Tennessee House of Representatives Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, has made committee assignments for the this week’s special session — the third special session of the year. The Senate is sticking with its regular committees. The Tennessee Journal has the assignments.

The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation recently announced three finalists for its Third Annual Sue Ann Head Award for Excellence in Workers’ Compensation. They are: Workers’ Compensation Claims Team Lead Deborah K. Powell, Risk Management Director Joyce “Joy” Baker, and RN Field Case Manager Jody Barnes. The award, which recognizes quality of service and impact on the state’s workers’ compensation system, is named for Sue Ann Head, who led the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Division for over 30 years. The winner will be announced during next week’s 24th Workers’ Compensation Education Conference.

Three years after the Tennessee State Museum opened in its new location on the corner of Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street in downtown Nashville, the building has been named the Bill Haslam Center. A ceremony honoring the former governor for his contributions to the preservation of state history and expansion of the museum in 2018 took place yesterday. The museum was created by the General Assembly in 1937 to consolidate various collections. It was first located in the lower level of the War Memorial Building and then moved to the James K. Polk Center. Read more about the event from Gov. Bill Lee's office.

After years of pleading by local judges, Nashville is on the verge of getting a brand new juvenile justice complex, Axios Nashville reports. Mayor John Cooper is including $30 million in his latest capital spending plan to cover land acquisition and early architectural and engineering work for a new complex. The city plans to buy a 14-acre campus off Brick Church Pike. The current juvenile justice center opened in the 1990s and has run out of space to meet basic needs. The infrastructure also has been in dire shape for years. According to Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway, raw sewage has flooded hallways and courtrooms in the past. An escape of four juveniles in 2019 also exposed flaws in the building design.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) launched a revamped Tennessee Sex Offender Registry this week to make it “easier-to-use and more helpful to the public,” Chattanoogan.com reports. After more than two years of planning and programming, the registry now features clearer navigation, more robust email notifications, a heightened focus on fugitive offenders, and new resources for personal and digital safety, according to the agency.

The federal government has approved a plan to use COVID relief funds to temporarily enroll up to 2,000 Tennesseans with disabilities into a state program that provides home and community-based services, the Tennessean reports. The Employment and Community First CHOICES offers individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities a range of services to help them live independently, access transportation and benefit from job training and day programs. There are currently about 2,500 individuals enrolled in the program, with an additional 5,000 on a waiting list.

The deadline has passed, but federal help may still be available for survivors of August flooding that impacted Dickson, Hickman, Houston and Humphreys counties. According to WPLN, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration are still accepting appeals and late applications. So far, federal authorities have approved about $16 million in disaster relief, 128 low-interest loans, and $7 million for about 2,500 households. Flood survivors who missed the application deadline or believe they did not receive enough funds are encouraged to submit an appeal as soon as possible.

This advanced level program is designed for state and local lawmakers; judges; candidates for executive, judicial or legislative positions; campaign chairs and treasurers; and legal counsel. It will cover all aspects of the law and ethics of running for office. The live virtual program, set for Dec. 1 from 1-3:30 p.m., will include sessions on election law, campaign finance practices and election provisions in the Code of Judicial Conduct and Rules of Professional Conduct. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from Bill Young with the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance; William J. “Paz” Haynes III with Bone McAllester Norton; Thomas Lawless with Lawless & Associates; and Gif Thornton Jr. with Adams and Reese.

Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, today announced he will temporarily resign as chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Tennessean reports. His announcement comes after he was charged Monday with violating several campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit his failed 2016 campaign for Congress. Kelsey, alongside the owner of Nashville social club The Standard, stand accused of moving “soft money” from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign committee to his federal campaign. Kelsey has called the indictment a “political witch hunt.”

Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, has proposed new legislation that would require any district attorney general refusing to enforce state law be replaced by a court-appointed attorney, the Tennessean reports. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, also co-sponsored similar bills that would fine or replace district attorneys who refuse to enforce state law. Rudd’s bill would directly affect Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk, who has publicly said he will not prosecute teachers for requiring masks and, earlier this year, announced he would not enforce a state law requiring businesses to post signs if they provide gender-friendly bathrooms to transgender people. “Prosecutorial discretion is part of our constitution,” Funk told The Tennessean upon learning the bill was filed.