This week, I filed suit challenging two new state laws targeting the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and our work involving the federal Memphis Safe Task Force.
Let me be clear: this lawsuit is not about avoiding transparency. My administration has consistently prioritized transparency and accountability, and our office — like every District Attorney’s Office in Tennessee — already provides case reporting data to the state as required under Tennessee law. The public deserves openness and honesty about how the justice system operates.
This lawsuit is about protecting the independence of locally elected prosecutors and preventing unnecessary political interference in the fair administration of justice. These laws single out Shelby County alone, impose duplicative reporting requirements, and create additional bureaucracy for information the state already receives. Unfortunately, that means staff time and resources are pulled away from the real work of prosecuting violent crime, supporting victims, and improving public safety.
More importantly, one of the challenged laws says that the unelected Attorney General can ask the unelected, statewide Supreme Court to appoint a “pro tem” DA to take federal task force case prosecutions away from the locally elected DA — basically creating an unelected shadow DA and take away thousands of cases from the elected DA. This goes against more than a century of Tennessee Supreme Court precedent, which says that under our Constitution, only local voters get to decide who prosecutes local cases. And if a DA becomes unavailable for some reason, it is a locally elected judge [does the pro tem appointment].
I also want the public to know that this litigation is being handled entirely on a pro bono basis. No taxpayer dollars are being used to pay outside counsel in this matter.
At the end of the day, this is about fairness, constitutional principles, and making sure public safety decisions remain focused on what is best for the people of Shelby County — not politics.
Defendant Pleads Guilty Mid-Trial to Second-Degree Murder in East Memphis Shooting: Chief Prosecutor Monica Timmerman and Assistant District Attorney Jack Gould successfully handled the case of Deleon Pierce, who pleaded guilty on May 22 to Second-Degree Murder in the fatal shooting of Joshua Jenkins. Pierce will be sentenced at a later date.
Timmerman and Gould resolved the homicide case following presentation of the State’s proof.
The case stems from a June 2020 altercation in East Memphis in which prosecutors proved Jenkins was shot during a large fight involving approximately 15 people. When officers arrived, they found Jenkins unresponsive with a gunshot wound and transported him to Regional One Health, where he later died. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage showing Pierce shooting Jenkins while he was engaged in a physical altercation with two other individuals.
Chief Prosecutor Monica Timmerman & ADA Jack Gould handled the case.
 (Pictured L-R): Chief Administrative Officer Jessica Indingaro, DA Mulroy, and Assistant District Attorney Tracye Jones.
This week in Washington, D.C., DA Steve Mulroy joined Chief Administrative Officer Jessica Indingaro and Assistant District Attorney Tracye Jones as they were admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
DA Mulroy, who was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar several years ago, also sponsored several fellow District Attorneys from other jurisdictions for admission this year.
 DA Mulroy pictured with several of his fellow District Attorneys from jurisdictions across the country, whom he sponsored for membership in the Supreme Court Bar of the United States.
Victim/Witness Coordinators Participate in Crime Victim Law Conference in Oregon
 (Pictured L-R): Victim/Witness Coordinators Dr. Natasha Burnett, Jacqueline Chacon, Anastasia Bodan, and Brianna Poole.
Victim/Witness Coordinators Dr. Natasha Burnett, Jacqueline Chacon, Anastasia Bodan, and Brianna Poole recently attended the Crime Victim Law Conference in Portland, Oregon. The two-day conference featured plenary and breakout sessions focused on a wide range of victims’ rights issues across different populations and types of crime.
While designed primarily for an attorney audience, the conference also welcomed advocates and allied professionals, providing valuable training and insight to support ongoing victim services work in Shelby County.
“These bills target Shelby County unfairly and infringe on the rights of Shelby County voters,” Mulroy said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “Our constitution and decades of state Supreme Court precedent make clear that a locally elected DA has wide discretion in how to handle cases, free from interference and only a locally elected judge can appoint a replacement DA if the elected DA becomes unavailable.” |DA sues over state laws requiring Task Force reports| via The Daily Memphian
"I’ve been interested in data sharing among criminal justice agencies since my Crime Summit in late 2023. We have to break down silos, build systems that can communicate with one another, and report consistent, uniform metrics that the public can easily understand. I have great faith that the UofM’s CCRE, a trusted and reliable resource, will be able to facilitate that." -Steve Mulroy, Shelby County District Attorney |U of M to open new research unit to evaluate crime data| via WMC 5
According to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Deleon Pierce pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to second-degree murder in the shooting death of 31-year-old Joshua Jenkins, who was shot after being involved in a fight with several men in June 2020. Surveillance video showed Pierce shooting Jenkins during a fight. |Shelby County DA releases body cam video of 'No Kings' pepper-spraying| via The Commercial Appeal
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