Tennessee Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Tennessee, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Is a Tennessee General Sessions Court with separate civil and criminal dockets and multiple judges one court or many for the clerk's pay calculation?
One court. The Tennessee AG concluded the General Sessions Court of a county is a single unified court for purposes of § 8-24-102, so the clerk does not get the 10% pay supplement reserved for clerks …
Can Tennessee require U.S. citizenship for funeral director, embalmer, polygraph, or security licenses, and does federal law allow it?
No to citizen-only requirements (preempted and unconstitutional under Equal Protection); preempted in part for citizen-or-resident-alien requirements. The Tennessee AG instructed the Department of Com…
If a Tennessee county rescinds a GO bond resolution to avoid a forced referendum, can it then use a different financing method without an election?
Yes. The Tennessee AG concluded that rescinding the GO bond resolution removes the trigger for a referendum, even if a protest petition was already filed. The county can then adopt a different financi…
When a Tennessee county adds local funding for the DA's 'office expense,' does that include big-ticket capital assets, or only small supplies?
It includes both. The Tennessee AG concluded 'office expense' in § 16-2-518 covers all authorized costs, including capital assets like equipment, that the DA's office needs to do its work, which means…
Does Tennessee's ban on hospitals employing radiologists, anesthesiologists, pathologists, and ER doctors violate those doctors' rights?
No. The Tennessee AG concluded there is no state or federal constitutional right to be employed by anyone, so the statute barring direct hospital employment of these four specialties does not violate …
Can Tennessee's Electronic Monitoring Indigency Fund pay for a DUI defendant's GPS ankle monitor?
No. The Tennessee AG concluded the Electronic Monitoring Indigency Fund covers only transdermal or other alcohol/drug-monitoring devices. GPS location monitors are governed by a separate statute, and …
Do Tennessee's political ad disclaimer rules apply to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media posts?
Yes. The Tennessee AG concluded that paid political ads on social media count as a 'communication' and a form of 'general public political advertising' under § 2-19-120, so they need the same paid-for…
Do Tennessee charter commission members have to file a charter, and what can the county do if they don't?
Yes, a Tennessee charter commission has a mandatory duty to prepare and file a proposed charter. The county legislative body can extend the nine-month deadline as many times as it wants and may have i…
Can a Tennessee event accept money from a liquor company to be the exclusive product served?
It depends. The Tennessee AG concluded that an exclusive sponsorship agreement between a licensed alcohol industry member and a licensed retailer would generally violate tied-house rules for wine and …
How much authority does Tennessee's appointed State Board of Education have over locally elected school boards?
The Tennessee AG concluded the State Board of Education sets binding policies, guidelines, and minimum standards that every local school board must follow, even though local board members are elected …
Can Tennessee create a dedicated business court, and would its judges have to be elected?
Only the Tennessee Legislature can create a business court (an inferior court), the Supreme Court may instead create a business docket, and either way the judge must be elected, not appointed.
Can a Tennessee municipal airport authority charge a fuel flowage fee, and do nonprofits have to pay it?
Yes to both. The Tennessee AG concluded a municipal airport authority may impose a per-gallon fuel flowage fee through its lease and contract authority because the fee is not a tax, and nothing in the…
Can a Tennessee district attorney hire the daughter of a deputy DA as an assistant DA if they work in different divisions?
Yes. The Tennessee AG concluded that hiring a deputy district attorney's daughter as an assistant DA does not violate the state's anti-nepotism statute when the two work in different divisions and the…
Can a Tennessee county zone or regulate large-scale concentrated animal feeding operations (factory farms) within its borders?
No. Tennessee's zoning statutes (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 13-7-101 to -119, especially § 13-7-114(a)) do not authorize counties to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) because CAFOs are a…
Could a Tennessee city like Nashville or Knoxville let 16- or 17-year-olds vote in municipal elections, and does adopting home rule change that?
The Tennessee Constitution does not prohibit voting by people under 18 in municipal elections. The state's suffrage clause, art. IV, § 1, has long been read not to apply to municipal elections (Vertre…
Does an out-of-state winery or alcoholic-beverage seller that holds a Tennessee nonresident seller permit or direct shipper license also have to register as a foreign corporation with the Tennessee Secretary of State?
