Tennessee Comptroller to Audit Shelby County, Expresses ‘Lack of Confidence’ over ‘Willful Neglect’ by County Clerk

Halbert Mumpower

Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower announced an audit of Shelby County due to the alleged “incompetence and willful neglect” of the county by Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert.

Mumpower announced his intention in a letter to Mayor Lee Harris and the Shelby County Commission, expressing “deep concern and lack of confidence” in Halbert’s office.

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Shelby County Judge Who Released Alleged Thanksgiving Murderer with Zero Bail Recently Railed Against Bond System in Tennessee

Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge Bill Anderson released alleged Thanksgiving Day murderer Edio White with zero bond, even after police said White admitted to driving the getaway car after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old. In a newly resurfaced video, Anderson is seen railing against the “bond system” in Shelby County and Tennessee.

Anderson critiqued cash bail in Tennessee during a September 18 meeting of the Shelby County Commission, extending his condemnation to bail bonding companies, claiming “they don’t do anything but collect money from poor people.”

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Shelby County Commission Votes Unanimously to Appoint Justin Pearson as His Own Interim Successor to the Tennessee House

After being expelled from the Tennessee State legislature last week for inciting a riot at the Capitol in Nashville, Democrat lawmaker Justin Pearson has been appointed as his own interim replacement. 

“Keep representing us to the best of your ability, and know that you all have support from this body,” said Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery before turning the floor over to Pearson for remarks. 

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Shelby County Commission to Hold Vote on Appointment of Former State Rep. Justin Pearson to the Tennessee State House

After Monday’s reinstatement of State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) by the Nashville Metro Council, the Shelby County Commission Wednesday will hold a special meeting to consider whether to reappoint expelled former State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis). 

Over the weekend, Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowry released the following statement on his Facebook page: 

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Black Lives Matter Leader and Statue Destroyer Wins Democratic Primary for Shelby County Commissioner Seat

Tami Sawyer, a leader in the Memphis Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and organizer of the #TakeEmDown901 activists that resulted in removing Confederate statues in the city, won the Democratic primary to represent District 7 on the Shelby County Commission Tuesday, WREG reported. Sawyer won with 50 percent of the vote, followed by Stephanie Greenwood, who won 36 percent of the vote. Eric Dunn finished in third place with 14 percent of the vote. She will face Republican Samuel Goff, who was unopposed in his primary, in the August general election. During the August 2017 Confederate statue protest during which protestors surrounded police cars, seven people were arrested. According to Sawyer, BLM posted bail for them. The BLM movement was launched by co-founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a black Florida teenager. In no short order, BLM became known for protests involving property destruction and violence, oftentimes directed at police. All three of BLM’s co-founders have been connected in some way with one or more of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) groups. FRSO, one of the four largest radical Left organizations in the…

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Court Dismisses Individual Shelby County Commissioners as Defendants in Lawsuit Filed By Mayor Mark Luttrell

Last Monday, the Chancery Court of Shelby county dismissed individual Shelby County commissioners as defendants in a lawsuit filed against the Shelby County Commission and individual commissioners by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, who is trying to stop an opioid abuse lawsuit filed by the Shelby County Commission. The Shelby County Commission explained the background in a press release issued on Friday, which said, in part: On Thursday, November 2, Shelby County Commissioners announced that they hired Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, a national law firm known for their expertise in filing lawsuits against opioid perpetrators, to file suit on behalf of the county against Big Pharma for their role in their opioid crisis. In response, Mayor Luttrell filed a lawsuit demanding that they cease their actions with Napoli Shkolnik with a defense that only the county mayor has the authority to hire legal counsel to sue on behalf of the county. The parties named in the suit were the Shelby County Board of Commissioners as a whole and their hired firm Napoli Skholnik, as well as each Commissioner individually. The Chancery Court’s decision on Monday dismissed the suit against each individual Commissioner. And while the Mayor’s suit will continue against both…

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Shelby County Commission Overrides Mayor Luttrell’s Veto of Opioid Lawsuit

The Shelby County Commission voted on Wednesday to override vetoes by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell of two resolutions passed by the commission earlier this month. One resolution officially confirmed Commission chairwoman’ Heidi Shafer’s hiring of an out-of-state law firm to file an opioid abuse lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors on behalf of the county. The second resolution “instructed the mayor to stop suing the commission in Chancery Court for control of the lawsuit; and approved the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the commissioners’ legal defense against the mayor’s lawsuit,” the Commercial Appeal reported. “The Shelby County Commission and Shelby County sued several pharmaceutical companies in Shelby County Circuit Court on Thursday, alleging illegal abuse in their manufacture, sale, and distribution of opioids,” The Tennessee Star reported on November 6: “It’s not just the drug companies. It’s also the distributors, including pharmacies and the doctors writing the prescription that are being sued,” Heidi Shafer, chairman of the Shelby County Commission tells The Tennessee Star in an exclusive interview. “The lawsuit is very narrowly tailored only to go after those who are abusing,” Shafer adds. “About 80 counties around the country are already suing the companies involved in opioid abuse,” Shafer says.…

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Judge Rules in Favor of Shelby County Commission, Opioid Abuse Lawsuit Can Proceed

