Erwin attorney Lois Shults Davis recently declared her candidacy for the 1st Judicial District Circuit Court judge, the Erwin Record reports. The district serves Carter, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington counties. Originally from the area, Davis earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She worked for a Knoxville law firm during school but formed a firm in Erwin following graduation. She has been active in the local community, including serving as the Unicoi County High School mock trial coach for many years. “I want to invest my energy now in assuring the success of our region’s families, businesses and communities through fair judgment and sound justice so that those who come before the Circuit Court can repair, resume and build their lives in the best way possible,” Shults Davis says.

Neil Stauffer, the current assistant city attorney in Clarksville, has announced his candidacy for district attorney of the 19th Judicial District, which includes Montgomery and Robertson counties, Mainstreet Clarksville reports. Stauffer earned his law degree from Regent University School of Law and previously served in the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps and as assistant general counsel with the Tennessee Department of Health, prosecuting drug diversion and violations of standards pertaining to patient care. He currently serves as a judge advocate general in the Army Reserves.

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty have introduced the “Migrant Resettlement Transparency Act,” which would require the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to consult in advance with state and local officials regarding migrant resettlement. It also would require the administration to submit to Congress and governors a monthly, state-specific report regarding the resettlement, transportation or relocation of undocumented individuals. A companion bill has been introduced in the U.S. House by Republican Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Chattanoogan.com reports. The group says the need for the legislation came to light after it was discovered the Biden administration was using Chattanooga as a hub to relocate unaccompanied migrant children without the knowledge of state officials. “We have no idea where else this is occurring and communities have a right to know what is happening in their backyard,” Blackburn said. Last week, the group sent a letter to both departments asking for more transparency. The White House acknowledged flying children to Chattanooga but said the move is part a long-standing resettlement program.

TBA offers dozens of 1-Click packages that bundle sessions from recent CLE programs, providing up to eight hours of credit with one purchase. New packages include Business Law 2021, which offers five general and one dual hours of credit. This year’s program focused on valuation principles. Sessions include a nuts and bolts overview of valuation methodologies, day-to-day best practices regarding valuation advice and guidance by business counsel, and recent Tennessee and Delaware caselaw regarding acceptable methods in valuing dissenter appraisal rights. Check it out here.

The Tennessee Bar Association is closing early today at 2 p.m. CDT and will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. We will reopen at 8 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. Staff are continuing to work remotely. Access email addresses and direct lines here.

Gov. Bill Lee yesterday signed into law legislation that creates a three-judge panel to hear constitutional challenges to state laws, executive orders, regulations and legislative redistricting cases, the Times Free Press reports. Chattanooga attorney Lee Davis told the paper he believes the law is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers. He also predicts a “real problem” in provisions regarding likely challenges to legislative reapportionment and redistricting in 2022. Davis says that before judicial panels are allowed to render a ruling that a redistricting plan does not meet legal requirements, the new law will require the panel to bring the problem to the legislature to correct, which, he says, is unconstitutional. The new law goes into effect on July 1.

Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor issued a legal opinion this week stating that the special election to fill the seat of late Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, cannot also include the District 9 County Commission seat, the Chattanoogan reports. County Commissioner Greg Martin had asked Taylor if the elections could be combined so that commission members could forego appointing an interim commissioner. Taylor said other voters in the district would be disenfranchised if the two elections were merged. Gov. Bill Lee has not yet issued the writ of election that will determine dates for the primary and general special elections.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kristen Clarke to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division, The Hill reports. Clarke will be the first Black woman in the role of assistant attorney general for civil rights. Republicans opposed Clarke’s nomination was deadlocked 11-11 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. But that did not prevent the nomination from going to the full Senate floor where it passed on a tight vote of 51-48. Before being nominated, Clarke was the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

William E. McManus Jr., a former assistant district attorney for the 1st Judicial District in Washington County, pleaded guilty on Monday to soliciting sex in exchange for dismissing a woman’s criminal charges, the Associated Press reports. As part of a plea agreement, McManus admitted that he dismissed shoplifting and meth possession charges in return for a commercial sex act with the woman. McManus will be sentenced in November. He faces the possibility of a maximum punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A nonprofit group founded by former Nashville public defender Dawn Deaner is accusing the Nashville Recovery Court Support Foundation of arbitrarily suing drug offenders to raise money for its drug treatment facilities. According to Fox 17, the foundation is using the Drug Dealer Liability Act to sue 15 people with drug convictions for $24,999 each, the maximum amount allowed in such cases. Deaner's group, Choosing Justice Initiative, is representing one of the 15 and says the foundation is violating the spirit of the law while also unfairly targeting only those who own property. The foundation says it is following the law: “If the foundation can make the people that are involved in the drug trade and have been convicted of the drug offense in Davidson County pay something to actually assist in the Foundation’s mission of supporting a drug treatment facility, the Foundation is doing exactly what the legislature has intended,” the group's lawyer said in a statement.