The Redemption Project Newsroom: Season 3: Systems Explained

Does Knoxville Make a Profit?

The Redemption Project — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:30:17 GMT

The Redemption Project Newsroom
Systems Explained Desk

A business earns a profit.

A city does not.

When residents ask whether Knoxville “made money” or whether the city is “profitable,” they are usually asking a different question: Is the city financially healthy? Can it pay its bills, maintain roads and public facilities, provide services and prepare for unexpected challenges?

Those are the questions municipal financial reports are designed to answer.

Cities do not operate like companies. They do not exist to generate earnings for owners or shareholders. They exist to provide public services using taxpayer revenue, fees, grants, investments and other resources.

The more useful question is not whether Knoxville turned a profit.

It is whether Knoxville’s financial position allows the city to operate effectively today while preparing for future obligations.

Knoxville’s latest audited financial report provides a complicated answer.

The city’s overall financial position improved during fiscal year 2025. At the same time, some of its most flexible operating reserves declined.

Both statements can be true.

Understanding why requires understanding how governments measure money

What is net position?

Systems Explained:
Government accounting uses a measurement called net position.

The basic formula is:

Assets + deferred outflows - liabilities - deferred inflows = net position.

Think of net position as a government-wide financial snapshot. It measures the difference between what the city owns and what it owes.

Knoxville’s primary government reported a net position of approximately $1.008 billion at the end of fiscal year 2025, an increase of about $42.6 million.

That does not mean Knoxville had an additional $42.6 million sitting in a bank account.

The number includes long-term assets such as roads, buildings and equipment, along with long-term obligations such as debt and pension liabilities.

A city can improve its overall financial position because it owns valuable infrastructure or because accounting measurements change, without having a similar increase in available cash.

The same report showed approximately $554 million of Knoxville’s net position was invested in capital assets.

Those assets matter. They include the roads residents drive on, buildings employees work in and facilities the public uses.

But they are not emergency reserves.

They cannot simply be transferred into a checking account to cover next year’s expenses.

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The operating picture is different

The General Fund is closer to what most residents think about when discussing daily government operations.

It pays for core services such as public safety, general government operations and other recurring expenses.

Knoxville’s General Fund balance declined in fiscal year 2025.

The total General Fund balance fell to approximately $140.5 million, a decrease of about $21.6 million.

The unassigned General Fund balance — the portion with the fewest restrictions — fell to approximately $35.3 million.

That number matters because unassigned funds provide flexibility. They help governments respond to emergencies, unexpected expenses, economic downturns or revenue changes.

However, the decline does not mean the city was financially unstable.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s fiscal metrics for FY2025 classified Knoxville’s General Fund cash and debt positions as “No Concern.”

The state counted approximately $116.4 million in General Fund cash and investments, representing about 148 days of expenditures.

That creates an important distinction.

Liquidity is not the same thing as unrestricted spending capacity.

A city can have significant resources while still needing to carefully manage where those resources go.

Where Knoxville spends money

Knoxville’s largest governmental expense category was public safety.

The city reported approximately $160 million in public safety expenses, accounting for nearly half of governmental activity expenses.

Other major categories included:

Physical environment.
General government.
Transportation.
Economic development.
Parks and recreation.
Health and sanitation.

This is where municipal budgeting differs from household budgeting.

A family may delay replacing a vehicle or repairing a roof.

A city cannot indefinitely delay maintaining infrastructure without consequences.

Roads deteriorate.

Buildings age.

Stormwater systems require repairs.

Public facilities require maintenance.

The cost of postponing those decisions often appears later, when repairs become more expensive.

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The infrastructure question

One of the most important financial questions facing cities is not only:

“How much money do we have?”

It is:

“What condition are the things we own?”

Knoxville, like many growing communities, faces long-term decisions involving infrastructure needs, including stormwater systems, aging facilities, sidewalks and public amenities.

That creates a common government challenge.

A city can have a positive financial position and still face difficult choices about replacing and maintaining aging infrastructure.

The money may exist.

The need exists.

The question is timing.