Only if the company is transacting business in Tennessee under the standard test in Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-25-101 (corporations) or § 48-249-902 (LLCs). Holding a nonresident seller permit under § 57-3-…
Can the Tennessee judicial branch pay the annual $400 professional privilege tax for its judges, or would that violate the Tennessee Constitution's ban on increasing judicial compensation mid-term?
Yes. The judicial branch may remit the professional privilege tax under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-1709 on behalf of judges. That payment is not a constitutionally forbidden increase in judicial compensat…
If federal coal-mining funds dry up, can Tennessee still apply for primacy and spend out of its coal mining protection fund?
The Governor's duty under § 44 of the Primacy and Reclamation Act to seek federal grant funding and apply for exclusive state jurisdiction over surface coal mining is not contingent on federal funds b…
Can a Tennessee parent get a texting-while-driving ticket for using a phone in a school parking lot or while sitting in the school pick-up line?
Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-199(b)(1)'s ban on texting while driving applies only on a 'public road or highway.' A school parking lot is not a public road or highway, so the statute does not reach a driver…
Can a Tennessee county legislative body send hotel-motel tax money to a Convention & Visitors Bureau, or does it have to go to a Tourist Development Agency?
The county legislative body has discretion. Under Chapter 905 of the Public Acts of 1980 (as amended in 1983 and 1988), the county may appropriate the hotel-motel tax revenue earmarked for tourism pro…
Does Tennessee law require government officials to let me inspect court and administrative records on request, and to give me certified copies?
If the official is the records custodian, the Tennessee Public Records Act generally requires the records to be made available for inspection during normal business hours, unless state or federal law …
Can a Tennessee business or property owner keep an off-duty police officer or commissioned reserve deputy from carrying a gun on their property by posting a no-guns sign or telling them no guns are allowed?
No, posted no-guns signs and verbal no-guns notices do not bind Tennessee law enforcement officers, including off-duty officers and authorized reserve deputies. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 lets law e…
When the legislature creates new judgeships and points to a procedure that depends on a body the legislature has already abolished, how does the Trial Court Vacancy Commission actually fill the seats?
The Tennessee Trial Court Vacancy Commission should follow Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-2-512 as far as possible to fill the three new judgeships created by SB 5/HB 10. Because the Judicial Council was termin…
If a state board member also works for a private contractor, can that contractor still bid on state work, and what are the conflict-of-interest rules?
A member of the Underground Storage Tanks and Solid Waste Disposal Control Board is a state official, not a state employee. The contractor that employs that member may bid on state work as long as the…
Can the East Tennessee Regional Agribusiness Marketing Authority lease its 76-acre I-81 property to non-agribusiness, non-wastewater tenants to bring in any kind of jobs?
No. The East Tennessee Regional Agribusiness Marketing Authority (ETRAMA) only has authority to develop or lease its property for activities that further one of its two statutory purposes: operating a…
Can the Tennessee legislature use a narrow population bracket to let one specific county collect a tax that state law forbids?
Yes, the proposal raises serious constitutional concerns. HB 2341/SB 1652 would exempt Obion County from the statewide ban on duplicate hotel/motel occupancy taxes by drawing a narrow population brack…
Can a Tennessee judge follow the Code of Judicial Conduct's bar on sexual-orientation bias while still applying state law that does not prohibit sexual-orientation discrimination, and does the rule on organizational membership exclude judges who belong to traditional religious congregations?
Yes to question 1, no to question 2. A Tennessee judge can comply with Rule of Judicial Conduct 2.3, which bars manifestations of bias based on sexual orientation among other characteristics, while st…
Can Tennessee give landlords a property tax break for renting at below-market rates to low-income tenants without violating equal protection or uniform taxation rules?
Yes. The proposed Affordable Rental Property Act, HB 1987, is constitutional. The bill creates an opt-in property tax classification for landlords who voluntarily restrict their property to affordable…
Can Tennessee fix the constitutional problem with the whiskey-barrel tax exemption by adding a legislative interpretation of 'manufactured article'?
No. SB 2076/HB 2038 (2018) as amended by Amendment No. 2 (HA 0942) is unconstitutional. The amendment tried to fix the constitutional problem identified in Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 18-06 (March 5, 2018) b…
Is a Tennessee bill creating senior 'business judges' appointed by the Supreme Court without a one-year-minimum or election history constitutional?
Yes, the senior-business-judge provisions raise constitutional concerns under Tenn. Const. art. VI, § 4 (election of judges). SB 2493/HB 2184 (2018) would let the Tennessee Supreme Court appoint as se…
Are Tennessee counties or cities required to pay for the burial or cremation of indigent residents?
