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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Would a Tennessee bill letting HOAs sue to ban repeat criminal offenders from a neighborhood survive constitutional challenge?
The AG concluded the bill was defensible against a facial constitutional challenge. It would likely survive non-delegation, rational-basis equal-protection, procedural due process, and double-jeopardy…
Does Tennessee's charter school funding law unconstitutionally shift costs to local school districts under the state-spending clause of the Tennessee Constitution?
No. The Charter Schools Act doesn't directly require local school districts to spend more, it just makes existing per-pupil dollars follow the student. And even if it did increase local spending, the …
Can a Tennessee public school require students to pay fees for field trips that take place during regular school hours?
No. Requiring students to pay a fee for a field trip that took place during the required 180 instructional days violated Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-110(c). Schools could request fees, but could not condit…
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…
Can the spouse of a Tennessee deputy sheriff legally write bail bonds in the same county?
Yes, but only if the spouses keep their finances strictly separate. If they commingle funds, share expenses, or jointly accumulate assets, the deputy sheriff is treated as receiving an indirect benefi…
In Tennessee, what farm buildings escape county zoning, does a family garden count as a farm, and what happens to the adequate-facilities tax when a county can't require a building permit?
A building 'incidental to the agricultural enterprise' (including residences for farmers and farm workers after the 2014 amendment) is exempt from county zoning. A 'farm' usually means at least 15 acr…
If a Tennessee city's annexation ordinance was finalized by court settlement before Tennessee passed a 2013 annexation moratorium, can the new moratorium retroactively undo that annexation?
No. Once a quo warranto challenge was resolved by an agreed court order and the parties' rights became vested, the Tennessee Constitution's ban on retrospective laws prevented the 2013 moratorium from…
Can the Tennessee legislature pass a private act forcing one county's general sessions court to use the county probation office (and only that office) to supervise misdemeanor probationers?
Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-302 doesn't require courts to consider all qualified providers, so a private act picking one county provider doesn't conflict with general law. And because supervising pro…
Is dog racing legal in Tennessee under the Racing Control Act of 1987, and is the State Racing Commission still in operation?
No to both. The Racing Control Act applied only to horse racing, not dog racing. The Racing Commission was terminated in 1997-98, and its rules expired; reestablishing it requires new legislation. Wag…
Who counts as an 'other spiritual leader' for solemnizing a Tennessee marriage, and does the founder of a religious organization qualify?
It depends on the religion's own customs. A Church of Christ elder may solemnize marriages if the particular congregation's custom and practice authorizes it. A founder of a religious organization may…
Do Tennessee notaries public have to keep a record of every notarization, even when they don't charge a fee, and can it be electronic?
Yes. Starting October 1, 2014, the recordkeeping duty applies to every notarial act regardless of whether the notary charges a fee. The 'well-bound book' may be kept electronically if the record stays…
When does a Tennessee creditor have to pay the clerk's and sheriff's fees for a garnishment, at the time of filing or only after the service is performed?
The AG concluded that the timing depends on the fee statute. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401, court clerks may collect the $25 post-judgment garnishment fee at the time the service is requested. In c…
Did Tennessee's 2013 appropriations bill unconstitutionally try to transfer the Alvin C. York Institute from the state Board of Education to Fentress County?
No, because the provision only expresses 'legislative intent' that the Commissioner of Education develop a transition plan. It doesn't actually transfer authority. To actually transfer the York Instit…
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 …
Does a Tennessee medical spa worker need a separate aesthetics license to provide facials and skincare under a doctor's supervision?
Yes if three conditions are met: (1) the aesthetics service falls within a recognized medical practice, (2) the person is licensed for that medical practice, and (3) the person is acting in his or her…
Is Tennessee's $115 handgun carry permit fee, or the fine for carrying without one, an unconstitutional burden on the right to bear arms?
No. A permit fee that defrays administrative costs of regulating a constitutional right is permissible (Cox v. New Hampshire), and the AG cited federal cases upholding handgun-permit fees up to $340. …
Can Tennessee's wildlife officers agree to enforce a city or county noise ordinance on public waters as a side gig to their boating-safety patrols?
No. The AG concluded the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency had no state-law authority to enforce local noise ordinances. The Interlocal Cooperation Act let agencies pool powers they already had, but…
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 Tennessee constitutionally limit which surname goes on a newborn's birth certificate?
Yes. The AG concluded that § 68-3-305 likely survives a First Amendment challenge because a birth certificate is government property in a limited or nonpublic forum, and restrictions there only need t…
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 a Tennessee non-violent expungement under the 2012 law cost $350 or $450 in court fees?
