Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs today called for "immediate state intervention" at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center, requesting that Gov. Bill Lee shift control of the center's operations from the current board of trustees to the Department of Children's Services (DCS). Jacobs says that move will protect the center while more permanent arrangements can be made for the Knox County Sherriff's Office to take control. Knox News reports that issues surfaced this week after the center fired its sole registered nurse and an information technology specialist under what Jacobs and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin called "questionable circumstances." In a letter to the center, Jacobs and Irwin demanded the two employees be reinstated. The nurse, Stephanie Clowers, told the paper she had been documenting errors in medication distribution and poor practices, including one instance when a juvenile lost consciousness after ingesting another's medication. No one at the facility took his vitals, called poison control or summoned an ambulance, she stated. An investigation by ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio in 2023 found that the center had been using seclusion as a punishment for years, rather than as a last resort as the law requires.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will continue its CLE Exploration Series this fall. On Oct. 10 the group will hold a program at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park outside Memphis, which will also serve as the kick-off to the "Does It Please the Court?" CLE series. The event will return to Middle Tennessee at Long Hunter State Park on April 10, 2026. Don't miss these opportunities to combine learning with nature and networking. Also, it's not too late to register for tomorrow's event at Fall Creek Falls. The weather is improving and the program will go on rain or shine.

The Tennessee Workers Comp Appeals Board will hear in-person oral arguments in Taylor v. Dale’s Recycling on June 13 in Murfreesboro. The case involves a claim of brought by the wife of Darrell Taylor, who died of cardiorespiratory arrest related to chronic hypertension and diabetes while driving a trailer of scrap metal for Dale’s Recycling. The trial court awarded benefits. Both parties rely on Mitchell v. Bunge North America, the only post-Reform Act appellate opinion about heart attacks, to support their positions. Arguments will begin at 9:15 a.m. CDT.

The 3rd Judicial District Chancery Court is reminding attorneys that when they file orders in the Electronic Court Filing System (ECF), a certificate of service must be included as part of the order listing all parties just as if it had been filed on paper (Rule 11 Local Rules of Electronic Filing). This includes orders to close estates unless the parties have waived service of final order under oath. The court also reiterates that the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) does not replace the need for service of process. The NEF satisfies the responsibility of a filer to send service to other parties that are registered in the ECF System. Non-registered parties must be served via conventional means through USPS or email from the attorney. The case information contains a service list which will identify those registered users and those who must be served by traditional method. The email received as a registered user lists that same information as well. Attorneys are encouraged to refer to the local rules for more information on e-filing.

Effective May 27, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Shelby County lawyer Archie Sanders III from the practice of law for one year, with two months to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation subject to conditions. The court found that while handling a probate matter, Sanders unreasonably delayed filing the petition to probate, unreasonably delayed seeking partition of certain real property in the estate, failed to communicate reasonably with his clients and failed to properly conclude representation of the clients. In a separate matter involving litigation with an insurance company, the court found Sanders failed to communicate reasonably with his clients, diligently perform the necessary work and reasonably expedite the litigation. Sanders executed a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.16, 3.2 and 8.4(d). During the probation period, he must engage a practice monitor to assess his caseload, case management, timeliness of performing tasks and adequacy of communication with clients. The monitor is to provide a monthly written report to the Board of Professional Responsibility.

Defendant, Cameron Henderson, appeals his Shelby County convictions for sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery for which he received an effective sentence of 7.2 years of confinement as an especially mitigated offender to be served at a rate of 100 percent. On appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of other bad acts pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b), in declining to instruct the jury on child abuse and neglect as a lesser included offense of aggravated sexual battery, and in ordering him to serve 100 percent of his sentence. Because Defendant failed to file a timely motion for new trial and a timely notice of appeal, we dismiss the appeal.

A trial date of Jan. 20, 2026, has been set for former Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy, Chattanoogan.com reports. Murphy resigned her position in June 2024 after Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) officers began looking into issues about her residency. She is charged with 17 felony and misdemeanor charges, including one count of illegal voter registration, one count of false entries on official registration or election documents, three counts of false entries in governmental records, three counts of forgery, three counts of perjury, and six counts of official misconduct. Murphy has pleaded not guilty. Community leaders have called her indictment and arrest "petty partisan politics."

Appellant’s Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 59.04 motion to alter or amend was untimely and did not toll the time limit for filing his notice of appeal. As such, Appellant’s notice of appeal is untimely, and the appeal is dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

This appeal arises from an order of protection issued against the appellant/defendant, Agness McCurry, in Washington County Circuit Court case 42482. Although the defendant raises numerous issues and the record contains numerous documents that pertain to other cases filed in the general sessions and circuit court of Washington County, as well as federal court, in which defendant sued almost every judge in Washington County, this opinion is limited to Washington County Circuit Court case 42482. The defendant contends the order of protection was issued in violation of Tennessee law, constitutional due process, and judicial conduct standards. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

Appellants have filed three related lawsuits against appellee and other entities. Here, appellants claim a continuing nuisance stemming from the alleged discharge, onto appellants’ property, of e. coli-contaminated wastewater from a dismantled septic system, which previously serviced appellee’s property. In a previous appeal, this Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the appellees on appellants’ claim of trespass based on our finding of an existing easement appurtenant for the septic system. As relevant here, the trial court granted appellee’s motion for summary judgment on appellants’ claim of nuisance, and they appeal. Because appellants have failed to meet their burden of proof, at the summary judgment stage, to show that there is leaching of contaminated wastewater onto their property, they have failed to establish the existence of the nuisance averred in their complaint. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s grant of appellee’s motion for summary judgment.