After years of pleading by local judges, Nashville is on the verge of getting a brand new juvenile justice complex, Axios Nashville reports. Mayor John Cooper is including $30 million in his latest capital spending plan to cover land acquisition and early architectural and engineering work for a new complex. The city plans to buy a 14-acre campus off Brick Church Pike. The current juvenile justice center opened in the 1990s and has run out of space to meet basic needs. The infrastructure also has been in dire shape for years. According to Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway, raw sewage has flooded hallways and courtrooms in the past. An escape of four juveniles in 2019 also exposed flaws in the building design.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) launched a revamped Tennessee Sex Offender Registry this week to make it “easier-to-use and more helpful to the public,” Chattanoogan.com reports. After more than two years of planning and programming, the registry now features clearer navigation, more robust email notifications, a heightened focus on fugitive offenders, and new resources for personal and digital safety, according to the agency.

The federal government has approved a plan to use COVID relief funds to temporarily enroll up to 2,000 Tennesseans with disabilities into a state program that provides home and community-based services, the Tennessean reports. The Employment and Community First CHOICES offers individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities a range of services to help them live independently, access transportation and benefit from job training and day programs. There are currently about 2,500 individuals enrolled in the program, with an additional 5,000 on a waiting list.

The deadline has passed, but federal help may still be available for survivors of August flooding that impacted Dickson, Hickman, Houston and Humphreys counties. According to WPLN, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration are still accepting appeals and late applications. So far, federal authorities have approved about $16 million in disaster relief, 128 low-interest loans, and $7 million for about 2,500 households. Flood survivors who missed the application deadline or believe they did not receive enough funds are encouraged to submit an appeal as soon as possible.

This advanced level program is designed for state and local lawmakers; judges; candidates for executive, judicial or legislative positions; campaign chairs and treasurers; and legal counsel. It will cover all aspects of the law and ethics of running for office. The live virtual program, set for Dec. 1 from 1-3:30 p.m., will include sessions on election law, campaign finance practices and election provisions in the Code of Judicial Conduct and Rules of Professional Conduct. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from Bill Young with the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance; William J. “Paz” Haynes III with Bone McAllester Norton; Thomas Lawless with Lawless & Associates; and Gif Thornton Jr. with Adams and Reese.

Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, today announced he will temporarily resign as chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Tennessean reports. His announcement comes after he was charged Monday with violating several campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit his failed 2016 campaign for Congress. Kelsey, alongside the owner of Nashville social club The Standard, stand accused of moving “soft money” from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign committee to his federal campaign. Kelsey has called the indictment a “political witch hunt.”

Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, has proposed new legislation that would require any district attorney general refusing to enforce state law be replaced by a court-appointed attorney, the Tennessean reports. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, also co-sponsored similar bills that would fine or replace district attorneys who refuse to enforce state law. Rudd’s bill would directly affect Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk, who has publicly said he will not prosecute teachers for requiring masks and, earlier this year, announced he would not enforce a state law requiring businesses to post signs if they provide gender-friendly bathrooms to transgender people. “Prosecutorial discretion is part of our constitution,” Funk told The Tennessean upon learning the bill was filed.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has named Professor Demetria Frank as its new Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion. In this role, Frank will oversee the law school’s efforts in diversity and inclusion, while also remaining on the law school’s faculty. Frank has served for three years as the school’s director of the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, where she established the high school-focused Bass, Berry, & Sims Summer Trial and Advocacy Institute (STAI) and Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars Program (PLUS). During her tenure, preLaw Magazine has ranked the law school 13th in the nation for African American students, and Enjuris chose it as a Top 10 Law School for Black students.  

The Knox County Board of Education yesterday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to throw out a mask mandate ordered by a judge, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Four Knox County families sued Gov. Bill Lee and the Knox County Board of Education alleging the governor’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of a federal law called the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer blocked Lee’s order and required the school system to impose a mask mandate while the lawsuit plays out. 

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. “Bob” Simpson died on Oct. 18. He was 93. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Simpson worked in private practice before joining the Justice Department in 1966. Simpson was the longest serving assistant U.S. Attorney in the nation upon his retirement in 2008 after 42 years as an AUSA in the Eastern District. During his career, Simpson worked a variety of cases, most notable was the 1983 “Butcher” case involving the biggest banking scandal in Tennessee. A celebration of Simpson’s life will be arranged at a later date. Any consideration of memories may be made to U.T. College of Law, 1505 W. Cumberland Ave., Ste. 278, Knoxville 37996-1810 or to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Friends of the Smokies, P.O. Box 1660, Kodak 37764.