$350. The fee for filing an expungement petition under 2012 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 1103 is $350; the $100 expungement fee in Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401 does not apply on top. The specific Chapter 1103 fe…
Can a Tennessee sheriff make a city police department keep transporting a mentally-ill detainee, and who pays for it?
A Tennessee sheriff may designate a municipal law enforcement agency as a secondary transportation agent for mentally ill or seriously emotionally disturbed persons under Tenn. Code Ann. § 33-6-901, a…
If a Tennessee county pays for school resource officers in only one school district from its general fund, does the city school district get a proportional share of those funds?
No. SROs are law enforcement, not school operations. Their cost comes from the county general fund, not from school taxes. So a county paying for SROs in county schools doesn't owe a matching apportio…
Can a Memphis bar on a street that crosses Beale Street (north or south) qualify for the same 5 a.m. alcohol-sales window that Beale Street businesses get?
No. The 5 a.m. extended-hours rule for Beale Street under Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(4) only covers establishments inside the Beale Street Historic District (Beale Street from Main to Fourth) or wi…
Can Tennessee's POST Commission charge retired officers a fee for the firearm certification that lets them carry under LEOSA?
Yes. The Tennessee AG concluded the POST Commission has express authority to set a reasonable fee for the in-state retired-officer firearm certification, and general rulemaking authority to set a fee …
If a Tennessee church lets a school use part of its property, does the state's no-weapons-on-school-property law apply to the church grounds?
Partly. The AG concluded the law applied only to the portions of church property actually being used by a school, and only while the school was using them. Home schooling was not covered.
In Tennessee, can a handgun carry permit holder carry a firearm into a public park athletic field while a school is using the field for sports practice or other activities?
No. The carry-permit exception in the public-parks statute is overridden by the school-property statute, which prohibits firearms on athletic fields or recreation areas being used by a school. The opi…
Is Tennessee's 'guns in parking lots' law for handgun-carry permit holders so vague that it can't be enforced?
No. The statute, read together with the related firearms statutes, gives ordinary people fair notice of what conduct is and is not prohibited.
Who counts as an 'unlawful user' of alcohol or drugs under Tennessee's handgun carry permit law, and how is that requirement enforced?
An 'unlawful user' means someone engaged in regular and repeated unlawful use during a period that reasonably covers the time the permit is sought. The applicant also must not have been in a rehabilit…
Does Tennessee's statute capping intellectual/developmental disability residential facilities at four people, and requiring spacing between facilities, violate equal protection or fair housing law?
Probably not facially, because the state can articulate a rational deinstitutionalization purpose. But the four-person cap and 500-yard spacing rule may be vulnerable to as-applied Fair Housing Amendm…
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 …
What protection do unpaid Tennessee emergency-management volunteers have if they're hurt on the job?
Unpaid TEMA volunteers cannot get workers' compensation from the State and must rely on general tort law for injuries sustained on duty; they do receive the same tort immunity as state employees under…
If a Tennessee public board is later found to have been illegally composed, are the decisions it already made still valid?
Yes, under longstanding Tennessee case law. The AG concluded in 2010 that if a court later declared the Tennessee Board of Regents (or any board) improperly composed, the actions taken before that dec…
Does Tennessee require school districts to lease vacant property to charter schools, or just offer it?
An LEA with underutilized or vacant property must list it and make it available for use by charter schools, in the sense of putting it on the market. But the LEA is not forced to sign a lease unless t…
Can a Tennessee probate court appoint a guardian for an undocumented immigrant minor?
Yes, if the minor (or the minor's parents or custodial parent) has established domicile in a Tennessee county. Immigration status alone does not bar an undocumented person from becoming a Tennessee do…
Does the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy alone set its staff's compensation, or does some other state official have to sign off?
The Tennessee State Board of Accountancy has the authority to establish compensation for its Executive Director and other professional staff under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-1-105(c)(1). That includes the a…
Can a pop-up gold and jewelry buyer in Tennessee move purchased items to a separate storage facility during the 30-day holding period?
No. The plain language of Tenn. Code Ann. § 38-1-202(a) requires those who make qualifying purchases of jewelry and precious metals to hold them, for the required 30-day holding period, at 'the place …
If sales tax revenue falls short of estimates, does a Tennessee county still have to fully fund its schools at the budgeted level?
Yes. A Tennessee county operating under the County Budgeting Law of 1957 must fully fund its school system as budgeted, at least to the level of estimated maintenance of effort, from non-sales-tax rev…
Does Tennessee's sales tax violate the U.S. Constitution's bans on state taxes on imports and exports?
No. The Tennessee Retailers' Sales Tax Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-6-101 et seq., imposes a privilege tax on the retail sale and use of tangible personal property in Tennessee. It is not a tax on impor…
When a Tennessee county changes the beer-permit distance rule mid-application, which rule does the beer board apply?