The audit findings

The FY2025 audit also identified another issue residents should pay attention to:

Internal controls.

Auditors issued an unmodified opinion on Knoxville’s financial statements, meaning the statements were fairly presented under accounting standards.

But auditors also identified three material weaknesses:

Cash reconciliation errors.
Failures to verify grant eligibility.
Management override of procurement controls.

Those findings do not mean the city is corrupt.

They mean auditors identified weaknesses in processes designed to prevent errors, improve accountability and ensure financial controls are working as intended.

That distinction matters.

A healthy government is not one where mistakes never occur.

A healthy government is one where problems are identified, corrected and used to improve the system.

So, is Knoxville financially healthy?

The answer depends on what is measured.

If the question is overall financial position, Knoxville improved.

If the question is flexible General Fund reserves, Knoxville experienced a decline.

If the question is debt and cash position, state metrics found no concern.

If the question is infrastructure needs, the city faces long-term challenges.

If the question is internal controls, the audit identified areas requiring improvement.

Government finance is rarely one number.

It is a system.

The most important question is not whether Knoxville “made a profit.”

The question is whether Knoxville is managing public resources in a way that allows residents to receive services today while protecting the city’s ability to meet tomorrow’s obligations.

That is the real financial test.

Every Search Was Logged. Officers Still Used Plate Readers to Track Romantic Partners

The Redemption Project — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:30:21 GMT

by Brandon Burley

The Redemption Project Newsroom

The car had been checked for a GPS tracker.

Nothing was found.

But according to a 2024 arrest affidavit, a Shelby County sheriff’s deputy still appeared to know where his former wife was going.

At one point, she received a message asking, “Where are you going?”

Investigators eventually found another possible explanation.

An audit showed that Deputy Thadius Gordon had searched the same Tennessee license plate approximately 20 times in four days and more than 100 times overall using a law-enforcement database, according to Action News 5. Gordon was charged with stalking and harassment and relieved of duty with pay. His attorney disputed the allegations and said the full circumstances had not been presented.

The database did not prevent the alleged conduct.

It documented it.

That distinction sits at the center of the second article in this series.

As the first article explained, automated license plate readers can turn individual roadside observations into a searchable history of where and when a vehicle was seen.

That history can help locate stolen vehicles, identify a suspect car or find a missing person.

It also can be searched by someone who already knows the plate number for reasons that have nothing to do with a criminal investigation.

At least 22 reported cases

The Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm challenging automated license plate reader networks in several cities, has identified at least 22 reported cases in which officers allegedly used license plate reader data to monitor current partners, former partners, suspected romantic rivals or other people in whom they had a romantic interest.

The organization’s article was updated July 13, 2026.

Most of the reported incidents occurred since 2024. Nearly all of the officers were criminally charged and lost their jobs through termination or resignation, according to the organization’s review.

Only a few of the cases were initially discovered through internal investigations.

Most reportedly came to light after the person being monitored complained about the officer’s behavior.

Twenty-two is a serious number.

It also needs to be described precisely.

The count is not limited to Flock Safety. It includes Flock and other automated license plate reader systems.

It is not a count of every kind of license plate reader misuse. It excludes cases involving searches for political, immigration or other personal purposes when no romantic interest was documented. It also excludes misconduct that was never reported publicly, never detected or resolved internally without a public record.

Twenty-two is therefore not the total.

It is the documented floor for one specific category of reported abuse.

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The pattern is difficult to dismiss

The cases span officers, deputies, detectives, police chiefs and at least one elected sheriff.

The alleged search counts are not generally limited to one curious or mistaken lookup.

Lithium batteries changed the fire. The insurance system is still catching up.

The Redemption Project — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:30:12 GMT

by Brandon Burley
The Redemption Project Newsroom
Systems Explained Desk

The firefighters have left.

The flames are out.

The homeowner is standing in front of a damaged house trying to answer the next question:

What happens now?

For generations, fire claims followed a familiar pattern. A fire damaged a home. An insurer evaluated the loss. Contractors repaired the structure. Families rebuilt.

Lithium-ion batteries are changing that process.