Tennessee Star

A Tennessee chancery court judge ruled on Tuesday that the opioid abuse lawsuit filed by the Shelby County Commission earlier this month against several pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, and distributors can proceed, but gave Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell until the end of the year to intervene. “I am pleased the judge ruled that the opioid lawsuit would go forward,” Shelby County Commission Chairwoman Heidi Shafer tells The Tennessee Star in an exclusive interview. “The commission’s whole objective in this is to help the citizens of West Tennessee out of this horrible mess,” she adds. “This lawsuit is one of many actions we are taking to stop our communities being flooded with these extremely addictive drugs,” Shafer says. “The end of the year. That is the timeline that was set by a chancery court judge as to when the Shelby County Mayor’s administration needs to intervene in a lawsuit county commissioners filed against opioid makers,” WREG reported about Tuesday’s ruling. “I think he was clear he believes going forward it’s in the public’s best interest for the lawsuit to move forward,” attorney Allan Wade, who “spoke on behalf of the commission in court,” told WREG. “We’ve never objected them getting in…

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Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell Now Suing All 13 Shelby County Commissioners to Stop the Opioid Abuse Lawsuit They Filed

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell is now suing all thirteen Shelby County Commissioners to stop the opioid abuse lawsuit they filed earlier this month. But on Monday, the Shelby County Commission hit back, and voted “to direct Mayor Mark Luttrell to drop a lawsuit against its chairwoman over who controls an opioid lawsuit against Big Pharma,” the Commercial Appeal reported. “It’s a blatant bully tactic to try to scare commissioners into believing that they don’t have the right to vote and act as a check and balance on the executive branch,” Shelby County Commission Chairwoman Heidi Shafer told The Tennesssee Star in an exclusive interview late Monday. “I was proud of the commission for standing up to such bullying tactics,” Shafer told The Star. “The commission voted 8-5 to approve the resolution, which was added on to the agenda an hour into Monday’s meeting. The resolution also directs the administration not to file any lawsuits without prior approval from a majority of the commissioners,” as the Commercial Appeal reported, adding: Luttrell’s administration sued chairwoman Heidi Shafer and the commission on Nov. 6 for her decision to hire law firm New York-based Napoli Shkolnik, known for winning a huge class-action settlement for sick Ground Zero workers,…

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Shelby County Commission Slaps Down Mayor Mark Luttrell’s Attempt to Stop Opioid Abuse Lawsuit

On Wednesday the Shelby County Commission slapped down an attempt by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell to stop the opioid abuse lawsuit it filed last week, voting 8 to 0 “to immediately move forward in suing opioid manufacturers and distributors.” “Why Mayor Luttrell would want to drag his feet for two years when Tennessee’s opioid prescription rate is the second highest in the United States is a mystery to me,” Shelby County Commission Chairwoman Heidi Shafer tells The Star in an exclusive interview. “We have more prescriptions for opioids than we have people. Who benefits from that?” Shafer asks, adding: Not the babies born addicted. Not the elderly who are routinely prescribed these addictive drugs and becoming hooked. Not the hospitals, schools, and law enforcment. Not the taxpayers! “It looks like the Swamp does not exist only in Washington, D.C. It looks like we have a Swamp right here in Memphis,” Shafer says. The commission’s vote “comes ahead of a Tuesday, Nov. 14, hearing in Chancery Court on county mayor Mark Luttrell’s lawsuit against Shafer. Luttrell claims Shafer violated the county charter by acting unilaterally to hire a law firm,” the Memphis Daily News reported: Commissioner Terry Roland said the commission’s ratification vote…

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Shelby County Commission Sues Pharmaceutical Companies Over Illegal ‘Opioid Abuse’

Tennessee Star

The Shelby County Commission and Shelby County sued several pharmaceutical companies in Shelby County Circuit Court on Thursday, alleging illegal abuse in their manufacture, sale, and distribution of opioids. “It’s not just the drug companies. It’s also the distributors, including pharmacies and the doctors writing the prescription that are being sued,” Heidi Shafer, chairman of the Shelby County Commission tells The Tennessee Star in an exclusive interview. “The lawsuit is very narrowly tailored only to go after those who are abusing,” Shafer adds. “About 80 counties around the country are already suing the companies involved in opioid abuse,”  Shafer says. Last month, President Trump declared the epidemic of opioid addiction to be a public health emergency. “President Donald J. Trump is mobilizing his entire Administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by directing the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids crisis,” the White House said in a statement released on October 26. “The lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies was filed at 9 Thursday morning on behalf of the County, but the issue won’t go before the full County Commission until next week,”WREG reported: Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, who says his administration was already working…

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Memphis Grassroots Conservative Champion Heidi Shafer Aspires To Seat In State Legislature

Tennessee Star

  When Heidi Shafer moved to Memphis in 1987, she couldn’t tell local politicians apart. Everyone, Republican and Democrat, was against crime and for the children and for education. Their campaign literature did little to distinguish one from the other. “Everybody sounded the same,” she recalled in an interview Wednesday with The Tennessee Star. Her frustration would one day motivate her to get involved to find out what was really going on. She began helping out with grassroots conservative campaigns, charting a path that eventually led to her bid to serve as a Shelby County commissioner. First elected to the county commission in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, Shafer is currently the only woman on the 13-member board and also is among a conservative minority. Her second four-year term ends next year and Shafer, bound by the commission’s term limits, is thinking about what she wants to do next. She is seriously considering running for the Tennessee General Assembly. Her fellow commissioner Terry Roland, also a fellow conservative, hopes that Shafer makes it to the Capitol. “If I were in a foxhole, I’d want her with me,” he said. Shafer, 51, has become known for fighting for lower taxes and…

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