The beer board applies the distance requirement in effect at the time it votes on the application, not at the time the application was filed (Coffman v. Washington County Beer Bd.). If a board mistake…
Could the Tennessee legislature require its own joint resolution before the governor agreed to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act?
Yes. The AG concluded the statute did not violate separation of powers. The governor could negotiate and investigate Medicaid expansion, but could not make any final, binding decision without a joint …
What happens if a Tennessee city fails to appoint a successor utilities commissioner when the term expires?
The office is not vacant. Under Article VII, Section 5 of the Tennessee Constitution, 'every officer shall hold his office until his successor is elected or appointed, and qualified.' An incumbent uti…
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…
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…
Does Tennessee's 2011 low-income housing tax credit allocation plan satisfy federal requirements to favor projects in poor census tracts?
No. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency's 2011 Qualified Allocation Plan does not conflict with the federal LIHTC preference for projects in qualified census tracts (QCTs) under 26 U.S.C. § 42(m)…
Can a notary public in Tennessee notarize their own spouse's signature?
The Tennessee AG advised against it. Notaries take an oath to act 'without favor or partiality,' and the AG concluded in 2010 that the spousal relationship prevents that. A spouse-notarized signature …
Do Tennessee's residency rules for retail liquor licenses (two years of state residency, or ten years at any time) violate the dormant Commerce Clause?
Yes. The two-year and ten-year residency rules discriminate against out-of-state retailers and the legislature's stated interest in 'higher degree of oversight' for liquor sales does not justify the d…
Can a Tennessee industrial loan and thrift company roll the upfront 'acquisition charge' into the principal when calculating loan charges under § 45-5-403(b)?
No. The statute's definition of principal incorporates only the subsection (a) loan charges, not the alternative subsection (b) charges added in 2000. Treating the acquisition charge as part of princi…
Can a Tennessee county charter commission spend public money campaigning for the new charter in a local referendum?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 5-1-208(c) permits a charter commission to use public funds only to inform voters about the contents of the proposed charter, not to advocate for or against its adoption. Absent …
Can a Tennessee court clerk use leftover money from a tax sale to pay later property taxes on the same parcel?
A Tennessee court clerk holding overage funds after a delinquent tax sale cannot pay other property taxes that come due unless the court's order specifically directs it. Under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-5-…
Does Tennessee require a digital forensics provider, or someone who reviews its data, to hold a private investigator license?
Digital forensics providers that 'obtain or furnish information' for purposes listed in Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-26-202(6) need a Tennessee PI license, but many will qualify for the consultant exemption i…
When a Tennessee defendant skips bail, are 'costs of the court proceedings' under § 40-11-120 just the forfeiture costs or all the costs in the case?
All of them. The AG concluded that 'costs of the court proceedings' under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-11-120 includes the costs of every proceeding in the case against the defendant, not just the bail forfei…
What happens to a Tennessee sheriff who took office without POST certification and never completed the required training, and who got reelected anyway?
Before Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-102 was rewritten by 2011 Public Chapter 370, a sheriff who took office without POST certification had to complete basic recruit training at TLETA during the first term; f…
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 the Tennessee Governor still appoint judges after the Judicial Nominating Commission was 'sunset' and shut down?
Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-113 (added in 2009) is a failsafe: if the JNC doesn't furnish a list of nominees within 60 days of the governor's notice of a vacancy, the governor may appoint any qualifie…
Are Tennessee municipal stormwater fees required by federal law, and do they count as unfunded federal mandates?
The Clean Water Act doesn't spell out stormwater fees, but it does require municipalities running storm sewer systems to get NPDES permits, and Tennessee's statutes (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-221-1101 to …
Would Tennessee SB 2835 making open-adoption visitation agreements enforceable cause inheritance, support, or constitutional problems?
No on all four. The AG concluded that SB 2835, which would have made open-adoption visitation agreements judicially enforceable and allowed adult adoptees in some divorce situations to restore a decea…
Can Tennessee cap how many foreign-worker visa holders a charter school employs?
Likely no. The AG concluded that Chapter 879's 3.5% cap on non-immigrant H-1B and J-1 visa workers at charter schools was constitutionally suspect under the Equal Protection Clause and the Supremacy C…
Does the 2010 Tennessee law raising the drug-testing fee on Drug Control Act convictions apply statewide, or only to the few counties named in § 39-17-420(d)?
The AG concluded the $250 drug-testing fee added by 2010 Public Chapter 1004 applies statewide to convictions, pretrial diversion under § 40-15-105, and judicial diversion under § 40-35-313 for any Te…
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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.