooks, that fishermen use most often for catching catfish. Some water sport enthusiasts say trotlines that stretch across creeks and streams represent a safety hazard for canoers and kayakers. 

Republican strategist Alice Rolli has entered the 2023 Nashville mayoral race, according to the Nashville Scene. Rolli was campaign manager for Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander’s 2014 reelection bid and worked for several years in the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development during GOP Gov. Bill Haslam’s time in office. She was also an adviser to Republican Randy Boyd’s unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2018 and was involved in an effort to stop a development near Fort Negley in 2017. Rolli’s campaign Treasurer David Fox, who lost his mayoral bid in 2015, says that for Rolli, the measure of the city’s success is “the quality of life for all who are committed to make our city their home,” not how many corporations city leaders can incentivize to relocate.

Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah, and Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, have introduced the Tennessee Safe Crime Reporting Law that would prevent victims of trafficking from arrest on prostitution charges or simply reporting a crime and increase criminal penalties for those patronizing prostitutes. The measure is designed to overcome longstanding mistrust between trafficking victims and law enforcement, which not only puts victims in danger but hinders broader public safety efforts, advocates say. “It creates a bridge,” said Alisa Bernard, policy director of the Nashville nonprofit Thistle Farms, which brought the measure before lawmakers. “If, for example, someone sees a child being trafficked they can report that to police” without fear of their own arrest. Historically the law has treated trafficking victims forced into prostitution as offenders, “when they’re almost always a victim who has been fraudulently enticed or forced into that life,” Ragan said in a statement. The Tennessee Lookout has the full story.

A special report on Tennessee State University from the state comptroller recommends lawmakers vacate and restructure the school’s board of trustees and hire new administrators, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Lawmakers tasked the comptroller’s office with examining a spike in enrollment at the historically Black university in Nashville and subsequent problems related to a lack of on-campus housing and the processing of scholarships. Several students and parents filed complaints with the state, triggering the examination. “The comptroller’s audit revealed some valid concerns that must be addressed, but the historical precedent and context that brought us to this point matters,” Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, said in a statement. “The audit omitted the critical responsibility of the legislature to adequately fund the institution, which is a direct result of the situation that lends itself in today.”