The 2021 Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) Foundation’s Appellate Moot Court Collegiate Challenge will take place in Nashville Nov. 18-20. The foundation is looking for attorney volunteers to grade students’ arguments. No preparation or research is necessary. Rounds will take place on Thursday from 2-3:30 and 3:30-4:30 p.m.; on Friday from 9-10:30 a.m., 10:30-noon; 2:15-4 p.m. and 4-5:30 p.m.; and on Saturday from 9-11 a.m., 1-2:30 p.m., 3:15-4:45 p.m. and 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday rounds will be held in the Cordell Hull Building. Saturday’s sessions will be held in the Old Supreme Court Chambers in the state Capitol. All times are central. Learn more in a post from the Nashville School of Law. To volunteer, email J.D. Cressman with available time slots and contact information.

The legislature’s next special session begins tomorrow with a focus on curbing the authority of health departments, schools and private businesses to impose COVID-19 mandates. Bills that have been introduced include those that would (1) ban public facilities, government agencies and private companies from requiring employees be vaccinated; (2) ban businesses from denying goods and services to those who are unvaccinated; (3) ban schools from requiring masks or contact tracing; (4) provide exemptions to mandates for personal conscience, religious beliefs, medical reasons or recovery from COVID-19; (5) allow workers who suffer vaccine side effects to file workers’ compensation claims or sue employers; (6) subject local public health officers to mayors; and (7) make school board races partisan. Read more about the proposals in the Tennessean.

Sevier County General Sessions Clerk Connie Holt was found dead inside her home, WKRN reports. According to District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn, the deaths of Holt and boyfriend, Eric Peters, appear to be the result of a murder-suicide. Holt began working for the county in 1994 and was elected clerk in 2002. Court proceedings are canceled today and tomorrow to mourn her passing. Penny Johnson was sworn in as acting clerk yesterday morning and will serve until the county commission appoints an interim clerk.

The Dickson Council recently settled a lawsuit with former municipal and general sessions court Judge Reese Holley, who claimed he was illegally removed from office after the court was abolished, the Tennessean reports. Holley filed the suit in 2018 after the court was abolished in 2017. The council later created a new city court without general sessions jurisdiction and appointed Stan Reynolds. Under the settlement, Holley will receive $11,100 for unpaid salary and be designated as a former municipal judge with general sessions jurisdiction. This will allow the Tennessee Supreme Court to appoint him as a special judge in other courts. He had sought reinstatement to office and $24,000 a year for the five years remaining in his term. 

If you missed the TBA's Business Education Webinar Series this past summer, you can now catch a replay of the webcast Make Meetings Meaningful on Nov. 29. Join Jeff Schoenberger with Affinity Consulting to get sample agendas for effective meetings, facilitation tips, and insights for how to prepare for and run meetings that achieve your goals. The virtual program will run from noon to 1 p.m. CDT and offer one hour of dual CLE credit.

Lebanon-based Wilson Bank & Trust has announced the addition of Price Thompson as its first in-house general counsel, the Nashville Post reports. Thompson will provide legal advice on laws, regulations and standards that affect consumers and small businesses. He also will carry the title of senior vice president. Thompson joins the bank after serving with Rochelle McCulloch & Aulds in Lebanon and Kay, Griffin, Enkema & Brothers in Nashville. He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and served two years as law clerk to Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee before entering private practice.

Blount County General Session judges William Brewer, Kenlyn Foster, Mike Gallegos and Robert Headrick, and Circuit Court judges David Duggan and Tammy Harrington recently announced their candidacies for re-election in 2022. All are Republicans and will run in the May Republican primary. In a joint statement, the judges stated they are proud to serve the people of Blount County and endorse each other’s campaigns.

The Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) held its 25th Anniversary Gala over the weekend, raising $173,725 for its work. The group also recognized five new Hall of Fame members at the event: former board member Marvin Berry Jr., Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dinkins, donors Frank and Amy Garrison, and board member Dr. Bob Miller. Videos from the event are on Youtube. Send a congratulatory message to Berry, Dinkins, the Garrisons or Miller.

Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, the owner of a private Nashville social club, and other unnamed co-conspirators were indicted today by a federal grand jury, the Tennessean reports. Kelsey and Joshua Smith, owner of The Standard, were charged with five counts of violating multiple campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit Kelsey’s 2016 campaign for Congress. The pair are accused of secretly and illegally funneling "soft money" from Kelsey's state campaign committee to his federal campaign committee via the D.C.-based American Conservative Union (ACU). Kelsey is also accused of making and accepting excessive contributions to his federal campaign. While only Kelsey and Smith are named in the indictment, several others are described by their jobs and relationships to the two, including former Rep. Jeremy Durham and Kelsey's wife, who worked at ACU from 2015 to 2017. At a news conference today, Kelsey called the charges "a political witch hunt.” Smith said a political action committee created in the club’s name gave $60,000 to “a political organization” but the PAC was dissolved in 2018. He also said he is cooperating with the investigation. Both men must surrender to the U.S. Marshals by Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. CDT.

The Biden administration recently notified the federal courts that it plans to re-implement the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy in mid-November if the Mexican government agrees to the arrangement, The Hill reports. The move comes after an initial victory by Texas and Missouri in a suit that argued the administration too hastily withdrew the policy. The administration has appealed the decision and is working to rescind the program through normal rulemaking but believes it is required to reimplement the policy until those efforts have been completed. In related news, the Department of Homeland Security says it is committed to resolving new asylum claims within six month by constructing “tent courts” on the border. It also says it plans to expand the types of asylum-seekers who are not subject to the program.