Duties

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Clerks of Courts
  4. General Provisions
  5. Qualifications and Conduct of Office
  6. Duties

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  1. It is the duty of the clerk of each of the courts to:
    1. Sign all summons, writs, subpoenas, executions and process issued from the clerk's court, and endorse on the back thereof the date of issuance;
    2. Keep the several dockets required by law in the respective courts, and keep a rule docket, in which shall be entered the names of complainants and defendants in full, the names of attorneys, a minute of the date of issuance and return of process, with return on process, and a note of all orders and proceedings made at office;
    3. Not change the style of any cause, or papers in the cause, without permission of the chancellor or judge presiding, after the cause has been docketed;
    4. Keep an execution docket, in which shall be entered, within the time after the adjournment of each court prescribed for issuing executions, all judgments or decrees, in the order of their rendition, with the names of all the plaintiffs and defendants in full, the day and year of rendition, the amount of the recovery and the amount of costs, the character and number of the execution, the date of its issuance and to what county issued, the person to whom delivered and the date of delivery, the date and substance of the return and the dates and amounts of money paid into and paid out of the clerk's office;
    5. Keep a well-bound book, in which shall be entered the minutes of each day's proceedings during the session of the court, in the order in which they are made;
    6. Record in well-bound books, within six (6) months after the final determination of any suit or prosecution, such proceedings as the clerk is required by law to enroll;
    7. Make and keep indexes, direct and reverse, for all books and dockets required to be kept by the clerk;
    8. Keep all the papers, books, dockets and records belonging to the clerk's office, with care and security; the papers filed, arranged, numbered and labeled, so as to be of easy reference; and the books, dockets and records properly lettered; and allow parties to inspect the records free of charge;
    9. Attend court during the session of the court, with all the papers belonging to the term, so filed as to be of easy reference; keep in the courthouse, during the session, the execution docket for the two (2) preceding terms; and administer all oaths and affidavits in relation to causes or proceedings pending therein;
    10. On application and payment of the legal fees for a transcript, make out and deliver to any person applying for the transcript, a correct transcript, properly certified, of any paper or record in the clerk's office;
    11. Perform such duties in regard to the state and county revenue as are prescribed by law under this code;
    12. Issue execution within the time prescribed by §§ 26-1-201 — 26-1-203; and
    13. Perform such other duties as are, or may be, required of the clerk by law.
  2. In the place of well-bound docket books as required in subdivisions (a)(5) and (6), the clerks may, in the alternate, subject to the approval and under the direction of the judges of the respective courts, use a file card system whereby a card would be kept in a loose-leaf file drawer under lock and key, upon which card the necessary entries required by law to be put on the docket would be made.
    1. Any information required to be kept as a public record by a clerk of any court may be maintained on a computer or removable computer storage media in lieu of docket books or other bound books; provided, that the following standards are met:
      1. The information is available for public inspection, unless it is a confidential record according to law;
      2. Due care is taken to maintain the information as a public record during the time required by law for retention;
      3. All daily data generated and stored within the computer system shall be copied to computer storage media daily, and the newly created computer storage media more than one (1) week old shall be stored at a location other than at the building where the original is maintained; and
      4. The clerk can provide a paper copy of the information when needed or when requested by a member of the public.
    2. Nothing in subdivision (c)(1) shall be construed as requiring the clerk to sell the media upon which the information is stored or maintained.
    1. Install and maintain the Tennessee court information system (TnCIS) as provided by the administrative office of the courts (AOC) or a functionally equivalent computer system. The implementation of TnCIS in the offices of the court clerks shall be determined by the TnCIS steering committee and shall be based on the availability of adequate funding. The TnCIS software shall be made available to all offices of court clerks, including those offices previously automated and those offices within Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton counties.
    2. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any court clerk office having a significant investment in an existing computer system shall not be required to acquire a new computer system, or to modify or convert an existing system to utilize the TnCIS software; provided, that those court clerk offices shall maintain a computer system that will report electronically all data required under Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 11, § II, or otherwise statutorily mandated; and the AOC shall provide for the necessary data transfers with other state agencies as defined by the AOC or as statutorily required.

Code 1858, § 4040 (deriv. Acts 1794, ch. 1, §§ 9, 26; 1801, ch. 6, §§ 44, 46; 1831, ch. 8, §§ 1, 2; 1832, ch. 6, § 2); Acts 1879, ch. 114; Shan., § 5852; Code 1932, § 10052; Acts 1965, ch. 202, § 1; 1972, ch. 855, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 18-105; Acts 1984, ch. 772, § 2; 1992, ch. 797, § 1; 1999, ch. 486, § 3.

Cross-References. Clerk, clerical and administrative staff of board of commissioners, §§18-6-101 —18-6-103.

Confidentiality of public records, §10-7-504.

Conversion of money indictable without prosecutor, §40-13-104.

Criminal procedure, destruction of records upon dismissal or acquittal, title 40, ch. 32, part 1.

False entries indictable without prosecutor, §40-13-104.

Textbooks. Tennessee Criminal Practice and Procedure (Raybin), §§ 23.11, 24.31.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 6 Tenn. Juris., Clerks of Court, § 12; 8 Tenn. Juris., Criminal Procedure, § 4; 12 Tenn. Juris., Executions, § 3.

Law Reviews.

The Tennessee Court System — Chancery Court (Frederic S. Le Clercq), 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 281.

The Tennessee Court System — Circuit Court (Frederic S. Le Clercq), 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 241.

The Tennessee Court System — Criminal Court (Frederic S. Le Clercq), 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 319.

Attorney General Opinions. Authority to issue income assignment orders against child support obligors, OAG 99-008 (1/25/99).

The clerk serving as the clerk of the Obion County Juvenile Court must attend the sessions of the court or provide a deputy clerk to do so, OAG 00-112 (6/20/00).

Cited: Ellicott Mach. Corp. v. Vogt Bros. Mfg. Co., 267 F. 945, 1920 U.S. App. LEXIS 2253 (6th Cir. Ky. 1920); Nash-Echoff Motor Co. v. Kettlewell Bros., 160 Tenn. 186, 22 S.W.2d 231, 1929 Tenn. LEXIS 90 (1929); Dyer v. Dyer, 178 Tenn. 234, 156 S.W.2d 445, 1941 Tenn. LEXIS 50 (1941); Metro. Gov't of Nashville v. Affiliated Computer Servs., — F. Supp. 2d —, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59622 (M.D. Tenn. July 17, 2008); State v. Houston, 328 S.W.3d 867, 2010 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 197 (Tenn. Crim. App. Mar. 3, 2010).


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