Tennessee Law Passed This Year Created Committee That Will Investigate DA After State Board Dismisses Complaint By State Senator

Image Credit: scdag.com & Senator Brent Taylor/Facebook & Canva

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A law passed by the Tennessee legislature earlier this year created a committee that will investigate the District Attorney for Memphis despite the state board dismissing a complaint by a state senator.

Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis-District 31) filed a complaint against District Attorney Steve Mulroy last December over concerns about adult court judges accessing records from juvenile court to make bail decisions. Taylor has levied several ethics complaints against Mulroy.

Mulroy called the complaints a year long distraction from his duties, and an abuse of the ethics complaint process.

Mulroy, along with Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon, argued before the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Responsibility that in certain cases, it was permissible for the records of juvenile offenders to be released.

While Taylor had accused Mulroy of conspiring with Sugarmon to break the law, Mulroy claimed to have only consulted with the juvenile judge. State statute permits a juvenile judge to share records with other judicial officials who have a legitimate interest. In addition, certain violent crimes committed by those 14-years of age and older are public record.

The most recent complaint, the last of five, saw the same fate as the previous four and was thrown out by the board at the end of July. The case is officially closed since Taylor chose not to appeal.

Due to the passing of Senate Resolution 120, the complaint was made essentially redundant.

According to a letter that Taylor wrote to the board, he said he is withdrawing the complaint because the new law has created a committee to investigate Mulroy and two other DAs. Taylor also wrote that he will be submitting more evidence for the new committee to look at in regards to Mulroy.

In making a recommendation to the General Assembly about creating a disciplinary board for state DAs, public defenders, and court clerks, SR120 enables citizens to file complaints against them just as they already can against other judicial officials. Creating this process for the public to file their own complaints is an important part of holding judicial officials accountable, says Tayor.

The legislation will also permit misconduct allegations to be evaluated against Mulroy, Chris Stanford, and Glenn Funk and determine if disciplinary action should be taken.

Three judicial officials were appointed to the committee in early July: Victor Johnson, who is a professor at the Belmont School of Law; William Koch, the Dean of the Nashville School of Law; and Lang Wiseman, Governor Bill Lee’s former chief counsel.

The committee will be making recommendations to the General Assembly regarding a disciplinary board for Public Defenders and DAs, with a separate committee that will make recommendations for a board for court clerks. This committee will be chaired by Justice Mary Wagner.

For Mulroy to be removed from his position as DA would take a majority two-thirds vote by the General Assembly. A DA has never been removed by the legislature in Tennessee.

In filing the legislation that would become SR120 earlier this year, Taylor stated that Mulroy had committed “serious ethical violations” while abusing his authority by “pursuing a personal and partisan agenda in violation of State law and his oath of office.”

Taylor has accused  Mulroy of working with liberal justice reform groups to allow dangerous criminals to remain free by eliminating bail.

“They all advocate ending cash bail,” said Taylor. “They all support lenient prosecutions.”

Mulroy has stated that his focus is on “reducing violent crime and justice reform” but Taylor has argued that Mulroy is not following legislation from state lawmakers that was passed with the intent of cracking down on crime.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.