Tennessee local governments are not required to provide burial, cremation, or funeral services for indigent residents. Tenn. Code Ann. § 5-9-101(4) authorizes counties to appropriate funds for the bur…
Does a Tennessee distillery that sells its own spirits for on-premises consumption owe the 15% liquor-by-the-drink tax?
Yes for the 15% liquor-by-the-drink tax, no for the annual facility-type privilege taxes. A licensed Tennessee distillery selling its own alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption under Tenn. Co…
If Tennessee adopted ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) banning lawyer harassment and discrimination 'related to the practice of law,' would that violate Tennessee attorneys' constitutional rights?
Yes, the proposed Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g), patterned after ABA Model Rule 8.4(g), would violate the constitutional rights of Tennessee attorneys. The opinion incorporates the AG's comment …
Can Tennessee force every city to grandfather existing short-term rentals and forbid future bans, when only some cities had rules on the books before 2014?
Mostly constitutional, but with one likely fatal flaw. The grandfather provision drawing the line at 2014 is rationally tied to when short-term rentals went mainstream and survives equal protection re…
If a small Tennessee city's interstate ramps are within city limits but only one lane of the highway between them is, can the city's police enforce traffic laws on that stretch?
No. A Tennessee municipality with a population of 10,000 or less may enforce the rules of the road on an interstate only when the contiguous stretch between its two entrance and two exit ramps lies so…
Can Tennessee community-corrections officers search offenders, and if not, can a court override that and authorize them to search?
No. The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) administers the community corrections program statewide and has the sole authority to set standards under the Community Corrections Act of 1985. TDOC'…
Can a Tennessee citizen review board subpoena records and access information about pending criminal cases involving police?
A Tennessee citizen review board's subpoena power depends entirely on the local government charter that created it. The General Assembly has not given citizen review boards independent subpoena power.…
Could Tennessee constitutionally exempt aging whiskey barrels from property tax as 'manufactured articles' under article II, section 30?
No. Article II, section 30 of the Tennessee Constitution exempts only 'manufactured articles' in the hands of the manufacturer who made them. The Tennessee Supreme Court (Benedict v. Davidson County; …
Do Tennessee's Rainy Day Fund deposits and withdrawals count as 'appropriations from state tax revenues' for the Copeland Cap?
No, on both questions. Money the State puts into the Rainy Day Fund (the statutory reserve for revenue fluctuation in Tenn. Code Ann. § 9-4-211) is 'allocated,' not 'appropriated,' so those deposits d…
Can Tennesseans carry handguns, rifles, or shotguns in public parks and other government recreational property, and can a city or county forbid it?
Tennessee Code § 39-17-1311 generally bars firearms in or on grounds of public parks, playgrounds, civic centers, and other recreational property owned, used, or operated by state, county, or municipa…
Does Tennessee's Alcoholic Beverage Commission have authority to require licensed distilleries to report the names of corporate shareholders and officers, and any change in those?
Yes. Although no Tennessee statute expressly authorizes it, Tennessee's Alcoholic Beverage Commission has the authority by necessary implication to require corporations that own and operate licensed d…
Could Tennessee constitutionally require a marked driver's license for DUI convicts and ban alcohol sales to anyone bearing such a license?
Such a law would be subject to deferential rational-basis review (DUI offenders are not a suspect class and the statute would not implicate a fundamental right), and the safety interests behind it are…
If a Tennessee judge orders a prosecutor to hand the entire file to defense counsel, can the prosecutor be sued for disclosing confidential records inside it?
Generally yes. A Tennessee district attorney who complies with a court order to provide all information in the file to defense counsel is generally protected from liability, even if the file contains …
Is it a crime in Tennessee to possess the Kratom plant in its natural, unprocessed form?
No, according to the AG. Tennessee's controlled-substance law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-452) prohibits only synthetic forms of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, specifically those derived from 2-am…
Can a Tennessee public school teacher run for a partisan political office while still teaching, or do the state or federal Hatch Acts prohibit it?
The AG concluded that Tennessee's Little Hatch Act does not bar a county teacher from running for partisan office, as long as the teacher follows the Little Hatch Act's restrictions on campaigning (no…
Could Tennessee public colleges and universities offer in-state tuition to undocumented students if state law gave each institution authority to set its own tuition eligibility rules?
