Proposed bill would ax court chief and functions, fine ineffective lawyers in capital cases
The Tennessee Bar Association is asking members to let their lawmakers know what they think about a bill introduced last week by the chairman of the Tennessee state senate finance committee.
Introduced by Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, Senate Bill 2322 would eliminate the state court administrator and judicial conduct board and shift these functions to other state officials and agencies. The bill would also also make public all documents held by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission and disband it, to be replaced by another entity. The way judges are selected would change, too. Meanwhile, the authority of judges to grant extensions of filing deadlines in capital cases would be limited, and court-appointed lawyers found to be ineffective in those cases would be fined.
A Gavel to Gavel post provides additional details.
