Venue of Suits

1. Law
2. Tennessee Code
3. Courts
4. Chancery Courts
5. Jurisdiction and Powers
6. Venue of Suits

The local jurisdiction of the chancery court is subject to the following rules:

1. All bills filed in any court seeking to divest or clear the title to land, or to enforce the specific execution of contracts relating to realty, or to foreclose a mortgage or deed of trust by a sale of personal property or realty, shall be filed in the county in which the land, or a material part of it, lies, or in which the deed or mortgage is registered;
2. Bills seeking to enjoin proceedings at law may be filed in the county in which the suit is pending, or to which execution has issued;
3. Bills against nonresidents, or persons whose names or residences are unknown, may be filed in the county in which the cause of action arose, or the act on which the suit is predicated was to be performed, or in which is the subject of the suit, or any material part thereof; and
4. When attachment of property is allowed in lieu of personal service of process, the bill may be filed in the county in which the property, or any material part of the property sought to be attached, is found at the commencement of the suit.

Code 1858, § 4311 (deriv. Acts 1787, ch. 22, § 1; 1801, ch. 6, § 2; 1825, ch. 22, §§ 1, 2; 1827, ch. 42, § 1; 1833, ch. 52); Acts 1877, ch. 107, § 1; Shan., § 6121; Code 1932, § 10388; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 16-617; Acts 1994, ch. 560, § 1.

Textbooks. Gibson's Suits in Chancery (7th ed., Inman), § 121.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 3 Tenn. Juris., Attachment and Garnishment, §§ 76, 86; 11 Tenn. Juris., Equity, §§ 27, 47; 15 Tenn. Juris., Injunctions, § 25; 16 Tenn. Juris., Judgments and Decrees, § 11; 24 Tenn. Juris., Vendor and Purchaser, § 66; 24 Tenn. Juris., Venue, § 4.

Law Reviews.

Real Property (Herman L. Trautman), 6 Vand. L. Rev. 1080.

Cited: Gregory v. Merchants State Bank, 23 Tenn. App. 567, 135 S.W.2d 465, 1939 Tenn. App. LEXIS 63 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1939); Terrell v. Terrell, 192 Tenn. 317, 241 S.W.2d 411, 1951 Tenn. LEXIS 407 (1951); Martin v. Martin, 755 S.W.2d 793, 1988 Tenn. App. LEXIS 18 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1988); Phillips v. State Bd. of Regents, 771 S.W.2d 410, 1989 Tenn. LEXIS 191 (Tenn. 1989); Woods v. Fields, 798 S.W.2d 239, 1990 Tenn. App. LEXIS 216 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1990); Hawkins v. Tenn. Dep't of Corr., 127 S.W.3d 749, 2002 Tenn. App. LEXIS 536 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002); Haggard v. Aguilar, — S.W.3d —, 2010 Tenn. App. LEXIS 760 (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 7, 2010).

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