The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on sales tax exemptions on April 28 at 9 a.m. CDT. Participants will hear an overview of Tennessee’s sales tax exemptions and how they apply to businesses across the state. The session also will break down common exemption categories, documentation requirements, and compliance best practices. Each business webinar, offered quarterly, covers topics such as tax registration, sales and use tax, business tax, franchise and excise taxes and how to get help from the department and other relevant state agencies. Register for the webinar here. 

Samuel Scott Minton, whose conviction was vacated in January 2025 after spending more than 30 years in prison, has sued Bradley County, former Bradley County Sheriff Dan Gilley, former detective William Burtt and the estate of former detective Anthony Benefield. Minton alleges that the officials violated his civil rights, engaged in coercion and fabricated evidence in his case, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The defendants deny wrongdoing. Minton was convicted in a 1994 jury trial following the rape and death of a Cleveland woman. He says he confessed to the crime without an attorney present but that many of his statements were made by a detective. The suit describes Minton at the time as a "vulnerable and functionally illiterate 20-year-old man with an intellectual disability." A confirmed alibi later proved that he was an hour away from the crime scene.

With the Tennessee General Assembly in the final days of the session, TBA's government relations team looks at the TBA bills that advanced during the 2026 session. All three measures passed the House and Senate. They will take effect on July 1.

HB2350/SB2165, drafted by the TBA Adoption Law Section and sponsored by Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, and Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, ensures that foster parents who have cared for a child for nine or more consecutive months receive from the Department of Children Services (DCS) a copy of any petition to terminate parental rights and access to relevant background and health information. The bill addresses situations in which foster parents lacked access to court filings and critical information and ensures they can make informed decisions with legal guidance. The legislation passed both chambers and was sent to Gov. Bill Lee on April 14. See the legislative history.

HB2429/SB2324, drafted by the TBA Family Law Section and sponsored by Rep. Andy Farmer, R- Sevierville, and Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, clarifies that the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act does not override other legal authority, authorizes juvenile courts to award attorney fees in child related disputes, permits temporary suspension of child support during dependency and neglect proceedings, and requires parent education in appropriate cases, including those involving unmarried parents. The bill has been signed by the governor. See the legislative history.

HB2451/SB2184, drafted by the TBA Probate Study Group and sponsored by Rep. Johnny Garrett, R- Goodlettsville, and Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, clarifies that the Tennessee Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act does not apply when property must be brought into a decedent’s estate to pay expenses, reinforcing that probate administration remains governed by probate law. The legislation also updates the elective share statute and makes conservatorship petition requirements mandatory. The bill has been signed by the governor. See the legislative history.

The latest episode of BarBuzz is out! In this installment, TBA Communications Coordinator Azya Thornton interviews fellow staff members Director of Education and Professional Development Jennifer Vossler and Senior Education and Professional Development Coordinator Jarod Word. They talk all things continuing legal education (CLE), from TBA's many online courses to the annual section forums. Thornton also talks with Estate Planning Section Chair Rob Malin and speaker Ashley Sterns at the section’s annual forum in March. Listen to this episode on the TBA’s website or directly here. Did you miss a past podcast episode? Catch up here. To access TBA's on demand CLE library or see upcoming events visit the CLE website.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is currently accepting applications to fill a vacancy in the 26th Judicial District Chancery Court following the elevation of the Steven W. Maroney to the appellate bench. Applicants must be an attorney licensed in Tennessee who is at least 30 years of age, a resident of the state for five years, and must reside in the judicial district, which covers Chester, Henderson and Madison counties. Applications should be submitted by noon CDT on May 6. Access the application and instructions on the court’s website. A public hearing with applicants for the position will be held June 10 at 9 a.m. CDT.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) has launched its 2026 Equal Justice Campaign, an annual effort to expand access to civil legal services for low-income individuals and families across the region. This year’s campaign has a goal of $2 million. Wendy Longmire, co-managing partner at Ortale Kelley, will serve as the 2026 campaign chair. Other campaign committee members are Ann Ralls Brown, Stites & Harbison; Blair Durham, Bart Durham Law; Elizabeth M. Adams, HCA Healthcare; Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Lynne Tyler Ingram; Julie Bhattacharya Peak, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani; Kathy Pennington, H.G. Hill Realty Company; Pooja Bery, Bery Law; and Katherine Crosthwaite and Laura Niewold, community volunteers. The campaign's signature event, the Equal Justice Fall Gala, will be held Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. CDT. Read more about the campaign in this press release. Contact Christina Sanders at csanders@las.org with questions.

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. For much of American history, evading excise taxes on liquor has been nearly a national pastime. At the time of the Revolution, one historian has written, “nearly every farmer distilled his own whiskey and deemed it his inalienable right to evade the tax, and resist the collector whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself for doing so.” Gallus Thomann, Liquor Laws of the United States 58 (1885). Soon after the Constitution’s ratification, in western Pennsylvania, this evasion came by force of arms—in the Whiskey Rebellion, which President Washington put down only after assembling “an army larger than any he had commanded during the Revolution.” Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815, at 138 (2009). Just after the Civil War, in 1867, a select committee of the House of Representatives heard more than a month of testimony, and concluded: “in the manufacture and sale of tobacco, cigars, and spirits, and especially the latter, the most stupendous frauds are practiced against the government in the collection of its revenue.” H.R. Rep. No. 39-24, at 1 (1867).

The following year Congress enacted comprehensive legislation to end those frauds, which among many other provisions included a ban on distilling spirits in one’s home. Now, almost 160 years later, John Ream argues that the home-distilling ban has been beyond Congress’s enumerated powers all along. We disagree with the district court’s conclusion that Ream lacks standing to bring his claims; but we hold that the ban is a necessary and proper means of collecting the federal excise tax on distilled spirits.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. After exiting Miami Valley Hospital, Thomas K. Irwin publicly urinated. Following a brief pursuit, Officer Trent Davis tackled Irwin, leaving Irwin permanently incapacitated. Elaine R. Smith, Irwin’s mother and guardian, sued Davis and his employers (among others) for excessive force and state-law torts … We ... DENY the motion to dismiss, VACATE the district court’s order, and REMAND for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

The Defendant, Amir Hassan Spears, appeals from his convictions for first degree felony murder, criminally negligent homicide, especially aggravated robbery, and aggravated assault. On appeal, he presents three issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence was insufficient to support the Defendant’s convictions for failure to establish identity; (2) whether the State committed a Brady violation when it failed to disclose, prior to the close of the State’s proof, the circumstances surrounding a victim’s identification of the Defendant; and (3) whether trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by (i) failing to take appropriate action when this issue came to light at trial, and (ii) failing to adequately challenge testimony that the Defendant had concealed a long rifle inside his pants. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Jarvis Jones, appeals from the order of the trial court revoking his probation. He argues that trial court failed to properly adhere to the two-step consideration for probation revocation and, as a result, abused its discretion in revoking his probation. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in revoking the Defendant’s probation and that the record, considered as a whole, supports full revocation as the appropriate consequence. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.