Does a Tennessee sheriff have to send an officer to keep the peace at a court-ordered estate sale even when the clerk and master is conducting the sale and the sheriff doesn't get a fee?

Plain-English summary

A Tennessee chancellor ordered a sheriff to send an officer to maintain order at the sale of real estate belonging to a decedent's estate. The Clerk and Master, acting as a special commissioner, was conducting the sale. The sheriff would not receive the usual fee from the sale. The Attorney General concluded that the sheriff still had to comply with the order.

The opinion connects the sheriff's peacekeeping role with the court's authority over a person acting under its direction. Tenn. Code Ann. § 38-3-102 names the sheriff the principal conservator of the peace in the county. Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-1-102(2) allows a court to enforce order before a person or body acting under its authority. The Clerk and Master, as special commissioner, is a court officer but has no law enforcement authority. The Attorney General reasoned that using this officer to conduct the sale does not remove the sheriff's duty to keep the peace, especially when the court expressly orders it.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-201(a)(2)(A) requires sheriffs to obey lawful court orders. The opinion also cites Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-207, under which disobedience of the command of court process is contempt and may be punished. Its conclusion concerns this order to maintain order at this kind of court-directed sale. It does not decide staffing, reimbursement, or the sheriff's duties at other proceedings.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Check current Tennessee law and the terms of any court order before relying on it in a present matter.

Background and statutory framework

The fee issue arose because Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-801 lets court-appointed special commissioners who sell property receive the same fees and compensation allowed other officers for similar services. Here the Clerk and Master conducted the sale, and the question assumed that the sheriff would not receive the usual sale fee.

The opinion says the sheriff would have kept the peace if the sheriff had conducted the sale. The special commissioner's lack of law enforcement powers did not alter that responsibility when the commissioner conducted it instead. The chancellor's express order reinforced the duty.

Common questions

Q: Must the sheriff send an officer when the Clerk and Master conducts the estate sale?
A: Yes, when a chancellor has ordered the sheriff to send an officer to maintain order at the sale described in the opinion.

Q: Does the sheriff's lack of a sale fee excuse noncompliance?
A: No. The opinion addresses that circumstance directly and still concludes that the sheriff must obey the order.

Q: Why does it matter that the Clerk and Master is a special commissioner?
A: The opinion says the commissioner acts as a court officer but lacks law enforcement authority. The court's use of a commissioner to conduct the sale does not remove the sheriff's peacekeeping duty under the order.

Q: What consequence does the opinion identify for disobeying court process?
A: It cites Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-207 for the rule that disobedience of the command of process is contempt of the issuing court and may be punished. It does not specify a penalty for this sheriff.

Q: Does this opinion decide duties for prisoner transport or courtroom security?
A: No. Its answer concerns a chancellor's order to maintain order at a decedent's real-estate sale conducted by the Clerk and Master as special commissioner.

Citations and references

Statutes cited by the opinion:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-801 (special commissioner fees)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 38-3-102 (sheriff as principal conservator of the peace)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-1-102(2) (court's power to enforce order)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-201(a)(2)(A) (sheriff's duty to obey lawful court orders)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-207 (contempt for disobedience of process)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2010/op10-120.pdf

Original opinion text

Sheriff's Disregard of Chancery Court Order

QUESTION

Is a sheriff required to comply with a chancellor's order to send an officer to maintain order at a sale of real estate belonging to a decedent's estate where the sale is conducted by the Clerk and Master acting as a special commissioner?

OPINION

Yes.

ANALYSIS

The question is whether a sheriff must follow a chancellor's order to attend and keep the peace at a sale of real estate pursuant to the court's order even when the sheriff does not receive his usual fees from the sale because the court has appointed a special commissioner to conduct the sale. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-801, special commissioners, appointed by the court to sell property, take accounts, make examinations, take depositions, or perform other services, are entitled to demand and receive the same fees and compensation allowed other officers for similar services.

The sheriff is the principal conservator of the peace in the sheriff's county. Tenn. Code Ann. § 38-3-102. Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-1-102(2) provides that, "Every court has the power to: (2) Enforce order before a person or body acting under its authority[.]" The Clerk and Master, as a special commissioner, acts as an officer of the court, but has no law enforcement authority. Had the sale been conducted by the sheriff, he obviously would have performed the concomitant duty of keeping the peace while it was underway. That the sale is being conducted by a special commissioner lacking law enforcement powers in no way alters the duty of the sheriff to keep the peace, especially when expressly ordered to do so by the court. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-201(a)(2)(A) provides that it is a sheriff's duty to "obey the lawful orders and directions of the court[.]" A sheriff's disobedience of the command of any process is a contempt of the court from which it issued, and may be punished accordingly. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-207. It is the opinion of this Office, therefore, that a sheriff is required to comply with a chancellor's order to send an officer to maintain order at a sale of real estate belonging to a decedent's estate where the sale is conducted by the Clerk and Master acting as a special commissioner.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

CHARLES L. LEWIS
Deputy Attorney General

ANN LOUISE VIX
Senior Counsel

Requested by:
Honorable G. Richard Johnson
Chancellor, First Judicial District
George P. Jaynes Washington County Justice Center
108 W. Jackson Boulevard, Suite 2149
Jonesborough, TN 37659