The East Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women (ETLAW) will hold its annual Tennessee Supreme Court Luncheon on May 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. The event, which will take place at Jackson Terminal in Knoxville, will honor the state’s Supreme Court justices and recognize successful initiatives of the court. A keynote address will be given by Justice Mary L. Wagner, the court’s newest justice. Tickets are available online. For questions contact ETLAW President-elect Jennifer Franklyn at jfranklyn@realtytrustgroup.com.

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. In 2020, Amaury Villa moved to amend his motion for sentencing relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255—seeking to add a claim that his counsel had not told him about a plea offer that the prosecution had sent via email. When this case was last before us, we remanded to the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing on whether Villa’s motion to amend was timely. Villa v. United States, 56 F.4th 417, 421 (6th Cir. 2023). On remand, the court found that Villa’s motion was timely, but held on the merits that the prosecutor’s email to counsel was too indefinite to count as a formal offer. We affirm.

MATHIS, Circuit Judge. For almost twenty years, David Hieber led Oakland County’s Equalization Department. But then an employee reported him for creating a hostile work environment. The County investigated the complaint and terminated Hieber as a result. Hieber sued both Oakland County and his supervisor, Kyle Jen, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deprivation of pretermination and post-termination due process, political-affiliation retaliation, and age discrimination. He also brought state-law claims for defamation and age discrimination. Oakland County and Jen moved for summary judgment, which the district court granted. We reverse the grant of summary judgment to Oakland County and Jen, in his official capacity, on Hieber’s pretermination due-process claim. In all other respects, we affirm.

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Sonya Kenette Brown was a City Council member in the City of Albion, Michigan. She was prosecuted for violating a provision in the City Charter prohibiting City Council members from directing the appointment or removal of any administrative officer or employee of the city. She alleges that her political opponents on the City Council engaged in retaliatory prosecution and arrest, malicious prosecution, and conspiracy to violate her civil rights, and she alleges that the relevant provision of the City Charter is unconstitutional. The district court dismissed her claims alleging retaliatory prosecution and arrest, malicious prosecution, and conspiracy to violate civil rights and granted summary judgment to the Defendants on her claim that the City Charter provision was unconstitutional. She now appeals those decisions. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.

Father appeals the trial court’s findings that (1) termination of Father’s parental rights is supported by the grounds of substantial noncompliance with a permanency plan and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody, and (2) termination is in the children’s best interests. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

Cody Smith, the former director of the 12th Judicial Drug Task Force, last week pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of meth with intent to sell in Marion County. He received two 10-year sentences, which will be probated after 11 months and 29 days, WCYB reports. This week, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released an investigative report finding that Smith misappropriated more than $7,000 from the task force between 2017 and 2021. He was fired in May 2021. Writing in the report, Comptroller Jason Mumpower said, “It is critical for law enforcement agencies to maintain clear, thorough documentation and strict oversight of both evidence and financial transactions. Written policies must also be in place for the collection, recording, storage and destruction of evidence.” The office says it sent the findings to the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office but the district attorney says the information “could not be presented to a grand jury before the statute of limitations had run."

A utility district sued a private corporation alleging that the corporation was illegally providing water services to customers in the utility district’s service area. The trial court ruled in favor of the corporation. On appeal, the district asserts that the trial court erred in requiring the district to prove that the company qualified as a “public utility” under the pertinent statute. We have concluded that the trial court erred in its interpretation of the statute. We, therefore, reverse and remand.

The employee in this interlocutory appeal was involved in a motor vehicle accident while operating a company vehicle within the course and scope of her employment. The employee’s authorized treating physician diagnosed several medical conditions and eventually recommended a multi-level cervical fusion. The employer declined to authorize the recommended surgery, arguing that the employee’s preexisting degenerative conditions were the primary cause of her need for surgery. Following an expedited hearing, the trial court determined the expert medical evidence offered by the employer did not rebut the presumption of correctness afforded the causation opinion of the panel-selected authorized treating physician, and it ordered the employer to authorize the recommended surgery. The employer has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

In this case, we construe the parties’ marital dissolution agreement, as well as Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-5-103(c), which permits attorney fee awards in certain original and post-award proceedings in family law cases involving alimony, child support, child custody, and permanent parenting plans. Here, the former husband filed a post-divorce petition to alter the award of transitional alimony, and after considerable litigation, he nonsuited it. The question on appeal under both the marital dissolution agreement and the statute is whether a trial court may award attorney fees to a former spouse for fees incurred in defending the original award of alimony in post-divorce proceedings, where the petition to modify the award was nonsuited before adjudication on the merits. We hold that it may. Under the marital dissolution agreement, our holding is based on the language of the parties’ agreement. As to the statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-5-103(c) explicitly applies in post-award proceedings to “enforce, alter, change, or modify” an existing decree of alimony, child support, custody, or a permanent parenting plan. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-103(c). For an obligee spouse defending against an obligor spouse’s effort to reduce or end alimony or child support, or modify a permanent parenting plan, the objective may be to maintain the status quo. This objective is achieved upon voluntary dismissal by the obligor spouse. Under these circumstances, the obligee spouse is a “prevailing party” under section 36-5-103(c). For this reason, we hold that trial courts may award attorney fees to an obligee spouse under the statute after the obligor spouse nonsuits a post-divorce petition. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals, affirm the trial court’s award of attorney fees to the former wife, award the former wife attorney fees on appeal, and remand the case to the trial court for a determination of the amount of reasonable attorney fees.

The state criminal trial of three former Memphis police officers accused of killing Tyre Nichols got underway Monday in Memphis. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith Jr. are facing charges that include second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Yesterday’s proceedings included not-guilty pleas from all three defendants, opening statements from the prosecution and defense, and testimony from Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells. The jury in the case has been brought to Memphis from Hamilton County. The Commercial Appeal provides a wrap up of the day.