Shelby County is back at the polls and the ballot is lengthy. 

Here’s a rundown to help you with the what, when and where of voting in the 2026 August elections. 

Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. is named in a May letter as urging the city administration to hire Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington’s niece in the city’s IT division.

The General Sessions Criminal Court divisions will continue to function at just the most basic levels Wednesday, July 15, the third day of limited court operations there and a shutdown of Memphis Municipal or City courts.

Several divisions of General Sessions Criminal Court and all divisions of City Court will be closed a second day Tuesday as work continues on damage from a June water leak. Meanwhile, air conditioning problems in the Shelby County Jail have improved.

The clash came at a weekend candidates’ forum hosted by MICAH. Also the impact of Congressional primaries on voter turnout and Blackburn fallout and calculations.

Democratic nominee for County Mayor Mickell Lowery talked about state intervention, his vote to raise county property taxes and tax breaks as economic development incentives on “Behind The Headlines.”

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office officials outlined a series of hazards at the main jail, including a diesel fuel leak and air conditioning failure, and called out Mayor Lee Harris for failing to address life-threatening conditions inside the facility.

The forum at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church drew all five candidates for the August 6 Democratic primary, who each hope to win the seat of incumbent Republican Congressman Andy Ogles.

The new law came after the county lost two judicial seats in 2024, one in Shelby County Criminal Court and a second in Shelby County Circuit Court.

The Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center reopened Wednesday, July 1, after a two-day shutdown by a Health Department order after a water main burst and flooded the lower level.

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201 Poplar reopening Wednesday but long-term questions remain

Courts and offices that shut down for two days will resume regular operations Wednesday. But the renewed debate about the building’s condition — and what to do about it — continues.

The trial date is tentative as Sawyer’s attorney is about to get an estimated 50,000 documents used by prosecutors to make their case against her.

Shelby County commissioners used extra decimal places Monday, June 29, in setting a new county property tax rate.

A water line break leaves the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center temporarily closed, forcing some courts to reschedule dates and pause operations. 

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201 Poplar courts closed for ‘imminent health hazard’

Signs on the doors of 201 Poplar say: “This building ‘must not be occupied’ until” the Health Department grants permission to reopen.

The commission also votes on budget amendments, including a move away from plans by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris to start planning on a new Treadwell K-8 school.

Incoming Shelby County Commissioner Lashanta Rudd is accused of buying a Nissan Sentra and incurring at least $5,000 in improper expenses using City of Memphis taxpayer dollars. 

Lowery in Eads, Taylor in Piperton. The political roundup is on the campaign trail and includes a D.C. roundup with reaction to the memorandum of understanding with Iran.

The Shelby County Commission is looking at a possible tax increase while the Memphis City Council is expected to keep the city’s tax rate the same. 

The new board overseeing Memphis-Shelby County Schools convened for the first time Thursday — in Nashville, with little notice, at 8:45 a.m. If the hope was to win over conflicted Memphians, this was a bizarre way to start.

The election is Aug; 6. The Shelby County Election Commission is preparing to mail out notices to inform county voters of their new congressional districts.

General Sessions Court judges suspended their clerk with pay two days after she made her first court appearance on federal theft, wire fraud and money laundering charges.

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Tami Sawyer indictment renews Republican push for state intervention

The landowner of a proposed Chick-fil-A has filed a petition in Shelby County Chancery Court against all five aldermen, alleging they are in contempt of court. A chancellor ordered them to approve the new restaurant in February.

One of the Republican contenders for governor says it’s time “to shake up the court system in Shelby County.”