Applications are now being accepted for 24th Judicial District Circuit Court judge, covering Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin and Henry counties. The vacancy was created by the retirement of Judge C. Creed McGinley. Those interested should complete the Trial Court Vacancy Commission application and submit to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) by noon CDT on June 29. Applicants must be at least 30 years of age, residents of the state for at least five years and current residents of the 24th Judicial District. The commission will hold a public hearing to consider applicants on Aug. 3 at 9 a.m. CDT in a 24th Judicial District location that will be announced later.       

State of Tennessee Deputy Budget Director Mike Dedmon, who worked closely with the judicial branch on state budget issues, has died. He was 54. Dedmon worked with multiple directors of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) and members of the judiciary during his nearly 20 years with the state budget office. Visitation will take place tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m. and again on Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. CDT, immediately followed by funeral services. Visitations and funeral will take place at Sellar’s Funeral Home in Lebanon. Interment will be held at Crossville City Cemetery. More information can be found on the AOC’s website.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) is now accepting nominations for its annual access to justice awards. The Janice M. Holder Award, the B. Riney Green Award and the New Advocate of the Year award recognize those who have contributed to Tennessee’s equal justice community and will be awarded during the annual Equal Justice University (EJU) virtual conference on Sept. 21-23. According to TALS, registration for EJU will open in mid-July. Nominations are due by July 16. Visit TALS’ award nomination page for nomination instructions, the awards nomination form, and specific eligibility and criteria for each of the three awards.

Programming continued during the virtual portion of the Tennessee Bar Association Annual Convention, with an agenda that included virtual law school alumni mixers, a virtual section roundtable, a local bar meeting and a civility roundtable.  Day two wrapped up with a virtual practice management roundtable. The in-person portion of the event is now set to begin at The Peabody in Memphis with the TBA's registration desk opening at 1 p.m. CDT. You can find the full schedule of events on TBA’s website.

Hamilton County businessman and Republican activist Greg Vital announced yesterday that he will vie for Tennessee’s House District 29, the Chattanoogan reports. Vital joins Democrat DeAngelo Jelks in the race for late Rep. Mike Carter’s seat in the General Assembly. Vital is chairman, president and co-founder of Morning Pointe Senior Living and Independent HealthCare properties. In 2012, Vital lost the Republican primary for state senate to Sen. Todd Gardnehire by 40 votes. The Democratic and Republican primary elections are July 27. The general election is Sept. 14.

Shelby County General Sessions Civil Court Judge John Donald has announced he will retire effective July 7, the Daily Memphian reports. Donald took office in 1986 and was last re-elected in 2014 for a term that was set to expire on Aug. 31, 2022. The Board of Judicial Conduct publicly censured Donald in 2014 for violating the code of judicial conduct for retaliating against an attorney who had filed a complaint against him. Donald received a public censure and paid court costs, but remained on the bench. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners may or may not appoint a new judge to the position at its next meeting this week.

A number of lawyers were recently reinstated after being suspended for administrative violations. They include nine suspended for CLE violations (one in 1994, one in 2016, one in 2018 and six in 2020); 17 suspended for professional tax non-payment (one in 2010, three in 2020 and 13 in 2021); and 13 suspended for non-payment of fees and/or failure to file the required IOLTA report (one in 2012, one in 2013, two in 2018, one in 2019, three in 2020 and five in 2021). View all administrative suspensions and reinstatement lists here.

Leon Gray, special assistant to Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael and legislative assistant for the Shelby County Commission, died on Friday, the Commercial Appeal reports. He was 62. In addition to his role with Shelby County courts, Gray was a news broadcaster for Memphis-area radio station WLOK. "Leon, as many of us knew, was a man of faith and dedicated his life as a champion for many causes,” Michael said on Facebook. “The Court has indeed lost a hero.” Visitation will be held on Thursday from 3 to 8 p.m. CDT at Serenity Funeral Home, 1638 Sycamore View Rd., Memphis, TN 38134. A second visitation will be held on Friday from 11 a.m. until noon CDT, followed by the funeral and burial, all taking place at New Sardis Baptist Church, 7739 E. Holmes Rd., Memphis, TN 38125. Read more on funeral arrangements for Gray.

A new report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that federal courts in Tennessee granted 18% of the compassionate release requests they received from federal prisoners seeking early release in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessean reports. Most of the 336 motions for compassionate release were filed by the defendants themselves and only 61 were granted. Of the three districts in the state, Middle Tennessee released 28% of those who petitioned the court, East Tennessee released 16.6% and West Tennessee released 7.7%. Another report from the Vera Institute of Justice shows that incarceration rates in the state’s jails and prisons were down 18% in mid-2020 from where they were in late 2019. That figure dropped another 2% by spring of this year, signaling a slowing downward trend.

Over the course of two days last week, the Tennessee Supreme Court welcomed the newest members of the bar and administered them the oath of office. TBA President Michelle Greenway Sellers was on hand to introduce a number of the new lawyers to the court. According to the court, the University of Memphis School of Law had the most alumni taking the oath, followed by the University of Tennessee College of Law and Belmont College of Law. New attorneys making Tennessee their home state went to law school as far away as the University of Maine, Brigham Young University, the University of Chicago, and Pepperdine University. The justices acknowledged the “particularly arduous” journey this group faced in graduating from law school and passing the bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic.