Senator Brian Kelsey takes oath of office

     (NASHVILLE, TN), December 11, 2009  -- State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) took the oath of office on Friday, December 11 in Memphis.  Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Janice Holder administered the oath as Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and the Senator’s parents, Kay Kelsey and Bob Kelsey looked on.  

     Kelsey fills the vacancy left by former Senator Paul Stanley who resigned earlier this year.  The 106th General Assembly will reconvene in Nashville on January 12 for the 2010 session. 

     "Taking the oath of office is a very humbling experience,” said Senator Kelsey.   “The citizens of Bartlett, Cordova, East Memphis, Germantown and Hickory Hill have entrusted me with representing them in Nashville.   I will work every day to earn that trust.”

Kelsey was serving his third term in the State House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate.  He will serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Government Operations Committee.

Senator Brian Kelsey takes oath of office

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Sen. Diane Black re-elected Chairman of
Senate Majority Caucus

     (NASHVILLE, TN), December 9, 2008 -- State Senator Diane Black (R-Gallatin) was unanimously re-elected by her colleagues as Chairman of the Tennessee Senate Majority Caucus.  The election took place as the Republican Caucus met in an organizational meeting of the group on Monday.

     “I am honored to be re-elected to this leadership post by my colleagues,” said Sen. Black.  “I am proud of the progress that we made during the 105th General Assembly and appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve in this leadership role for the next two years.”

     In other positions elected by the Caucus, Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) was re-elected Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesoboro) as floor leader, Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet as Treasurer, Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) as Secretary, and Senator Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) as Chaplain.

     The 106th General Assembly is set to convene on January 13.

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Rep. Maggart and Senator Black to push for violent juveniles to be placed on Sex Offender Registry in compliance with Walsh Act

 (NASHVILLE, TN), December 7, 2009 – State Representative Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville) and Senator Diane Black (R-Gallatin) will push for passage of legislation in January to place violent juvenile offenders on Tennessee’s Sex Offender Registry as required under the federal Adam Walsh Act.  The legislators introduced legislation today to place offenders between the ages of 14 and 18 years of age on the Registry.

“We are trying to protect children who are victims of this crime,” said Rep. Maggart.  “The safety of children overrides concerns regarding information being available about the juvenile who must register as a result of being convicted of this violent crime.  We are talking about rape, aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery, rape of a child and aggravated rape of a child.  These are serious adult crimes committed by a juvenile that most commonly occur with very young victims who must be protected.”

The adoption of this legislation would put Tennessee into compliance with the requirements for juveniles to be placed on state’s Sex Offender Registries under the Adam Walsh Act which was scheduled to go into effect in 2009.  Tennessee was awarded over $50 million in Byrne Grant funding last year, 10 percent of which could be in jeopardy unless the state adheres to these requirements.  However, in June U.S. Attorney General Anthony Holder signed a one year agreement to extend the deadline for states to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.  Only Ohio has complied with the law thus far.

“Tennessee has made very good progress at protecting children against child sexual predators, but we have still have a hurdle to overcome by placing these violent juvenile offenders age 14 and older on the Registry,” said Black. 

“Although the risk of repeating the crime is not quite as high as adult sex offenders, it still presents enough of a threat to require placing these offenders on the Registry,” she continued.  “We would like to believe that juveniles could not commit these types of horrible crimes.  However, the fact remains that they do and children must be protected.”

“When there is this threat to the community, parents should have the right to know that the perpetrator has this history of sexual violence against children,” added Maggart.  “Whether or not the perpetrator is 17 or 24 years old, child sexual offenders can be dangerous to children in the community and should be placed on the Registry as required by the Walsh Act.  Hopefully, we will pass this legislation in the 2010 legislative session.”

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