A bill that would change Tennessee's constitution so voters elect the state Attorney General cleared the Judiciary Committee yesterday, WPLN reports:

Beavers argues that the current system, with the state Attorney General appointed by the state Supreme Court, which is itself an appointed body, removes the attorney general from voter oversight. But Allan Ramsaur, executive director of the Tennessee Bar Association, says a popularly elected attorney general would be under pressure to raise the profile of the office. In other states, that often means investigating political corruption, which is not current job of Tennessee Attorney General. “You want the most objective advice you can get, that which is influenced the least political way… And that’s what the present system gives you. Any other system is going to compromise either that objectivity or make it more political.”