A new Juvenile Detention Center is a top priority for Mayor Lee Harris in 2019.

Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn is reviewing the idea of an expungement court docket to speed the process of wiping clean the criminal records of offenders who have stayed out of trouble for five years. 

Aspire is spinning off its four Memphis schools into a new, independent charter school organization. The 1,600 students would officially transition at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year if the plan comes to fruition.

Shelby County Commissioners Tami Sawyer and Mark Billingsley appeared on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast to talk about juvenile justice reform. 

The federal government is shutdown but plans continue by local transportation agencies for new federal funding starting in 2020. The projects range from repaving the roads most used by the city's heaviest truck traffic to better pedestrian crossings.

The Shelby County Commission discussed a Department of Justice report criticizing Juvenile Court's due process procedures. 

Charges have been dropped in a "hoodie arrest" incident at Wolfchase Galleria last year, with the two men charged ordered to pay court costs. 

The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast highlights "Behind the Headlines" moments from 2018; what County Mayor Lee Harris is doing ahead of the new year; and Lamar Alexander’s book "Six Months Off" as the senator prepares for retirement.

Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown is losing his post as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee but picking up a leadership job as chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of Finance.

Lee exiting as Lee Company chairman and putting stock in a blind trust during term as governor.

Memphis City Council members back the general plan for sports betting on Beale Street, but they want to see what kind of split of revenue is proposed when it comes down to a specific bill in Nashville.

House members will consider giving committee chairs five extra bills on top of the 15-bill limit while also mulling a new system combining some committees and creating extra subcommittees.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance dismissed or reduced penalties against three Memphis lawmakers for failing to file election finance reports on time.

Sherman Greer, an administrator at Southwest Tennessee Community College, is the new District 1 member of the Memphis City Council.

Research has shown that when students have more “familiar faces” around them in class, they’re less likely to be chronically absent, so nonprofits like Communities in Schools are sending staff members into local schools to combat absenteeism.

The 111th General Assembly takes the oath of office Tuesday to prepare for a session in which it will attack numerous issues ranging from health care to sports betting and education vouchers.

Shelby County Juvenile Court staff members will no longer select defense attorneys for juvenile detainees, Mayor Lee Harris’ office announced Tuesday.

The House of Representatives elected Glen Casada as speaker on the first day of the 111th General Assembly with Democratic Rep. John DeBerry of Memphis backing the Franklin Republican instead of Memphis Rep. Karen Camper, leader of the Democratic Caucus.

The Shelby County Commission will reconvene for the first time in 2019 during its committee session Wednesday. 

After a break for the holidays, Memphis City Council members try again Tuesday to fill three vacancies. If the council is still gridlocked, the next move could be to put the three council seats to voters in a special election.

A new website will give the public a chance to weigh in on the city's progress in meeting court-ordered reforms resulting from its violation of the 1978 consent decree over political surveillance.

Memphis reported 184 homicides in 2018, eight more than in 2017. The 5 percent increase is less than the record number of homicides in 2016, but authorities said one homicide is too many. 

For the third time in seven years, Memphis and Shelby County are mounting a tire redemption and recycling drive that has some strict rules of the road based on the first two tries.

Again and again, prior to the launch of The Daily Memphian, people would say to me, “You’ve got to have obituaries.”

Like the University of Memphis, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will now operate under its own board of trustees and its inaugural meeting is slated this week.