Frederick H. Agee, a Milan attorney currently serving an active duty tour in Kuwait with the Army Reserve, was this week appointed district attorney for the 28th Judicial District by Gov. Bill Lee, the Jackson Sun reports. Agee will be released from active duty later this month and will quarantine for two weeks in Texas before being sworn in to begin serving the district, which covers Gibson, Haywood and Crockett counties. Agee, who has been a defense attorney in Milan his entire career, will be the only veteran currently serving as a DA in the state’s 31 districts. “That’s not necessarily something I set out for, but I’m proud of my military service and I’m proud to represent veterans in this capacity,” he said. Agee will fill the vacancy created by former DA Garry Brown’s retirement. The position will be up for election in August 2022.

Eighteen students from Tennessee law schools have completed the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Summer Fellows Program, which connected the students with a dozen organizations dedicated to expanding justice. In addition to their pro bono work with the organizations, students also remotely attended a weekly professional development, led by leading legal figures like Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark, who spoke on the importance of pro bono and civil justice work. During the program, students remotely helped to develop tools to mitigate unnecessary denials of social security disability benefit claims, worked with the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence to help judges presiding over domestic violence cases and much more. Read more on the program from the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

 The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has overturned the convictions of former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood and two of his former staffers, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. In a two-to-one decision, the federal appellate court ruled that U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier was wrong to allow prosecutors at the 2018 trial to play secret recordings of Hazelwood making racist comments and singing along to a racist song. The 6th Circuit ruled Collier’s decision to allow the tapes was legally flawed and his instruction to the jury inadequate, stating in their opinion that the “inflammatory nature of Hazelwood’s comments created a strong risk that the jury would convict him based on factors other than the charged conduct.” Hazelwood was convicted in 2018 after a four-month trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and witness tampering. It was not immediately known if the U.S. Attorney’s office will seek to appeal the decision.

The number of Tennesseans who cannot vote due to a felony conviction has risen since 2016, despite a national trend in the opposite direction, WPLN reports. That data comes from a new report from the Sentencing Project, which found that 5.2 million Americans cannot vote because of a criminal record. Tennessee, which has some of the strictest voter restoration rules in the country, accounts for more than 456,000 of that number. The report found that Tennessee has the highest rate of disenfranchised Latino voters in the country, at over 10%. The state also ranks second for the overall percentage of voting age residents who can’t vote due to a felony conviction, as well as for the percentage of Black voters banned from the polls. In the past four years, an additional 35,000 Tennesseans with felony convictions have lost the right to vote. Meanwhile, just 35 have restored their right to vote.

Wade Hinton, vice president of diversity and inclusion for Unum and former attorney for the city of Chattanooga, today announced he will run for mayor of Chattanooga, the Times Free Press reports. Hinton was Chattanooga’s first African American city attorney from 2013- 2018. Prior to that he served as deputy general counsel for Volkswagen Group of America's Chattanooga operations after having worked at Miller & Martin, Snipes Roberson and Hinton and Shumacker & Thompson. Hinton was also a former director of the Hamilton County Title 6 program and served as a consultant to County Mayor Claude Ramsey on issues related to diversity and minority business programs. He served on the TBA Young Lawyers Division Board and was a member of the TBA Leadership Law Class of 2006. Hinton said he wants to lead Chattanooga as a city that doesn't just recover "but becomes a model for equity and diversity and inclusion in city government."

Five attorneys have applied for the 16th Judicial District Circuit Court vacancy, which includes Rutherford and Cannon counties. Those attorneys include: Joshua T. Crain, Trevor H. Lynch, John G. Mitchell III, Gingeree Smith and James A. Turner. The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will hold a virtual hearing using Zoom on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. CST. The Commission will vote immediately after the hearing and forward three names to Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. The hearing will be livestreamed on the Administrative Office of the Court’s YouTube page. Interested individuals may also watch the livestream in the Jury Assembly Room of the Rutherford County Judicial Center, 116 W. Lytle St., Room 101, Murfreesboro. To address the Commission by video conferencing, email Ceesha Lofton or call 615-741-2687 by 4 p.m. CDT on Oct. 29.

The Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments will hold a hearing to fill the Court of Criminal Appeals Middle Section vacancy on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. CDT on both days. This hearing will be held virtually and will be livestreamed for public viewing on the Administrative Office of the Court’s YouTube page. Interested individuals may also attend the virtual hearing at AOC headquarters, 511 Union St., Ste. 600, Nashville 37219, to watch and/or speak in opposition to any applicant. Anyone who wishes to address the Council via video conferencing should contact Ceesha Lofton or call 615-741-2687.  

Students interested in obtaining a graduate certificate in legal studies can begin online coursework at the University of Tennessee College of Law this summer. The first course offered will be “The Structure and Operation of the American Legal System.” Enrollment in the master of legal studies program officially begins in Fall 2021, but students enrolled in the certificate program may, with approval, transfer to the master’s program. The college announced in May it would offer these new options as alternatives to the traditional three-year law degree for those who need to be conversant in the law but do not wish to practice it.

Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich has asked the Memphis police to begin sending all confirmed cases of excessive use of force to her office so it can determine if criminal charges are merited. A police spokesman confirmed the department has received the request and is working on it, The Daily Memphian reports. Weirich’s request follows reports that instances of brutality have been treated as simple violations of policy and not referred to prosecutors. A police spokesman said the agency has no formal policy on when to refer cases to prosecutors.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will offer two free tax webinars focused on franchise and excise tax this month. These live virtual events will offer tax practitioners, attorneys, accountants, and others an opportunity to learn more about the topic and ask questions. On Oct. 20, the department will present “FONCE, Obligated Member.” On Oct. 27, it will present “Most Common F&E Exemptions.” Both programs will begin at 9 a.m. CDT. If you miss the live presentation, a recording of the sessions will be available on the department’s website.