No, according to the AG. Federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1621) makes unlawfully present aliens ineligible for state and local public benefits, including in-state tuition, unless the state legislature passes a…
Can a sitting Tennessee state legislator also serve on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority?
No. Article II, section 26 of the Tennessee Constitution prohibits a sitting member of the General Assembly from also holding any office under the authority of the United States, and a TVA Board direc…
If Tennessee passed a law letting counties, cities, and towns deposit public funds in a state-chartered credit union, would that violate the Tennessee Constitution's prohibition on local governments becoming stockholders in private corporations?
Yes, according to the AG, unless the law also includes the referendum required by article II, section 29 of the Tennessee Constitution. Depositing in a Tennessee-chartered credit union requires becomi…
Does Tennessee law let a city pay less than half of the cost of reappraising property within the city if the county hasn't agreed, and can the county assessor withhold the city's tax rolls if the city refuses to pay its share?
No on both. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601(c)(2), a city must pay one half of the local costs of reappraisal of property within the city unless the city and county agree on a different amount; the …
Can Tennessee state or local governments use Construction Management-at-Risk contracts (where the construction manager also performs some of the actual construction work) for jail and prison projects?
No, according to the AG. Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(b) only allows state and local governments to hire construction managers as agents or advisors for correctional facility projects, and it expressly …
When a Tennessee sheriff levies on a debtor's bank account to satisfy a judgment, is the $40 levy-of-execution fee allowed instead of the $20 collection-of-money fee?
Yes, according to the AG. A levy of execution on funds held in a bank account is a levy of execution on property under § 8-21-901(a)(2)(A), so the $40 fee applies. The general $20 fee in subsection (B…
When a Tennessee sheriff serves a levy of execution on a debtor's bank account, can the sheriff charge the $40 levy-of-execution fee or only the $20 fee for collecting money to satisfy a judgment?
The AG concluded the $40 fee applies. A levy of execution on bank-held funds is still a levy of execution on property under § 8-21-901(a)(2)(A), and the specific provision controls over the general $2…
Can a Tennessee county use its road crew and equipment to repair a road leading to a cemetery if the road isn't on the county's road list?
Generally no, but the cemetery-rehabilitation statute opens a private-contractor path. The AG concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-7-202 prohibits a county from using its non-monetary resources (trucks…
Would a Tennessee bill regulating motorboats carrying passengers for hire in tourist resort counties be preempted by federal law, and does its narrow application violate equal protection?
Partial preemption, no equal-protection problem. The AG concluded that the bill's state inspection and licensure requirements would likely be preempted as applied to inspected vessels (federal field p…
Can a Tennessee county or city set appearance-based design standards for single-family homes (exterior paint, materials, roof style)?
Yes, with limits. The AG concluded that Tennessee's broad zoning statutes authorize counties and municipalities to enact appearance-based residential building design standards. Such an ordinance is va…
Can a Tennessee municipality grant an exclusive contract for roll-off dumpster service, and is HB 1293 (which lets any private hauler operate anyway) constitutional?
Mostly yes on exclusivity; HB 1293 has Contract Clause risks. The AG concluded that roll-off dumpster services are 'public services' under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 6-2-201(12) and (13); exclusive contracts …
Can a Tennessee county school board approve a non-binding memorandum of understanding for a school turnaround partnership that isn't yet allowed by law?
Yes. The AG concluded that a county board of education may vote on a non-binding memorandum of understanding about a potential partnership district to help priority schools, even though current law do…
Can a Tennessee LEA open a public school or authorize a charter school inside another LEA's territory?
No. The AG concluded that an LEA, as a creature of statute, has no inherent power. It can open and operate a public school or authorize a charter school only within its own jurisdictional boundaries. …
Can a Tennessee LEA open a school or authorize a charter school inside another LEA's territory?
No. The AG concluded that LEAs are creatures of statute with only express or necessarily implied powers. Nothing in the public school or charter school statutes authorizes an LEA to operate a public s…
Does Tennessee's new charter-school student-directory-information disclosure statute conflict with FERPA, and can charter schools use the info for outreach?
Mostly no conflict; charter outreach is fine. The AG concluded that (1) Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-13-132 does not violate FERPA because the required information is the kind FERPA expressly permits to be re…
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Attorney general opinions in Tennessee are written by the Tennessee Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.