After lawmakers passed the Memphis Safe Task Force Accountability Act, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy described the bill’s requirement for his office to explain decisions to dismiss, modify, or enter into plea agreements for charges brought as a result of the task force as “busy work” during an April 17 interview.
Mulroy shared the interview with the public on Friday, writing in a newsletter that his remarks, “addressed how narratives not rooted in data—or taken out of context—can shift focus away from the core work of reviewing cases, supporting victims, and making decisions based on facts and the law.”
Mulroy (pictured above) made the remarks during an appearance on NewsChannel 3, when he described the recent legislative actions involving Shelby County as a political effort by State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis).
“This is political. Senator Taylor has decided he cans core points among his far right base, and get clicks, and likes, and news coverage, by painting me as the woke D.A. and a problem,” said Taylor. He later said of various legislative efforts by Memphis-area Republicans, “All of these bills are targeting Shelby County, which is probably unconstitutional, and it’s not a trivial burden. They’re saying whenever we settle a case, we have to do a report.”
Mulroy was at one point specifically asked about the Memphis Safe Task Force Accountability Act, which was passed by the General Assembly earlier this month, and will require the district attorney’s office to file reports with the Tennessee Attorney General, speakers of the State House and State Senate, the District Attorneys General Conference, and the local U.S. Attorney, offering an explanation for any task force case that ends with lowered charges, a dismissal, a plea agreement, or the case being dropped.
Noting the majority of cases nationwide are settled outside of court, the district attorney confirmed the bill will impact “almost every case” in Shelby County, and said it will require manual data entry from his office.
“I’m going to have to take staff away from doing their regular job and do a manual review of these cases, separate them out from all the other cases, which we treat the same anyway, and do a special report,” said Mulroy. “It’s busy work, it’s paperwork, it’s taking us away from our job, it is not making Shelby County safer.”
He added, “It’s purely political.”
Taylor has described Mulroy as the “weak link” in the task force, which combines local, state, and federal law enforcement, and has reported more than 8,000 arrests since it deployed in September.
Watch Mulroy’s full comments:
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy” by Shelby County DA’s Office.
Considering Shelby County is THE worst county in TN, no surprie that so much legislation is targeted there. The focus is not unconstitutional, the way you run your office is. Time for you and your “staff” to earn their money, for once.
You mean his staff might actually have to perform some useful work. Poor baby!