The Shelby County Republican Party is hoping having partisan primaries in school board races will help them crawl back to relevancy in the Democratic-dominated county, even if they have little chance of winning some races.

The Shelby County Republican Party executive committee didn’t want partisan primaries in school board races two years ago, but Thursday’s vote went the other way.

Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. joins what could be a large field of contenders in the Democratic primary to succeed Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.

The Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office announced Friday, April 25, Judge Paula Skahan will retire in June.

Under a new law, Shelby County Commissioners have the power to term limit Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members and could put all nine board seats on the ballot in 2026.

The multi-year dollar figure comes from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and would fundamentally alter the county’s annual capital budget now at $150 million a year for all capital projects. 

Collierville Police and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference Monday afternoon to talk about possible drink tampering in the suburb’s limits.

County Commissioner Britney Thornton said Wednesday the allegations against Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. shouldn’t be considered in deciding what, if any, changes should be made to the body’s grant program.

A resolution that urges the Tennessee Supreme Court to create a panel to investigate three state district attorneys general passed the state Senate Wednesday, April 16.

Options for funding the project, widely agreed upon by state legislators as necessary despite disputes about priorities and timing, are becoming increasingly limited.

Shelby County Health Department’s new pilot program will allow all county residents aged 14 and up to order a free, at-home HIV testing kit once every six months. 

The Shelby County Commission approved unanimously an expansion of universal prekindergarten services.

XAI is being taxed on $2.2 billion in investments, not the $12 billion the Greater Memphis Chamber touted throughout the past year. 

The commission also takes a second reading vote Monday on a pay raise for the next Shelby County Sheriff. Final action on a pair of ethics ordinances has been delayed to next month.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office held a special lighting ceremony Thursday, April 10, in honor of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

The four days of intense rainfall set a new record for the period in Memphis and raised the level of the Mississippi River at Memphis dramatically. 

After four years away, Mark Billingsley desires to return to the Shelby County Commission in 2026. He served on the commission from 2014 until 2022.

The Memphis City Council delayed indefinitely any decision on the proposed closings of two streets in Chickasaw Gardens, and environmental impacts of an xAI plant caused a riff in the body. 

“This is the rebuild and transformation of Frayser, but this is also a moment, a forerunner, of things to come,” said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, who first proposed building the school five years ago.

Shelby County Commissioners are still divided over whether their earlier no-confidence resolution in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board led to plans to for a state takeover of the school system. 

As local groups push against xAI’s turbines as part of a fight against pollution, the Health Department director said she will schedule a public hearing on the permit for the company’s Southwest Memphis plant.

The Monday, March 31, County Commission meeting will be a busy one. On the agenda is an advisory board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools and a call for public hearings on xAI’s permitting process.

Although the resident contracted West Nile virus after they traveled to a region where its endemic, the case serves as a reminder to all residents to protect themselves against mosquito bites with the weather heating up. 

State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, and Senate leaders are asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to appoint a panel outside the legislature to investigate Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy. 

The HVAC issues have affected both the jail and the courthouse, according to statements from local officials.