Defendant, Ashley Bianca Ruth Kroese, appeals the denial of her motion to correct clerical errors in her judgments. On appeal, she claims the trial court erred by summarily denying her motion and failing to enter corrected judgments to include jail credit for the time she was on home confinement pending trial. Because the record is inadequate for meaningful review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant, Natasha Lynn Bryant Fults, was indicted by a Warren County Grand Jury on two counts of tampering with evidence. See T.C.A. § 39-16-503. Pursuant to a plea agreement, she pled guilty to both counts with the trial court to determine the length and manner of service. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I offender to serve five years incarcerated. Defendant appeals, arguing the trial court abused its discretion by not sentencing her to split confinement or alternative sentencing. Following our review of the record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Defendant, Anthony T. Braden, was convicted by a Humphreys County jury of two counts of aggravated sexual battery. The trial court imposed an effective ten-year sentence. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court committed plain error in finding that the victim had properly authenticated the video-recorded forensic interview under Tennessee Code Annotated section 24-7-123(b)(1). Upon our review of the entire record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This appeal concerns the termination of a father’s parental rights. Richmond S. and Lisa S. (“Petitioners”) filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Fentress County (“the Trial Court”) seeking to terminate the parental rights of Cory S. (“Father”) to his minor children Dawson S. and Bentley S. (“the Children,” collectively).1 The Children were removed from Father’s custody following an incident in which Bentley was severely injured. After a hearing, the Trial Court entered an order terminating Father’s parental rights on five grounds, including severe child abuse. Father appeals, arguing among other things that he did not intentionally or knowingly harm Bentley. We vacate the Trial Court’s waiver of a home study of Bentley in Petitioners’ home because Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-116 requires that such a study be conducted when the child, like Bentley, is unrelated to the prospective adoptive parents.2 Otherwise, we find that each of the grounds for termination found by the Trial Court were proven by clear and convincing evidence. We find further, also by clear and convincing evidence, that termination of Father’s parental rights is in the Children’s best interest. We remand to the Trial Court for a home study to be conducted in compliance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-116.

In this post-divorce action, the parents filed cross-petitions to modify the agreed permanent parenting plan concerning their minor child. Following a hearing, the trial court entered an order determining that a material change in circumstance had occurred and that modification of the parenting plan was in the child’s best interest. The trial court changed the designation of primary residential parent from mother to father and adopted a new permanent parenting plan, which granted 237 days with the child to the father and 128 days to the mother annually. The mother has appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. We deny the father’s request for an award of attorney’s fees on appeal.

Legislation that would have established a presumption that joint legal custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child failed to pass the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 16-3, leaving it dead for the year. The bill, HB1131 was sponsored by Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis. The Senate version of the bill, SB1331, is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville. George Spanos, chair of the TBA Family Law Section, testified against the bill, and the TBA Government Affairs team worked to educate lawmakers on the need to maintain current law, which requires the judge to look at the facts of each individual case and determine custody based on what is in the best interest of each child.

The TBA Family Law Section’s legislation, HB492 — sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville — successfully passed the House Judiciary Committee. The Senate version, SB540, sponsored by Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, passed the Senate on March 6. The legislation, as amended, removes the three-year threshold for trial courts to consider a parent’s failure to pay child support from the best interest of the child factors in TCA 36-6-106(a)(16). As amended, the bill also amends the grandparent visitation statute (TCA 36-6-306) to add a new subsection (g) that will allow trial courts the discretion to award attorney’s fees and expenses to either party in a grandparent visitation case.

Lateral hiring at law firms rebounded in 2024, with overall hiring up nearly 14%, according to the National Association for Law Placement’s 2024 Lateral Hiring Survey. The increase follows a two-year downturn and includes a significant rise in lateral associate hiring, which surged by almost 25%. According to the report, partner lateral hiring saw a 2% increase, while other lateral lawyer categories remained flat. Smaller firms, which appeared to capitalize on a reduction in lateral hiring by larger firms in 2022-2023, experienced a reversal in 2024, with hiring down 11%. Firms of more than 1,000 lawyers saw a 21% increase in hiring. The survey also revealed a continued trend toward remote hiring flexibility, though fully remote lateral hires remain rare. According to the National Jurist, legal experts note that the shift in hiring patterns reflects broader market adjustments, with large firms re-entering the market and smaller firms facing challenges competing for top talent.

The Tennessee Justice Bus is partnering with Knoxville Area Urban League to host an expungement clinic on April 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST as part of Help4TN Month. The clinic will offer participants an expungement screening with a volunteer attorney, who will assist in reviewing available online records. Attendees will receive information on which records may be eligible for expungement and learn about the steps to begin the expungement process. The Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Initiative is sharing updates about the month through a digital campaign and calendar of events. For 2025, the initiative is focused on providing information for the public on “the where, why and how of legal resources across Tennessee.”

The Tennessee Department of Correction is facing staffing shortages despite a significant increase in prison officer salaries, prompting the use of a “floating security crew” at state facilities, according to the Tennessee Lookout. In March, a group of five correctional officers volunteered to serve with the crew at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. The department also plans to hire 20 more officers for the crew, which will travel to locations where they are needed based on staffing levels. The department recently put $37 million more into officer salaries and held recruiting events, but despite those efforts there is still a 26% vacancy rate for correctional officers at state facilities.

Environmental groups are urging the Shelby County Health Department to issue an emergency order to stop xAI from operating what appear to be dozens of natural gas turbines in Southwest Memphis, the Daily Memphian reports. xAI plans to use the turbines as a power source for its new data center, in addition to electricity from Memphis Light, Gas and Water and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Attorneys for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) say the turbines appear to operating without an air emissions permit in violation of the Clean Air Act. They are asking the health department to inspect the site, order the turbines stopped and possibly impose fines of up to $25,000 per day. They also allege that the turbines could be the area’s largest emitter of nitric oxide and that formaldehyde emissions exceed legal limits. The company currently has an air emissions permit application pending with the health department with a public hearing set for April 25.