The technology is now part of everyday life. Lithium batteries power phones, laptops, power tools, electric vehicles, e-bikes, home energy-storage systems and other devices that have moved from specialized equipment into ordinary households.

The insurance question is becoming more complicated.

It is not simply:

“Will insurance cover a battery fire?”

The better question is:

“What caused the loss, how was the equipment used, and what does a safe recovery require?”

That distinction matters.

A policy may respond to physical fire damage while the larger dispute involves cleanup standards, damaged systems, contamination concerns or specialized restoration.

The battery changed.

The recovery process changed with it.

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Why lithium-ion fires are different

Most people think of a fire as one event.

A flame starts.

Firefighters respond.

Damage is assessed.

Cleanup begins.

Lithium-ion battery incidents can involve additional complications.

Systems Explained: What is thermal runaway?

Thermal runaway occurs when a battery cell enters a cycle of increasing heat generation. That heat can damage surrounding cells and create a rapid escalation that may produce fire, smoke, gases or repeated ignition.

It does not mean every lithium-ion battery is unsafe.

Millions of lithium-powered devices operate safely every day.

Risk increases when batteries are damaged, improperly charged, modified or used outside manufacturer guidance.

That is why insurers are generally focused less on the existence of a lithium battery and more on how it was used.

A homeowner charging a phone, laptop or manufacturer-approved electric vehicle is a different risk than someone modifying battery packs, storing large quantities of batteries or operating a commercial activity inside a residence.

The technology matters.

The use matters more.

The insurance question is changing

When an insurer evaluates a battery-related loss, the investigation may include questions such as:

Was the correct charger used?

Was the battery modified?

Was the equipment damaged before the fire?

Was it installed correctly?

Was it used according to manufacturer instructions?

Was the equipment being used for its intended purpose?

Those questions do not automatically determine whether a claim is covered.

They help determine the circumstances of the loss and whether the damage falls within the policy terms.

The same principle applies to many insurance claims.

The cause of the loss often matters as much as the loss itself.

The bigger question may be rebuilding

The most important insurance question may not be whether a fire occurred.

It may be what recovery requires afterward.

A traditional house fire may involve:

Burn damage.
Smoke damage.
Water damage.
Structural repairs.

A lithium-ion battery fire may raise additional questions:

Smoke and residue cleanup.
Damaged electrical systems.
HVAC concerns.
Battery disposal.
Additional testing.
Specialized remediation.

Systems Explained: Fire damage versus remediation

Coverage and cleanup are related, but they are not always the same question.

A homeowner may have coverage for fire damage while insurers, contractors and specialists determine what materials must be removed, replaced or professionally cleaned before the property can safely return to normal use.

That may become the next major area of insurance disputes.

Not whether a battery fire happened.

But whether the recovery process is different from a traditional fire claim.

Insurance systems are adapting

Public consumer information from major insurers reviewed by TRP shows the industry is focusing less on broad lithium-ion exclusions and more on underwriting, installation, documentation and risk factors.

Questions increasingly center on:

Does the homeowner have an electric vehicle charger?

Was it professionally installed?

Does the home contain energy-storage equipment?

Was equipment modified?

Does the activity represent normal residential use or a higher-risk commercial activity?

Those questions are likely to become more common as households adopt more battery-powered technology.

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Tennessee’s next questions

Tennessee is becoming part of the battery economy.

The state has growing electric-vehicle manufacturing, battery-related investment, energy infrastructure and residential electrification.

That creates questions for homeowners, insurers and regulators.

Are carriers changing underwriting guidelines?

Are homeowners expected to disclose EV chargers or energy-storage systems?

Are premiums changing?

Are claims involving lithium batteries increasing?

Are consumers experiencing disputes over coverage or remediation?

Those questions will become more important as the technology becomes more common.

At this point, the available evidence does not show a statewide lithium-ion insurance crisis.

It shows a system adapting.

What homeowners should do now

Homeowners do not need to panic because they own lithium-powered devices.

But they should understand their equipment and their insurance policy.

