April 28, 2005

TBA probate bill now Public Chapter 99
TBA-backed refinements to probate law were signed into law this week by Gov. Bredesen, and the legislation has been assigned Public Chapter No. 99.

The bill, which updates and modernizes various sections of estate and probate law, was sponsored by Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, and Rep. Joe Fowlkes, D-Cornersville. The TBA is grateful to our sponsors for their fine work.

Action was expected in the House on a second TBA-backed bill — the measure to reform Limited Liability Company law — but concerns about the comprehensive rewrite of the LLC statute expressed by Rep. Ben West, D-Hermitage, and others in the House Calendar & Rules Committee led to a delay. The TBA has provided legislators additional information about the bill and hopes that the committee will act upon it next Tuesday and send the legislation to the floor for a vote.

The bill, SB0421/HB1121, passed the Senate 28-0 earlier this month.

Subcommittee closes door on divorce bill for 2005
Legislation that would establish the presumption that equally shared parenting is in the best interest of children in divorces will not be acted on this year, because the house subcommittee where it was being studied has closed for the year. The bill will come back for consideration next year.

The TBA opposes the bill, due to the uncertainty as to what “shared parenting” means in the statute. The TBA believes children could suffer because of the difficulty brought about through splitting the child’s time into equal parts, especially if the parents don’t live in the same area or school zone, if the bill as written were to be adopted.

Other legislation of interest

SERVICE OF PROCESS: The house is scheduled to consider on Monday a resolution (HJR0246) that would require the Judicial Council to study the issue of private process servers. If the resolution passes, it would hold off consideration of a number of bills that propose changes to service of process.

EXPERT SERVICES FOR INDIGENT DEFENDANTS: A bill (SB0203/HB0180) that called for a court to hold open hearings to determine if investigative or expert services were necessary for indigent defendants was deferred by its sponsor. Legislators are waiting for an opinion from the Attorney General on whether the proposed law would violate a Tennessee Constitutional provision that requires the victim to have a chance to be present at every hearing.

The TBA is concerned that the requirement for defense attorneys to publicly justify their requests for these services could force them to reveal strategy or other key information to the prosecution, with consequent danger to the defendant’s right to a fair trail.

JUDICIAL SELECTIONS: Another bill deferred this week (HB0636/SB0446) would require the Judicial Selection Commission and the Judicial Evaluation Commission to conduct only public meetings and deliberations. Right now, the commissions conducts public hearings as well as private interviews and deliberations.

ESTATE RECOVERY BY TENNCARE: The administration bill that would require state government to recoup funds spent on certain Medicaid nursing home patients after their deaths has been amended substantially. The TBA is concerned that the legislation creates cumbersome procedures in this area and is grateful that the administration has been willing to modify the bill.

UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW: The TBA is grateful to Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, for rolling for a week his bills regarding insurance adjusters. The TBA has some questions on whether the bills, HB0473/SB0670 and HB0474/SB0671, would inadvertently authorize the unauthorized practice of law by public adjusters of insurance claims. The TBA will work with Rep. Odom to address these concerns.

Keep up-to-date on legislation of interest
The TBA bill tracking service lets you read abstracts of bills, check their status in both houses, find out who is sponsoring them and link to full versions of the legislation.

TBA Watch List Monitor close to 300 bills and resolutions of interest to the Tennessee legal community.

TBA Action List Monitor legislation in which the TBA has an interest of record — bills the TBA initiated, bills on which the TBA has taken a position or bills on which the TBA has policy.

Questions, comments? Contact TBA Legislative Counsel Steve Cobb at scobb@tnbar.org or TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur at aramsaur@tnbar.org