The Tennessee attorney general’s office is using more lawyers to prioritize closing civil rights cases quicker than the commission that previously administered Tennessee’s anti-discrimination laws, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told a group of lawmakers during an Aug. 19 hearing.
Skrmetti said the Civil Rights Enforcement Division, or CRED, which is housed in the attorney general’s office, has outperformed the defunct Tennessee Human Rights Commission in its first year of operation. Differences in THRC and CRED’s structures and processes make apples-to-apples comparisons difficult.
“We’ve got an attorney-driven organization that is designed to enforce the laws. It was a much more process driven operation with the Human Rights Commission,”
Skrmetti said. “I think there are going to be big differences in what you see on the back end, because they’re designed very differently.”
Republicans in the General Assembly last session dissolved the THRC, effective June 30, 2025, after 62 years in operation. Supporters said shifting the duties to the attorney general's office would cut down on inefficiencies and give civil rights enforcement more “teeth,” while opponents worried the move would weaken civil rights enforcement and subject it to partisan whims.
The Aug. 19 hearing before the General Assembly’s joint government and judiciary subcommittee was to determine whether CRED should continue operating. As expected in a “sunset hearing,” the subcommittee unanimously recommended CRED be extended for four years.
Skrmetti told the subcommittee that in the process of getting CRED running in the first year, the division brought in “more money for people who brought civil rights complaints than the Human Rights Commission had brought before.”
“So, you know, the performance is already exceeding what came before, and it’s only going to get better from here,” Skrmetti said.
In a Tennessean op-ed, Skrmetti said in its first year of operation, CRED negotiated 22 settlements for a combined $120,000 in monetary relief to people who filed complaints.
In its 2024 annual report, the most recent one found online, the THRC said it delivered $53,000 in monetary benefits through 30 settlements or conciliations.
CRED has fewer staff but more attorneys than the THRC did, according to Skrmetti and CRED Executive Director Steven Griffin, who also spoke at the Aug. 19 hearing. CRED has 13 employees, including five attorneys, while THRC had 33 employees, only one of whom was an attorney, Griffin said.
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, pressed Griffin and Skrmetti about the lower staffing numbers, considering the legislature provided funding for 30 employees. Griffin said CRED came in under budget last year and plans to hire more employees.
“We’re still calibrating exactly what the needs are going to be,” Skrmetti said. “We won’t know exactly how big it needs to be until we’ve had more time to let it grow, to make sure people know about it, and to see what it takes to get the work done right.”
A major difference between CRED and THRC is that complaints are now reviewed by a CRED attorney before an investigation begins. That attorney review is to determine “whether the facts, if true, could establish a legal claim,” Phil Buehler, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, wrote in an email. The THRC’s attorney wasn't involved in a case until later in the process, Griffin said.
The commission had been letting some cases linger without resolution for years, with at least one ongoing case dating back to 2018, he said.
“If we find that a complaint raises issues that we can’t help with, we go ahead and let them know that, rather than keeping them in limbo for months or years like what was happening before,” Griffin said. In some cases, CRED will refer complainants to better-suited agencies, such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Griffin said.
Most complaints get tossed because CRED would not have legal jurisdiction of the case, according to CRED data provided by Buehler. Of the 1,642 complaints CRED received, 1,413 were closed and 229 remain open. A formal investigation was launched into 134 complaints, and 59 of those investigations were concluded.
The THRC received 2,400 inquiries of discrimination, accepted 542 complaints and closed 296 cases in its most recent year, the 2024 report states.
Skrmetti and Griffin said CRED inherited numerous challenges from the commission, including a lack of a centralized case management system.
State Sen. Sara Kyle, D-Memphis, defended the THRC, its former executive director and employees, who were working through a backlog of cases.
“They had done an excellent job, but it was closed down before they could fully get through with all the cases,” Kyle said. “I think they turned over to you less than maybe you think that you had to work.”
All pending THRC cases were closed when the commission was dissolved, although employment discrimination complaints were transferred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. People were given a chance to refile their complaints, but “Notices to complainants about the transition often came back undeliverable,” Skrmetti wrote in his op-ed.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee civil rights office claims early success