Basic precautions include:

Use manufacturer-approved chargers.
Do not use damaged or swollen batteries.
Follow installation requirements.
Avoid unauthorized modifications.
Store batteries according to manufacturer guidance.
Keep receipts, manuals and installation records for expensive equipment.

For larger systems, such as electric-vehicle chargers, solar batteries or home energy-storage systems, homeowners should consider contacting their insurer before installation.

The better question is not:

“Does my insurance cover batteries?”

The better question is:

“Does my insurance company understand the technology now inside my home?”

Lithium-ion technology arrived quickly.

Insurance systems move differently.

Policies, underwriting standards, claims procedures and restoration practices develop over time as new risks become common.

The current evidence does not show that homeowners insurers are abandoning lithium-ion battery coverage.

The larger question is whether insurance systems can keep pace with technology that has already become ordinary.

The battery changed.

The fire changed.

Now the insurance system has to change with them.

Police Have Always Seen Cars. Flock Lets Them Search Where Those Cars Have Been

The Redemption Project — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:30:32 GMT

by Brandon Burley

The Redemption Project Newsroom

A license plate is visible in public.

A searchable history of when and where a vehicle was seen raises a different question.

A police officer sitting beside a roadway has always been able to see a passing car, read its license plate and remember where it was headed.

That observation was limited by ordinary human constraints. The officer had to be there. The officer had to notice the vehicle. Unless something caused the information to be written down, the moment eventually disappeared.

Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers change that equation.

The camera does not simply see the vehicle. It creates a searchable record of the observation: the plate, the time, the location and visible characteristics of the vehicle. Those characteristics may include make, model, color, body type, damage, decals, roof racks or even the absence of a readable plate. Flock describes its product as searchable vehicle evidence, not ordinary video footage.

That distinction matters.

Police have always been able to observe vehicles traveling on public roads. What is new is that the observation no longer has to disappear when the officer looks away.

What a Flock camera does

This article focuses on Flock’s license plate reader system, commonly associated with its Falcon cameras. Flock also sells video cameras, gunshot-detection equipment, drones and other public-safety products. Those systems raise additional questions, but they should not be casually blended together.

A license plate reader is not the same as a general-purpose video camera.

When a vehicle passes a Flock license plate reader, the system captures an image and converts portions of that image into searchable data. An authorized user can search by a complete or partial plate number, but searches are not limited to a known full plate. Flock advertises search capabilities tied to vehicle type, color, make, model, time window, location and distinguishing features.

The system can also compare passing vehicles against law-enforcement hot lists. If a plate associated with a stolen vehicle, wanted person or missing or endangered person passes a camera, an alert can be sent to officers.

That alert is an investigative lead.

Officers still need to verify the plate, the alert status and the surrounding circumstances before taking enforcement action.

For investigators, the attraction is easy to understand.

A detective investigating a robbery may begin with a vague description: a dark SUV with a damaged rear bumper that entered the area shortly before the crime and left minutes later. Traditionally, the detective might spend hours collecting footage from homes, businesses and traffic systems. A searchable license plate reader network can narrow that work considerably.

It can help locate a stolen car, identify vehicles that repeatedly appeared near a series of crimes, find a missing person or corroborate whether a suspect vehicle was near a particular location.

Those are real investigative benefits. Pretending otherwise does not strengthen the privacy argument. It weakens it.

The better question is not whether the technology can help solve crimes.

It can.

The better question is what additional power is created when those observations are stored, searchable and shared.

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This is not just another traffic camera

A traffic-management camera usually watches a roadway or intersection so transportation officials can monitor congestion, crashes or road conditions. A real-time crime center may pull nearby camera feeds because a shooting, robbery or other event is happening now.

Systems Explained: Tennessee’s Fair Rx fight moves from the legislature to federal court

The Redemption Project — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:30:09 GMT

By The Redemption Project Newsroom
Civic / Government Desk

Tennessee’s fight over pharmacy benefit managers has moved from the legislature to federal court.

At the center of the dispute is the Fair Rx Act, a new Tennessee law aimed at separating pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, from the pharmacies they own or control.

