State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) announced last week his plan to file legislation requiring district attorneys general to submit a written explanation to the federal government if they reduce, drop, or decide not to prosecute defendants in cases generated by the Memphis Safe Task Force.
Taylor said his Memphis Safe Task Force DA Accountability Act, “will require district attorneys to certify to the U.S. Attorney and the legislature any downgraded charges or dismissals of charges,” which stem from either the deployment of federal assets in the Memphis Safe Task Force, or Operation Viper, the operational name for the surge of FBI resources to Memphis announced earlier this year by Director Kash Patel.
“This will allow us to track what D.A. [Steve] Mulroy is doing with the state charges. In other words, we can’t let this once in a generation opportunity go to waste,” wrote Taylor in a post to X, announcing the legislation would be submitted on Monday.
🚨Announcing the filing of the Memphis Safe Task Force DA Accountability Act 🚨 When I recently testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, I testified that our Soros-backed District Attorney Steve Mulroy was the weak link in the Memphis Safe Task Force’s efforts…
— Senator Brent Taylor (@SenBrentTaylor) October 25, 2025
In remarks made to WSMV 4, Taylor said that his bill would hold prosecutors accountable for their actions without interfering with the principle of prosecutorial discretion.
“Anytime a charge from Operation Viper or the Memphis Safe Task Force is downgraded, or the charges are dropped, or otherwise not prosecuted, the DA will have to certify in writing to the US Attorney and to the legislators why those charges are not being pursued,” he told the outlet. “We’re not tampering with that discretion, but we are going to hold him accountable based on what he puts in that certification.”
Taylor’s legislation was not yet available on the Tennessee General Assembly website at press time, but he recently shared statistics about prosecutions in Memphis and Shelby County while speaking before the U.S. Senate.
“In 2024, Memphis reported 111,000 crimes but only 19,000 arrests with 56 percent of cases dismissed,” said Taylor in his opening statement. “Without action, Memphis risks losing its middle class, leaving only the extremely poor and the wealthy who can afford private security.”
The state lawmaker previously pursued disqualification charges against Mulroy, in part due to his alleged “prosecution based on race,” as well as his interest in restorative justice.
A City of Memphis data dashboard shows 1,634 arrests have been made since the task force deployed on September 30, including 705 for felonies and 927 for misdemeanors. The website additionally shows 243 arrests for warrants involving violent crimes.
Compared to October 2024, the task force’s deployment has coincided with a 46.6 percent drop in reports of serious crimes, including a 35.7 percent drop in murders, 46.7 percent drop in aggravated assaults, 53.7 percent drop in sexual assaults, and 70.8 percent drop in motor vehicle thefts.
The city also reported a 19.2 percent drop in total calls for police service, down from nearly 70,000 in 2024 to about 56,000 in 2025.
President Donald Trump recently praised federal authorities for their work in the Home of the Blues.
“It was very sick city. It was horrible what happened there,” said Trump last week. “People would go from, if you’re on the board of FedEx, they would ride you one block to the hotel. They said you couldn’t walk it because it was too dangerous. And they’re already feeling better about it.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tennessee National Guard Members” by Tennessee National Guard.
