A bill that would allow Tennesseans to analyze their district attorney’s work is headed to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk, Action News 5 reports. If signed into law, SB2556, also known as the DA Transparency Act, would require Tennessee district attorneys to report aggregate information to the governor each year. Data points would include arrests, indictments, transfers, dispositions and more. Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference Executive Committee member and 25th Judicial District Attorney Mark Davidson welcomed the move, saying, “DAs across the state are proud of the job they are doing and look forward to the report confirming the good work being done to keep the public safe.”

The Tennessee Senate on Wednesday voted 26-3 in favor of a bill that would make it a felony to help a minor seek an abortion without parental consent. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the measure on April 2. A similar bill is making its way through the House. Read more about the Senate version from the Associated Press.

Tennessee lawmakers have voted to send a bipartisan bill that would have let residents convicted of felonies apply to vote again without also restoring their gun rights to a summer study committee, the Associated Press reports. The move effectively kills the bill for the session. Some Republican leaders were sympathetic to the aims of the bill sponsors but questioned whether that particular piece of legislation was the correct solution. Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth said, “I'm all for rewriting the code. But I don't think just this bill is the way to do it."

PER CURIAM. Sedric Ward is an Army reservist who worked at the Shelby County Jail. The County fired Ward in 2015, but later entered into a settlement agreement in which, as to his termination, Ward expressly released “any and all claims whatsoever[.]” Yet Ward later brought this suit against the County, asserting a claim under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq. (USERRA). The question here is whether the settlement agreement was effective to release Ward’s claim under the Act. We disagree with the district court’s reasoning on that question, so we vacate the court’s judgment in favor of Ward.

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Walid Abdulahad petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (the “Board”) denial of his motion to reopen based on changed country conditions in Iraq. The Board denied the motion to reopen because it found that Abdulahad’s motion evidence was cumulative of evidence submitted with prior motions to reopen, Abdulahad had not established a particularized risk of torture sufficient to establish prima facie eligibility for Deferral of Removal under the Convention Against Torture (“DCAT”), and Abdulahad had not established that each step in his causal-chain claim was more likely than not to occur. For the reasons set forth below, we GRANT the petition, VACATE the Board’s decision, and REMAND the case to the Board for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

This appeal concerns the award of attorney’s fees in a post-divorce dispute. Clayton Sugg Wilson, Jr. (“Father”) and Rebecca Lynn Blocker Huston (“Mother”) were divorced in 2017, at which time Mother was named the primary residential parent of the parties’ one minor child, and Father was ordered to pay child support as well as one-half of their child’s uninsured medical expenses. Four years later, Father filed a petition to modify his child support obligation, claiming that his income had decreased so much that Mother should pay him child support. Mother opposed Father’s petition and filed a petition for civil contempt and to enforce the parties’ permanent parenting plan, claiming that Father had repeatedly failed to pay his child support obligation and his share of their child’s uncovered medical expenses. The trial court found Father in civil contempt and awarded Mother an arrearage judgment. Based on his 2020 income, the court reduced Father’s monthly child support obligation. The court awarded Mother her attorney’s fees in bringing the contempt action. Father then filed a motion for apportionment of Mother’s attorney’s fees, which the trial court denied, finding that the fees awarded to Mother were reasonable. Father appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for apportionment of fees. We affirm the trial court in all respects. Finding that Mother is entitled to recover her reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and expenses incurred on appeal under Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5- 103(c), we remand for a determination and award thereof.

This case concerns the denial of a variance by the Board of Fire and Building Code Appeals of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (“the Board”). Landowners applied for a building permit to construct an auto repair shop on undeveloped property. The local fire code required new buildings of this type and size to have, inter alia, a water source that could supply 180,000 gallons at 1,500 gallons per minute for two hours. The property at issue did not have the requisite water supply. Thus, as a variance to the fire code, the landowners proposed to construct a 20,000-gallon water tank on the property and to install a “dry” fire suppression system inside the building. When their plan was rejected by the fire marshal, the landowners appealed to the Board and asked for approval of a variance. The Board denied the variance request, citing concerns over the safety of people, including firefighters and first responders. The owners then petitioned for a writ of certiorari, arguing that the Board misapplied the law by failing to consider whether strict enforcement of the fire code would result in “manifest injustice.” Finding that the Board failed to distinguish the landowners’ request for a variance from an appeal, the trial court vacated the Board’s ruling and remanded the matter to the Board for review of the variance request. This appeal followed. For the reasons set forth below, we respectfully disagree with the trial court’s conclusion, reverse its judgment, and remand with instructions to affirm the decision of the Board.

The Petitioner, Quartes Williams, appeals the Lake County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus from his convictions for first degree murder during the perpetration of a robbery and facilitation of especially aggravated robbery. The Petitioner contends that the habeas corpus court erred by summarily dismissing his petition. We affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.

Families of three children and three adults killed in last year’s Covenant School shooting have filed an ethics complaint against Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga. The complaint charges the lawmaker is violating Senate ethics rules by being part of a lawsuit seeking release of the shooter’s writings while pushing a bill, SB2105, to block third parties from intervening in public record lawsuits. The bill passed unanimously through the Senate and is now on the House's agenda. Since June, a legal battle has been ongoing over release of the shooter’s journal. Nashville police and the families of the Covenant victims have tried to prevent the journal’s release, while Gardenhire and several media outlets have petitioned to have it released. The Nashville Banner has more.

The Defendant, Torrian Seantel Bishop, pleaded guilty in the Obion County Circuit Court to the unlawful possession of a weapon, a Class B felony, and theft of property, a Class E felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-17-1307(b)(1) (Supp. 2023) (unlawful possession of a weapon), 39-14-103 (2018) (theft of property). The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective twelve-year sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant presents a certified question of law regarding the legality of the search of his car. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.