Supporters say the law is need…

Systems Explained: How TDOT’s interstate studies shape Tennessee’s future before roads are built

The Redemption Project — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:30:03 GMT

By The Redemption Project Newsroom
Civic / Government Desk

Is this your thoughts about TDOT? You’re not alone.

TDOT’s public meetings on the I-40/I-75 corridor west of Knoxville are not just about traffic.

They are about how major road projects become real.

Before a bypass is built, before a new lane is added, before a bridge is replaced and before property…

What Old Books Still Teach My Students: Why Democracies Rarely Change All at Once

The Redemption Project — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 20:00:36 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

One line from a 1941 book has stayed with me this week:

“We are only at the beginning…”

The line comes from The Redemption of Democracy by Hermann Rauschning, written during a time when democracy itself felt uncertain across much of the world.

Tennessee’s Budget, Explained: What the budget record shows on education

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:02:48 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Education is one of the easiest budget categories to talk about broadly and one of the easiest to misunderstand.

When people hear Tennessee put money into education, the natural question is, “How much?”

A better first question is, “Which part of education?”

Education is not one line in the state budget. It includes Tennessee’s K-12 funding formula, summer learning, teacher-related costs, school choice, charter school facilities, higher education, campus buildings and other education-related programs.

Those items may all fall under the same general label. They do not all do the same thing.

Tennessee’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget document separates education into several areas, including K-12 education, higher education state-administered programs, the University of Tennessee system, state universities and community colleges, and individual higher education institutions. The table of contents places education in its own section, then breaks it into smaller parts.

That is the first lesson for readers.

The word “education” is too broad to explain what the budget actually funds

Paid subscribers receive early access to every article because their support helps make this work possible. That said, I believe civic knowledge should remain accessible, so this article will unlock for all readers in 24 hours. If you’d like immediate access — and want to support independent, systems-focused journalism — consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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Why People Get Frustrated With Government

The Redemption Project — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:49 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

What the Overton poll shows, and what it does not

The Redemption Project — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:01:14 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Tennessee’s Budget, Explained: How to Read the Money

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:03:42 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

A state budget can look like one large number.

That is usually how people hear about it. Tennessee passed a budget worth a certain number of billions. Education received this much. Roads received that much. Health care received another amount.

But that is not really how a budget works.

Tennessee’s budget is not one pile of money sitting in Nashville waiting to be divided up. It is a legal spending plan built from different funding sources, categories, timelines and restrictions.

Some money is controlled by the state. Some comes from the federal government. Some is recurring. Some is one-time. Some pays for daily operations. Some pays for construction. Some is transferred into reserves. Some is tied to specific programs.

That is why the headline number is never enough.

The budget bill for this cycle is SB 2690/HB 2631. According to the Tennessee General Assembly’s bill page, the appropriations act covers expenses for state government for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026. It includes state operations, aid, obligations, capital outlay, debt service, emergency and contingency spending, and restrictions on how appropriations may be obligated and spent.

That description is broad because the budget itself is broad.

It covers more than the programs people usually argue about. It funds the basic operation of state government. It supports departments, agencies and public institutions. It pays certain state obligations. It provides money for buildings, repairs and infrastructure. It authorizes debt service. It includes contingency authority. It also places legal boundaries around how public money can be used.

So when someone says, “The budget spends money on education,” that may be true, but it is not specific enough.

Does that mean the school funding formula? Teacher pay? Summer learning? School choice? Charter facilities? Higher education? College buildings? Capital maintenance?

Those are all education-related. They are not the same thing.

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Favorability numbers can hide more than they reveal

The Redemption Project — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 11:02:34 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Favorability numbers look simple.

Favorable.

Unfavorable.

Never heard of them.

Heard of them, but no opinion.

Four boxes. One table. Easy headline.

But public opinion is rarely that clean.

A new national registered-voter poll from Overton Insights asked voters about several public figures, including Candace Owens, Spencer Pratt, Erika Kirk, Ben Shapiro, Hasan Piker, Graham Platner and James Fishback.

The results are useful.

