The Hamilton County Election Commission today voted 4-1 to terminate Administrator Kerry Steelman, who has been on leave. Commission members said the move was necessary to save staff morale, the Chattanoogan reports. An investigation allegedly found that 10 of 12 employees interviewed said Steelman had mistreated them or they saw someone else being mistreated. Steelman’s attorney called the allegations false and said he planned to file an Americans Disability Act lawsuit. He said Steelman was in a serious auto accident and suffers seizures, especially during stressful situations. In other action today, the commission named Justin Furrow as its permanent attorney. The county attorney had been assigned to represent the commission, but officials said that had not been working out.

Most recipients of Tennessee’s unemployment benefits have to resume looking for work starting this week, WPLN reports. The requirement had been waived through much of the pandemic. The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development says people now have to make at least three potential job contacts and certify the activity each week to receive their check. For those who are self-employed, calling on clients or advertising services constitutes proof of looking for work. The list of exemptions is longer than usual, including anyone who is on a temporary layoff with plans to return to the same job, those who are out of work because they have COVID-19, those who are caring for someone who is sick, and those taking care of a child whose school is closed because of the pandemic.

The city of Nashville has created a review committee to assist with the selection of the next police chief, the Tennessean reports. Among those named to the five-member committee was Victor “Torry” Johnson, who served as Davidson County district attorney from 1987 to 2014. He is now a professor at Belmont University College of Law, where he teaches criminal law and procedure, wrongful convictions and trial advocacy. Other members are Deb Faulkner, who oversees the Franklin Police Department; Jill Fitcheard, executive director of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board; former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director Mark Gwyn; and Diane Lance, head of Metro’s Office of Family Safety. The committee plans to meet next month and help narrow the applicants to a list of finalists.

A federal judge in Nashville yesterday blocked a new law that requires abortion providers to offer certain information to women seeking abortions while the law is challenged in court. District Judge William Campbell found that those bringing suit against the state “demonstrated a strong or substantial likelihood of success” on their claims that the law violates the First Amendment. The law, which was to go into effect on Thursday, requires abortion providers to inform women that chemical abortions may be reversed after the first treatment is taken. The plaintiffs question the scientific merit of such statements, the Nashville Scene reports.

Gov. Bill Lee’s private-school voucher plan was found unconstitutional again Tuesday, as a panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals agreed with an earlier ruling from a Nashville court, the Nashville Post reports. Memphis and Nashville authorities challenged the law because it applied to only those two cities. Local officials said it was a violation of the state constitution’s home rule amendment. State officials and their nonprofit allies are expected to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Read the appeals court decision.

Eight lawyers have applied for the 6th Judicial District Chancery Court vacancy in Knox County. They are: Kevin A. Dean, Julie D. Eisenhower, Sharon Diane Frankenberg, Stephen Kent Garrett, John Keith Harber Sr., Christopher D. Heagerty, Daniel Kidd and Esther Lois Roberts. The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will hold a hearing on the applicants via video conference on Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. EDT. The hearing will be livestreamed for public viewing on the court’s YouTube account. Interested individuals may also watch the livestream at the Knoxville Supreme Court Building, 505 Main St., Ste 200, Knoxville. Those who would like to speak in support or opposition to a candidate should contact Ceesha Lofton, 615-741-2687 by 4 p.m. CDT on Oct. 14 to make arrangements. The commission is expected to vote immediately following the interviews and forward three names to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The successful candidate will fill a vacancy that will be created by the retirement of Judge Michael W. Moyers in January.

Gov. Bill Lee today announced he is extending Tennessee’s state of emergency through October, the Tennessean reports. Executive Order 63 also extends certain targeted provisions of previous orders, including remote online notarization and witnessing, which the order now extends through Oct. 30. The TBA recently asked lawyers in the state to provide feedback on whether remote notarization and witnessing should continue by filling out a survey. The survey found that 88% of the lawyers who responded were in support of the extension. Lee’s order also repeals all COVID-19-related restrictions on businesses and gathering in the state, but county health departments in Tennessee's six largest cities will continue to be able to set their own regulations. The order will allow county mayors to choose whether to impose mask mandates, though some counties in recent weeks had chosen to end their mandates ahead of the governor’s decision. Lee defended his decision to extend the state of emergency, saying he will choose to renew as long as there is a state of emergency at the federal level.

The Davidson County Election Commission has added additional legal counsel as the battle over a proposed referendum to repeal Nashville’s property tax increase begins to heat up, the Tennessean reports. Commissioners today voted to retain Bradley attorney Junaid Odubeko to assist their main legal counsel, former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice and current Nashville School of Law Dean William C. Koch Jr. The commission voted 3-2 on Friday to let a judge decide whether to place the petition on the ballot. The proposed ballot measure would roll back the city’s recent property tax increase, cap future increases to 2% without voter approval and require certain bonds to go before voters. Metro Legal released an opinion yesterday, saying the petition’s language is “not legal and enforceable.” Metro Law Director Bob Cooper, a former state attorney general, said the measure would violate the state law, which requires taxes be set by the Metro Council and not by voter referendum. The commission faces a quick turnaround to get a court decision and call for a special election on Dec. 15. 

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Friday ruled that the state must again change its absentee ballot application, this time to reflect its promise to let voters cast mail ballots if someone in their household has an underlying health condition that makes them more susceptible to COVID-19, the Associated Press reports. Lyle sided with plaintiffs after they pointed out that a deputy attorney general made the eligibility comment for co-habitants last month in front of the Tennessee Supreme Court. The form on the secretary of state’s website was updated accordingly as of Monday. Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office responded by saying that Lyle was “amending her own language – not language that state election officials wrote.”

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has agreed to publicly release grand jury deliberations in the Breonna Taylor case and also acknowledged he never recommended homicide charges against any of the officers conducting the drug raid that led to Taylor’s death, the Associated Press reports. The jury last week decided to file no charges against any of the officers involved in Taylor’s fatal shooting, opting to instead charge one officer with wanton endangerment for shooting into an adjacent apartment. Cameron said a record of the proceedings would be released Wednesday, and that the public “will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury.” Cameron also said he will not object if members of the panel wish to speak publicly about their experience, stating he was not concerned about them talking because he was “confident” in the case his team presented.