The Tennessee Department of Correction is facing staffing shortages despite a significant increase in prison officer salaries, prompting the use of a “floating security crew” at state facilities, according to the Tennessee Lookout. In March, a group of five correctional officers volunteered to serve with the crew at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. The department also plans to hire 20 more officers for the crew, which will travel to locations where they are needed based on staffing levels. The department recently put $37 million more into officer salaries and held recruiting events, but despite those efforts there is still a 26% vacancy rate for correctional officers at state facilities.

Environmental groups are urging the Shelby County Health Department to issue an emergency order to stop xAI from operating what appear to be dozens of natural gas turbines in Southwest Memphis, the Daily Memphian reports. xAI plans to use the turbines as a power source for its new data center, in addition to electricity from Memphis Light, Gas and Water and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Attorneys for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) say the turbines appear to operating without an air emissions permit in violation of the Clean Air Act. They are asking the health department to inspect the site, order the turbines stopped and possibly impose fines of up to $25,000 per day. They also allege that the turbines could be the area’s largest emitter of nitric oxide and that formaldehyde emissions exceed legal limits. The company currently has an air emissions permit application pending with the health department with a public hearing set for April 25.

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC, known as “Holtzman Vogel,” announced its expansion into Nashville with the addition of Brandon Smith as partner. Smith, the former chief of staff for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, will lead the new office and join the firm’s national government, corporate investigations and political law practices. According to the firm, Smith brings extensive experience in government and regulatory affairs to his new position, having held senior state-level jobs across the South and Midwest. He also will join the Vogel Group, the firm's lobbying and government affairs arm. Smith earned his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law. In addition to Nashville, Holtzman Vogel has offices in Arizona, Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will delay enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for another 75 days. The order was announced as White House officials believed they were nearing a deal for the app’s operations to be spun off into a new company based in the U.S. and owned and operated by a majority of American investors, with China’s ByteDance maintaining a minority position, according to the Associated Press. The announcement came just one day before the ban was set to take effect, after Trump delayed it by 75 days when he took office in January. The law, signed by former President Joe Biden last year, mandates that TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, divest the app or face a ban due to national security concerns.

Brock Shipe Klenk PLC has announced that former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Lee has joined the Knoxville-based firm. The firm says that with her years of experience as a litigator, mediator and appellate judge, Lee will enhance its broad range of services to clients and the legal community in the areas of mediation, litigation and appellate advocacy. In a press release announcing the news, the firm says it is honored that Lee will continue her remarkable legal career by providing her knowledge and experience to its practice, and that it looks forward to Lee being an integral part of the firm’s continued growth. Lee can be reached at 865-338-9700 and slee@bskplc.com.

Don't forget to renew your TBA membership for the 2025-2026 bar year to continue your access to TBA Today, the Tennessee Bar Journal, three free hours of CLE and free legal research through vLex Fastcase, as well as savings on a range of products and services. Be sure to check out TBA's Preventing Legal Malpractice providers and Law Firm in a Box, and watch for more information this fall about TBA’s Group Health Insurance enrollment. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can log in and renew through their MyTBA dashboard. The TBA membership team will be working with firm administrators for those participating in firm billing so check with your firm administrator if you have questions about that process.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating parole protections for roughly 985,000 people who entered the United States through the CBP One app during the Biden administration. The app allowed individuals to make appointments at ports of entry to then seek asylum. The Hill reports that DHS has begun sending email notices to affected migrants telling them to self-deport through the Trump administration’s version of the app, now called CBP Home. Those who entered the country as part of the Uniting for Ukraine program and Afghans who entered under Operation Allies Welcome were not impacted by the action.

The Tennessee General Assembly is projected to adjourn for the year in mid- to late April, given that most legislative committees have already closed or are set to close within the week. The House and Senate Finance Ways and Means committees are meeting this week and next week to determine whether legislation that has been voted out of other committees with a fiscal note will be funded. Because the governor included $17 million for a new indigent representation plan in his budget amendment, the committees do not have to vote on whether to add that funding. However, at the end of session, the House and Senate leadership will meet and determine exactly which measures will be included in the final budget and how much the funding will be. The budget is the one piece of legislation that lawmakers constitutionally are required to pass before adjournment. Once the budget is approved, lawmakers will consider matters “behind the budget” that received funding, as well as other priority items. It is anticipated the session will adjourn a few days after that.

Rocky McElhaney Law Firm has opened an office on Music Row at 1102 17th Ave. S., Nashville 37212. The opening of the office marks a return to Music Row for the Hendersonville-based firm after it ceased operations in 2017 on 16th Ave. S. after McElhaney’s Rock-N-Row Express LLC sold the building on that site for $3 million to First Citizens Bank and relocated its main office to Hendersonville. The firm specializes in legal work involving personal injury and wrongful death often related to vehicular incidences, and will continue to operate offices in Hendersonville, Murfreesboro and Clarksville. Read more from the Nashville Post.

Following recent severe weather across the state, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs offers tips for those impacted by the storms, including addressing financial obligations, filing insurance claims, hiring contractors, tips for flooded vehicles, avoiding scams and how to report misconduct around price gouging. Read more in a press release.