They are also a reminder that favorability numbers can hide as much as they reveal.

A public figure can be well-known and disliked.

Another can be unknown to most voters.

Another can be popular with one group and deeply unpopular with another.

Another can look similar in the topline while having a completely different coalition underneath.

Favorability is not a scoreboard.

It is a map of familiarity, emotion and political identity

Favorability is not the same as popularity

A Vote Is More Than Expression

The Redemption Project — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:01:17 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

How to read polls without getting pulled into the spin

The Redemption Project — Fri, 29 May 2026 15:30:59 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

A new national poll from Overton Insights offers a useful look at how registered voters are thinking about politics, public policy, household pressure and several major issues shaping public debate.

But before anyone turns the numbers into a campaign slogan, social media argument or political prophecy, it is worth slowing down.

A poll is not an election result.

It is not a prediction.

It is not a substitute for context.

At its best, a poll is a snapshot in time. It tells us how a sampled group of people answered specific questions during a specific period, using a specific method.

That makes polling useful.

It also gives polling limits.

The Overton Insights national poll was conducted May 16-20 among 1,377 registered voters across the United States. The poll reports a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. Respondents were recruited through peer-to-peer text-message invitations from a voter-file sample of registered voters with available cellphone numbers. The survey was completed online, in English, and the results were weighted by gender, age, education and race to reflect the registered-voter population.

Methodology is not the boring part.

It is the instruction manual.

It tells readers what the poll is trying to measure, how the data was collected and where caution is needed.

During an interview with The Redemption Project, Mark Cunningham, director of polling for Overton Insights and original founder of the Beacon Poll, described a poll in plain English: a snapshot in time. It is not predictive. It does not tell readers what will happen months or years from now. It tells readers how respondents answered when the poll was taken.

That idea should guide this entire series.

A poll should not tell citizens what to think. It should help them ask better questions.

Over the next several days, this series will walk through findings from the Overton poll on gas prices, 2028 presidential politics, teachers’ unions, sports betting, data centers, artificial intelligence, public spending, political favorability, primary participation, political violence, the military draft and public trust.

The goal is not to declare winners and losers from one poll.

The goal is to help readers understand what the numbers show, what they do not show and how polling can be useful without being overread.

Start with the question

Before reacting to a poll result, the first thing to read is not the headline.

It is the question.

Polls do not measure vague public feelings floating in the air. They measure responses to exact wording. Change the wording, and the result may change too.

For example, the Overton poll asked whether respondents support or oppose tax dollars going to public university athletic departments. That is not the same as asking whether people like college sports. It is not the same as asking whether they support student athletes. It is not the same as asking whether public universities should receive more education funding.

Those subjects are related.

They are not the same question.

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Gas prices are not just an economic issue. They are a political signal.

The Redemption Project — Fri, 29 May 2026 05:45:59 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Gas prices are one of the clearest examples of how public opinion forms around daily life.

Most voters do not experience the economy through a spreadsheet.

They experience it at the pump, at the grocery store, in the family budget and in the quiet mental math that happens before a purchase.

That is why gas prices can become politically powerful even when the policy chain behind them is complicated.

A new national registered-voter poll from Overton Insights shows that recent changes in gas prices are not just being noticed. They are affecting household behavior.

Overall, 47% of respondents said recent changes in gas prices have significantly affected their regular spending habits. Another 19% said gas prices have moderately affected their spending

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How to read attacks, scandals and campaign noise in the Tennessee governor’s race

The Redemption Project — Thu, 28 May 2026 11:01:59 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Every governor’s race eventually reaches the same point.

The policy arguments keep going, but the campaign noise gets louder. Candidates get labels. Opponents test attacks. Supporters repeat phrases until they sound like facts. A complaint becomes a scandal in one post and a nothingburger in another. A legitimate question becomes a smear. A smear gets dressed up as public accountability.

That is where voters have to slow down.

Public controversy is not one thing. A corruption conviction is not the same as a campaign finance complaint. A complaint is not the same as a finding. A dismissed complaint is not the same as a full public audit. A campaign insult is not evidence. A nickname is not a record. And a candidate’s ideology, even if controversial, is not the same thing as misconduct.

