U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn,  and state Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, have released a letter on social media asking Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy for more information about a recent report from a local court-watch group. According to The Daily Memphian, Memphis Crime Beat alleged that three out of four felony cases prosecuted by the District Attorney General’s Office in December ended without prison time. The group analyzed 514 felony cases resolved in Shelby County Criminal Court that month, reporting that 144 were dismissed and 370 resulted in some type of sentence. In their letter, Blackburn and Taylor asked how many cases involved arrests by the Memphis Safe Task Force and why relatively few defendants received prison time. They asked Mulroy to respond by March 6. Mulroy said many of the cases involved nonviolent offenses or defendants without significant criminal histories and noted that some sentencing decisions were made by judges without his office’s agreement.

Nearly 120 years after a mob lynched Ed Johnson, he and other lynching victims have been memorialized with a historic marker in front of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. In 1906, Johnson, a Black man, was lynched on the Walnut Street Bridge before a crowd of about 100 people after being falsely accused of rape and sentenced to death despite testimony supporting his innocence. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a stay of execution, but Johnson was killed before it could be enforced. His conviction was posthumously overturned in 2000, and a memorial was installed on the bridge property in 2021. The new marker recounts Johnson’s story and the broader history of lynching in America, noting at least five documented lynching victims in Hamilton County and more than 375 in Tennessee between 1865 and 1950.

The Shelby County Election Commission approved a list of candidates for the May 5 Democratic and Republican county primary elections during its meeting last week with several key court clerk races drawing multiple contenders. Jamita E. Swearengen, the current circuit court clerk, is running unopposed for reelection. Juvenile Court Clerk Janeen Gordon, a Democrat, faces two challengers in the primary, with no Republican candidate qualifying. Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn is not eligible for reelection due to term limits and instead is seeking the county mayor’s office, leaving a field of five Democrats — Rheunte E. Benson, Lawrence Denton Jr., Wanda Halbert, Carla Stotts and Joe Towns Jr. — and one Republican, Edquardo Jamison, to compete for her seat. Probate Court Clerk Eddie Jones, also a Democrat, is up for reelection and faces challenger William Chism Jr. No Republican entered that race. Read more about the candidates in the Commercial Appeal.

Gov. Bill Lee is proposing a statewide fund to help fill gaps left by cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On Thursday, the Tennessee Senate approved $100 million for the “Governor’s Response and Recovery Fund,” along with ongoing funding to establish a four-person staff. According to Chattanooga Times Free Press, the fund would assist smaller communities that have difficulty qualifying for federal disaster declarations. The Senate approved SB2232 by a vote of 29-1. Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said the state is right to plan ahead but cautioned that $100 million, though significant in a tightening budget, could be quickly depleted if FEMA reduces funding. Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, a sponsor of the bill, said the revamped fund would provide a pathway for local governments and individuals to seek state assistance when federal aid is unavailable or insufficient.

The TBA Intellectual Property Section will host the next installment of its webcast series on April 1 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. The session will focus on post-grant patent strategies in light of new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rules and trends. The program will examine recent procedural updates, including director-centric institution decisions and efforts to curb parallel validity challenges, and will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various post-grant proceedings. The webcast will be presented by Rhett Sexton of Merchant & Gould in Knoxville. For more information and to register, visit the TBA website.

The TBA Estate Planning & Probate Section directory is a great place to find colleagues with a similar focus. The directory provides a list of section members with contact information and a list of any other sections or TBA groups to which they belong. This resource provides a great way to connect with like-minded lawyers and cross-reference attorneys well versed in other practice areas as well. View the section directory here.

Planning expert and chair of the TBA Probate Study Group Al Secor will provide his annual legislative update at this week's Estate Planning & Probate Forum. Secor's session features a report of statutory changes in conservatorships, guardianships, estate administration, trusts and wills that were enacted during the 2025 Legislative session. Bills pending in the same topics in the 2026 legislative session will also be discussed. Other topics at the forum include probate litigation, how AI is shaping estate planning workflows, public receiverships, a probate panel, ethics and more. Estate Planning & Probate Section members receive a discounted rate to attend. Register now.

Across Tennessee, estate planners are encountering a new reality: land that has been in families for generations is now worth more on paper than at any time in its history, and that value is increasingly driven by what can be built, not what can be grown or stewarded. For many clients, this creates a real tension. They want to plan responsibly for their heirs, taxes and long-term financial security, while still keeping the farm, forest and homestead intact. Increasingly, conservation easements are entering those conversations, not as an environmental statement but as a practical planning tool that can help families shape the future of their land. Continue reading...

This issue's Closing Statements features answers to the question “How has the definition of success evolved throughout your legal career?”

Learn more about TBA's leadership in 2028, register for Day on the Hill, get an update on the TBA's new office construction and more!