The Tennessee Department of Treasury is encouraging Tennesseans to check ClaimItTN.gov for missing money after businesses and organizations across the state turned over an additional $248.6 million in unclaimed property since July 1, 2025. Each year, the Unclaimed Property Division mails tens of thousands of letters to individuals at the last-known addresses provided when businesses and organizations — unable to locate the rightful owners — report unclaimed funds to the state. Funds can be from utility or healthcare refunds, uncashed paychecks, credit balances for overpayments, rental deposit refunds, gift certificates, securities and abandoned bank accounts. “I encourage all Tennesseans to search their names each year, even if you’ve checked before,” said State Treasurer David H. Lillard Jr. Read more in a news release from the department.

A number of lawyers have been reinstated after being suspended for administrative violations. One lawyer has been reinstated after completing required continuing legal education hours in 2019 and 2020. Four lawyers have been reinstated after paying the annual registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility — two in 2025 and two in 2026. And 23 lawyers have been reinstated after paying the professional privilege tax. That includes one suspended in 2024, one in 2025 and 21 this year. See the updated lists at the links above. The TBA has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

Just in time for the “March Madness” NCAA Division I basketball tournament, TBA joins the fun with a full court press of webcast replays. Tune in at noon CDT to catch the most popular installments from the Young Lawyers Division’s Rookie Series including Exploring Different Career Paths with a Law Degree on March 19, Opening Your Own Firm on March 24, Making the Most of Mediation on March 27, and Family Law Trends and Challenges on March 31. Looking for another topic? Check out all Rookie Series installments now available on demand.

A news item in a previous issue of TBA Today, which highlighted leadership changes at Bass, Berry & Sims, has been corrected to reflect that Kerry Price's title is chief strategy and operations officer.

The Belmont Legal Aid Society will hold its Fourth Annual Putt for Pro Bono Golf Tournament on April 3 at the Towhee Golf Club — an Arnold Palmer-designed course — in Spring Hill. This event directly funds stipends that allow law students to provide pro bono legal work to Tennessee communities.The registration price will be $140 per golfer. Interested individuals can register as a team with up to four members. Individual registrants will be placed in a team of four. Check-in on the day of the tournament will start at 8 a.m. CDT and the tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CDT. Lunch and awards will follow. Make plans now to join colleagues for a day of golf and camaraderie while raising funds to provide critical legal services to those in need. For more information visit the event website or see the event flyer.

The Tennessee Senate voted late Monday to approve a bill (SB1464/HB2506) by Sen. Jack Johnson, R- Franklin, that would allow law enforcement agencies to withhold information about immigration enforcement and punish elected officials who do not follow the bill. Specifically, the bill would allow agencies to keep private the names and addresses of officers involved in immigration enforcement, giving them more discretion than usually allowed under public records law. The bill goes next to the House State and Local Government Committee, WPLN reports.

A legislative push to double the number of students in Tennessee’s voucher program cleared its first hurdle this week with approval by the House K-12 Education Subcommittee on Tuesday and Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. Chalkbeat reports that Gov. Bill Lee has requested expanding the program from 25,000 to 40,000 students. The next scheduled vote on H2532/SB2247 will take place in the House Education Committee on March 17. The Tennessee Department of Education last month reported 58,000 students applied for the program next year, including 18,644 students currently enrolled in the program who have applied for a renewal.

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in its effort to strip humanitarian deportation protections from more than 350,000 Haitians living in the United States. According to Reuters, the U.S. Justice Department filed an emergency request asking the court to lift a judge's decision that blocked the administration's move to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. The lower court had found that the administration's action toward the Haitians likely was motivated in part by "racial animus." The administration has sought to end TPS for several countries, arguing the program was intended to provide temporary relief.

Growing Rutherford County faces competing taxpayer priorities over the construction of a $300 million jail and a $138 million high school, the Daily News Journal reports. County mayor Joe Carr wants to move first on replacing the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and Sheriff's Office at 940 New Salem Highway in Murfreesboro. Most local officials agree that the overcrowded, aging jail needs replacing after costly repairs and inmate deaths, overdoses and escapes. Under tentative plans, a new jail with "modern" rehabilitation "principles" would be operational by Spring 2030. The paper explores the issues in a three-part series. Read the first and second installments here.

A years-long fight over a reform to protect domestic violence victims in Tennessee has come to an inconclusive end, WPLN reports. Advocates have been asking the Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council to alter the state’s firearms dispossession affidavit form, which is required in cases where an abuser is ordered by the court to give up their guns. The form currently does not require the name or address of the person receiving the guns, an omission that advocates say puts victims in danger. At its most recent meeting in March, the council debated whether it has the power in statute to change the form. In the end, it voted to write a letter to judges across the state recommending they amend their forms to require the name of the recipient. Investigative reporting by the station found that some counties already had begun amending their forms.