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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If a Tennessee city has a private act passed before July 1, 2021, that authorizes up to a 5% hotel occupancy tax, but the city council didn't actually vote to charge the full 5% until after that cutoff date, is the city stuck with the new statewide 4% cap?
No. Tennessee's grandfathering provision protects pre-existing private acts that 'authorize the levy' of an occupancy tax, not just acts that already imposed it. The city can vote to levy the full 5% …
Can a Tennessee general sessions judge fill in for a circuit court judge or chancellor without a private act?
Generally no. The only general statute allowing such interchange is for divorce hearings in counties over 700,000 population. Otherwise, the legislature must authorize the interchange by private act, …
Can the Tennessee General Assembly pass a private act that prevents any of Bradley County's hotel-occupancy tax from being shared with cities inside the county?
Yes. The Tennessee Constitution requires that county-levied taxes authorized by the General Assembly be used for county purposes, but nothing requires the county to share that revenue with municipalit…
Can the Wilson County Commission stop collecting the $2-per-head domestic animal tax authorized by a 1980 private act, even though the voters approved the tax?
Yes. The 1980 private act 'authorized' the commission to impose the tax; it did not require it. The voters approved the act, not the tax itself. The commission has discretion to impose or rescind, and…
Can a Tennessee county use proceeds from its adequate facilities tax to pay debt service on bonds issued to build a new justice center?
Yes, if the justice center is reasonably related to new development. The 2015 opinion read the Maury County Adequate Facilities Tax act to permit using the funds either to pay project costs directly o…
Can a Tennessee special school district lower its property tax rate below what the private act says, and can the legislature delegate rate-setting flexibility to the district?
No on both counts. A special school district has no authority to vary from the rate set in its private act, except for State Board of Equalization adjustments after a reappraisal under § 67-5-1704. An…
Is the fireworks-sales exception for small municipalities in Tennessee's largest counties limited to specific businesses or available to anyone in those cities?
Not limited. The exception in Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-104-112(a)(4) applies to any seller in a qualifying municipality (population 600-620 per the 1980 census, in counties over 335,000 per 2010 census, t…
Can the Tennessee legislature pass a bill that lets only one nursing home in one county relocate beds without going through the normal certificate-of-need rules?
Yes, but only if a rational basis supports treating that nursing home differently. As-written, HB2342 applied only to Davidson County and effectively only one 400-bed nursing home with 45 years of ope…
Can a Tennessee county tack a $1 surcharge onto every ticket sold at the county fairgrounds to fund a new exposition center?
No, not by ordinance. Such a surcharge is a tax, not a fee, and it conflicts with the state amusement-tax law. The General Assembly could authorize it by private act, but only if a rational basis exis…
When Tennessee voters approve a private act expanding a county school board, do the new seats become vacancies the county commission can fill until the next election?
Yes. New school-board positions are vacancies the moment they are created, so the county legislative body may fill them by appointment until the next general election. The 2016 election for those seat…
Can the Tennessee legislature extend the term of the Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk so the election lines up with other Shelby County offices?
Yes, the General Assembly may extend the clerk's term by amending Chapter 123 of the 1941 Private Acts, but the amendment must be approved by either a two-thirds vote of the Shelby County Commission o…
Does Tennessee's 2004 Anti-Rabies Law override Wilson County's 1980 private act that taxes domestic animals to fund the local humane association?
No. The AG concluded the Tennessee Anti-Rabies Law (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-8-101 to -113) did not repeal or supersede Wilson County's 1980 Private Act 242 because the two laws serve different purposes …
Can a Tennessee county planning commission make citizens testify under oath at meetings?
No. The AG concluded the Carter County Planning Commission lacks authority to require citizens appearing before it to testify under oath. The 1972 private act creating the Commission doesn't grant tha…
Who runs Lewis County, Tennessee's Highway Advisory Commission, and what does the chair earn?
The Lewis County Highway Advisory Commission has three members: the county mayor (by virtue of office), one member of the county legislative body, and a private citizen. The members elect the chair ev…
Are tax records held by Tennessee cities and counties (like hotel/motel taxes and gross receipts taxes) confidential, or are they open public records?
It depends on the source of authority. The AG concluded Madison and Rhea County hotel/motel tax records were confidential because their authorizing private acts gave the clerks 'powers and duties' und…
Can Tennessee let only some counties tax liquor barrels, like a private-act tax aimed at Moore County?
Yes. Tennessee can constitutionally let only some counties tax liquor barrels. A general law limited to counties that approved the manufacture of intoxicating liquor before 1950 has a rational basis (…
After Tennessee's 2010 amendment to § 13-3-103, can the Carter County mayor appoint the regional planning director if the county was created by a private act that lets the planning commission appoint employees and staff?
The AG concluded that Carter County's 1972 private act, which lets the planning commission appoint 'such employees and staff as it may deem necessary,' counts as a 'provision relating to the appointme…
When a Tennessee utility district switches from elected to appointed commissioners under Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-82-307(a)(7), do the old private-act term limits still apply to the new appointed commissioners?
The AG concluded that the Utility Management Review Board's 2006 approval of a method-of-selection change for the Gibson County Utility District did not repeal the private-act term limits, but that th…
Can a Tennessee charter county like Knox County amend a private act of the General Assembly just by passing an ordinance?
Not when the private act involves more than purely county affairs. The Tennessee AG concluded in 2010 that Knox County could not amend the 1983 Tennessee Technology Corridor Development Authority Act …
After the 1976 private act transferred county-chairman judicial powers to Jackson County's General Sessions Court, who has probate jurisdiction there today?
The 1976 private act did transfer all judicial powers of the abolished Jackson County Chairman, including probate jurisdiction, to the General Sessions Court. But Chapter 16 of the Private Acts of 199…
Could the Shelby County School Board be converted into a Special School District in 2010, and would the proposed legislation to do so violate Tennessee's Home Rule Amendment?
Under 2010 Tennessee law, no new special school districts could be created, so Shelby County could not convert. Proposed legislation to allow conversion would not violate the Home Rule Amendment (whic…
Can Tennessee pass a private act letting one county run a home health agency in three other counties?
Likely yes. The proposed private act authorizing Hancock County to run a home care organization in Hancock, Claiborne, Grainger, and Hawkins counties does not contravene any general statewide statute,…
Can a Tennessee city require a special school district to get permits and follow zoning rules when building a school inside city limits?
It depends on the specific private act creating the special school district and the local zoning regulations. Tennessee has not directly legislated whether special school districts must comply with ci…
Can a Tennessee city spend hotel-motel tax revenue from a 1989 private act on any city department, and can it route the money to the parks and cemetery department as 'recreation' spending?
The AG concluded that Union City may distribute hotel-motel tax proceeds to any department as long as that department spends the money on Section 3 purposes (inducing manufacturing, industrial, financ…
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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.