That distinction matters in the 2026 Tennessee governor’s race because several narratives are already forming around the candidates. Some deserve real attention. Some require more evidence. Some are ordinary campaign combat. Some are just political shorthand meant to make voters react before they think.

The job of voters is not to ignore controversy. It is to classify it correctly.

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What Tennessee’s proposed constitutional amendment on bail would actually change

The Redemption Project — Tue, 26 May 2026 15:02:16 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

This is a long one, so grab a cup of coffee before you start

A defendant is arrested in Tennessee on a serious criminal charge. Early in the process, a judge or magistrate may have to decide whether that person waits for trial in jail or is released before trial under conditions set by the court.

Many Tennesseans likely assume judges already have broad authority to deny bail in serious cases.

Constitutionally, that is not always true.

In November 2026, Tennessee voters are expected to consider a proposed constitutional amendment that would expand the circumstances in which judges can deny bail before trial. The resolution itself states the proposed amendment is to be submitted to voters at the November 2026 general election, the next general election in which a governor is to be chosen (Tennessee General Assembly, 2025).

Supporters argue the amendment would strengthen public safety protections in serious cases. Critics warn it could expand government detention authority before conviction in ways that deserve careful scrutiny. The Associated Press described the proposal as giving judges “more latitude” to hold someone without bail before trial for certain violent criminal charges, while also noting criticism from advocates who argued it would undermine constitutional rights without solving broader crime problems (Mattise, 2024).

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But before voters decide whether they support or oppose the amendment, the first question is simpler:

What would actually change?

How I’m comparing candidates who have never held the same office

The Redemption Project — Mon, 25 May 2026 11:02:52 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Comparing candidates is simple when they have held the same office, voted on the same bills and governed under the same conditions.

That is not the race Tennessee has.

The 2026 governor’s race includes candidates who have served in different levels of government, and some who have not held comparable legislative office at all. That makes comparison harder, but not impossible. It simply means the standards have to be clear before conclusions are drawn.

A U.S. senator does not vote on the same legislation as a state representative. A member of Congress does not vote on the same bills as a city council member. A candidate without legislative service may still have a public platform, professional record or policy proposals, but those are not the same thing as recorded votes.

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So this voter guide is built around one principle: compare the closest available public record, but label the evidence honestly.

A roll-call vote will be identified as a vote. A sponsored bill will be identified as sponsorship. A campaign statement will be identified as a statement. A public platform will be identified as a platform. If no comparable record exists, the guide will say that instead of pretending otherwise.

A vote shows what a candidate did when legislation came before them. It does not always tell the entire story, because bills can be broad, amended, bundled or procedural. But a vote is still an official act.

A bill sponsorship shows what a candidate chose to publicly support. Sponsorship is not the same as passage, but it is stronger evidence than a general campaign promise.

Why Fast Certainty Wins (Even When It Shouldn’t)

The Redemption Project — Sat, 23 May 2026 12:03:11 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

A candidate can represent your district without living in it. Voters should understand why.

The Redemption Project — Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:55 GMT

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project

Redistricting does more than move lines on a map. It changes who gets to claim a community, who voters believe belongs there and who has to explain why they should be trusted to represent it.

Tennessee voters are about to hear a lot about that.

Some of it will be legal. Some of it will be political. Some of it will be emotional. In the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, it may be all three at once.

That is why one basic civic question matters: Does a candidate have to live in the district they are running to represent?

The answer depends on the office.

For the Tennessee General Assembly, district residency is part of the rule. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office lists state House candidates as needing to be at least 21, to have been a citizen of Tennessee for three years, to have lived in the county represented for one year immediately before the election and to be a qualified voter of the legislative district by Election Day. State Senate candidates face similar requirements, though the age requirement is 30 and the Tennessee Constitution refers to residence in the county or district represented for one year immediately before the election.

In plain English, if you want to serve in the Tennessee House or Tennessee Senate, district residency is not just a campaign talking point. It is tied to legal qualification.

Congress is different.