The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation last week asked the court for access to the full case file and deposition from Nashville Judge Kelvin Jones’ divorce as part of its review of comments he made during those proceedings, the Tennessean reports. A complaint was filed in December with the Board of Judicial Conduct alleging the case showed evidence that Jones committed "multiple criminal acts, unethical acts, and dishonest acts in violation of the Tennessee Code of Judicial Conduct." Seventeenth Judicial District Attorney General Robert Carter, who was assigned to the case as a special prosecutor, requested assistance from the TBI in March. The court yesterday signaled that it would share the deposition.  

The Tennessee Senate, in an act of substantive bipartisanship, yesterday voted unanimously in favor of police use-of-force reforms, the Nashville Post reports. The proposed law would ban chokeholds unless an officer believed deadly force was authorized, require the teaching of chokeholds at training academies, require law enforcement agencies to develop de-escalation policies, require other officers to intervene in cases of excessive force, prohibit firing at moving vehicles unless the officer believes deadly force is authorized and prohibit the issuance of no-knock warrants. Senate Bill 1380/House Bill 1406 sponsored by Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and co-sponsored by some Democrats, will tomorrow be considered by House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.

Longtime federal district and appellate court Judge Harry Wellford of Memphis died Saturday at 96. Wellford earned his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School before returning to Memphis to practice. He also became an active community leader, serving on the Memphis Community Relations Committee alongside other community leaders like Lucius Burch, Lewis Donelson and Jesse Turner. He managed the 1966 U.S. Senate campaign of Howard Baker, who later recommended Wellford for appointment to the federal district court, and later to the Court of Appeals. A private burial will be held on April 26 and will be followed by a 2:30 p.m. CDT memorial service at the Idlewild Presbyterian Church, 1750 Union Avenue, Memphis. Those wishing to attend the memorial service must pre-register. The service will also be livestreamed. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Idlewild Presbyterian Church, St. Mary's Episcopal School, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Nominations for the Tennessee Bar Association’s Fourth Estate Award: Honoring Courageous Reporting on Justice and the Law are due by April 30. The award honors Tennessee-based journalists who have shown exemplary courage in exercising First Amendment rights in the promotion of public understanding of the Rule of Law and how our legal system works. This year's prize includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. Entries must be for projects produced in 2020. Get more information or submit a nomination.

An item in Monday’s TBA Today failed to note that the Tennessee Professionalism Award is jointly sponsored by Tennessee’s American Inns of Court and the Tennessee Bar Association. This award is presented each year to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. The award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the grand division of the state where the TBA's Annual Convention is held (this year, the Western Grand Division). Nominees must be alive when their nomination is submitted but need not be an active member of an American Inn of Court or the TBA. The TBA Annual Convention is scheduled to be held in Memphis and virtually this year the week of June 14. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 3.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees, which federal prosecutors have used for decades in investigations of police departments and other government agencies. In its place, Garland issued a new memorandum spelling out policies on civil agreements and consent decrees with state and local governments and making it “clear that the Department will use all appropriate legal authorities to safeguard civil rights and protect the environment.” PBS has the story.

The American Bar Association will hold its annual ABA Day virtually this year with two days of programming tomorrow and Wednesday. Sessions will be focused on urging Congress to increase legal aid funding to help low-income people resolve problems resulting from the pandemic, and passing legislation to strengthen judicial security. ABA representatives will be meeting with legislators on Zoom and lawyers across the country are invited to join in these conversations. Training videos on how to be an effective advocate are available online as are briefing materials on the two focus issues. Register here.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced today that he has nominated Cerelyn ‘C.J.’ Davis to be the next Memphis Police Department director. Davis, the current police chief in Durham, N.C., would be the first woman to head the department and the first outsider brought in to lead it in decades, the Commercial Appeal reports. If confirmed by the Memphis City Council, she will face a department that has struggled to retain officers and is operating below its budgeted complement. Initial reaction from the council was mixed with some questioning if “an outsider” can effectively manage the department and earn the respect of the community and others raising concerns about the transparency of her selection. Davis spent about three decades with the Atlanta Police Department and then became the chief of the Durham Police Department in 2016.

Savannah Flowers Quintero has joined the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts as its new pro bono coordinator, the office announced today. Quintero comes to the AOC from the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands where she worked as a staff attorney for two years. In her new role, Quintero will work with members of the state’s legal community to expand access to justice in Tennessee. She also will coordinate the work of the Faith and Justice Alliance, which engages faith leaders in the state to provide legal assistance for their congregants. Quintero earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She also has served as a family intervention specialist at Youth Villages in Nashville, a victim advocate for the YWCA of Knoxville and a volunteer at the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on sales tax exemptions April 27 at 9 a.m. CDT. The program will cover exemptions for the following goods and services: industrial machinery, research and development, certified green energy facilities and pollution control. Learn more and register here.