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Shelby County

Shelby County

Shelby County coverage in one place: the 13-member Board of Commissioners that sets the county budget, plus the Sheriff's Office, the jail at 201 Poplar, the courts, the District Attorney, and the county-wide services that touch every ZIP code. Every Commission vote is put on the record.

MLGW

MLGW's Grid Is Getting Better. For 17 Percent of Customers, It Is Getting Worse.

Outages are falling across Memphis, and that is real. But 17 percent of customers still lose power three or more times a year, and that number is rising. Everyone paid the same rate increase.

The 901 Report

Shelby County Sheriff

The County Has Approved More Than $58 Million for the Jail Since 2024. In June, the Air Conditioning Failed Anyway.

Temperatures hit 92 degrees at 201 Poplar. Fourteen detainees needed medical attention, one was hospitalized, and five kitchen workers overheated. Staff called the conditions "inhumane and cruel."

The 901 Report

Shelby County

About 700 Shelby County Absentee Ballots Went Out Missing Races. Early Voting Starts Friday.

A "processing omission" left four of six special judicial races, and a county charter referendum, off ballots already mailed. Replacement ballots are due Wednesday. Check yours.

The 901 Report

MSCS

State Forensic Audit Finds Years of Governance and Contracting Failures at Memphis-Shelby County Schools

The Tennessee Comptroller's four-volume review flagged about $54.2 million in transactions the auditors called consistent with potential fraud, waste, or abuse, most of it in procurement, and made 133 recommendations. It is an accountability review, not a criminal case, and no one has been charged.

The 901 Report

Shelby County

Shelby County Commission Heads to June 29 Vote on Budget and Tax Rate

Commissioners delayed final votes on the county's operating and capital budgets to June 29, a meeting that will also decide the property tax rate. One commissioner has proposed raising the rate by 6 cents.

The 901 Report

MSCS

MSCS Sues Tennessee to Stop School Takeover Board Before July 1

Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the Shelby County Commission, and all nine elected board members filed a federal lawsuit on June 19 seeking to block the state-appointed oversight board from taking control of the district on July 1.

The 901 Report

MLGW

MLGW: Who Governs Your Utility, When They Meet, and the Money You Are Now Paying

As The 901 Report opens its MLGW beat, here is how the city-owned utility is governed, when its board meets in public, and where the rate increase now on every bill is supposed to go.

The 901 Report

Shelby County Sheriff

Bonner's Budget Fight and the Jail Question Head Into the June 29 County Vote

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is one of the largest pieces of the county budget the Commission votes on June 29. Sheriff Floyd Bonner has said the county shortchanged his office, even as the aging jail at 201 Poplar faces serious scrutiny.

The 901 Report

Shelby County

Court Clerk Tami Sawyer Suspended 30 Days Following Federal Indictment

Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk Tami Sawyer was suspended for 30 days beginning June 17, days after a six-count federal indictment accused her of embezzling about $44,600 in public funds. She has pleaded not guilty.

The 901 Report

Shelby County

Court Clerk Tami Sawyer Turns Herself In on Sealed Federal Indictment

Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk Tami Sawyer surrendered to federal custody Monday morning, according to Action News 5. The indictment is sealed, and the specific charges have not been made public.

The 901 Report

Shelby County

Mulroy sues Tennessee, blocks two Shelby County laws May 26

Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy filed an emergency lawsuit today to block two new state laws targeting the county's criminal justice system. The fight now centers on who controls local prosecutions and court oversight in Shelby County.

The 901 Report

MSCS

Lee's voucher plan threatens Memphis school dollars

Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act is now a live fight for Memphis families, and the real stakes are who gets paid first when state dollars move. MSCS and Shelby County voters need the receipts, not the slogans.

The 901 Report

MSCS

Lee signs MSCS takeover law, hands 9 GOP appointees control

Gov. Bill Lee just turned Memphis schools over to a nine-member state board of Republican appointees. That means Shelby County’s largest district is entering a new power structure - and families need to know who will be held accountable when decisions land.

The 901 Report

MSCS

Gov. Lee's voucher plan shifts Memphis school dollars, impacts MSCS budget

Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act is now a live fight for Memphis families, not a talking point. The question for Shelby County is simple: who gets paid first when the state redirects education money?

The 901 Report

mscs
MSCS

MSCS proposes $1.7B budget, new board inherits cuts fight

MSCS has put a $1.7 billion budget on the table for 2026-27, and the new state-appointed board is walking into the hardest question in city schools: what gets cut, what gets protected, and who owns the fallout?

The 901 Report

mscs
MSCS

MSCS proposes $1.7B budget, state board assumes control

Memphis-Shelby County Schools has put forward a $1.7 billion budget for 2026-27 as a new state-appointed board prepares to take over. The proposal puts funding choices, staffing, and school stability back under a microscope.

The 901 Report