Powers and Duties

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. State Government
  4. Creation, Organization and Powers of Administrative Departments and Divisions
  5. Department of General Services
  6. Powers and Duties

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The department of general services has the power and is required to:

  1. Establish facilities for the testing of any materials, supplies or equipment purchased, or to be purchased, for this state or any of its departments, institutions or agencies, use the testing facilities of any other state department, institution or agency, and contract for testing services from any other private or public facility;
  2. Sell supplies, materials and equipment that are surplus, obsolete or unused;
  3. Have general care and supervision of all central storerooms operated by the state government, and establish and maintain such other central storerooms as may be necessary for the proper administration of title 12, chapter 3;
  4. Establish, maintain and conduct a central mail room, central postage metering, and centralized outgoing mail services for all state departments, institutions and agencies located at the state capitol, except those exempted by the commissioner;
  5. Prepare, publish and keep current a purchasing manual containing, among other things, the material provisions of title 12, chapter 3, the rules and regulations of the department and the procurement commission, and an explanation of the procedures followed in the handling and making of purchases and contracts under this part;
  6. Exercise, with the approval of the procurement commission, all the rights, powers and duties vested by title 12, chapter 5;
  7. Furnish, when requested, without cost, to the chief fiscal officer in each county and in each municipality of this state the current catalog or price listing of goods and materials, which the department may purchase for local government, by virtue of § 12-3-1201;
  8. Supervise the maintenance of public buildings, including the state capitol and capitol annexes except as otherwise provided by § 4-8-101(a)(2), and of the capitol grounds, and the supplying of furniture and fixtures to these buildings;
  9. Study the use of state-owned automobiles by the state departments, offices and agencies, and establish rules and regulations for the housing, repair and operation of such automobiles;
  10. Make provisions for the centralization of such departmental services as mimeographing, duplicating, addressographing, copying, typesetting, copy preparation and binding, in order to save duplicate outlays for costly equipment used only part time;
  11. Supervise and maintain all public memorials and monuments erected or owned by the state, except where the supervision and maintenance is otherwise provided by law;
  12. Exercise general custodial care of all real property of the state;
  13. Provide for the supervision of the planning, preparing and serving of food including, but not limited to, the training and supervision of state food service employees;
  14. Exercise all functions previously exercised by the state educational agency for surplus property, as described in § 49-1-304;
  15. Supervise and regulate parking in the main state employee parking lot at the base of Capitol Hill in Nashville, as well as any other state employee parking lots now in existence or hereafter created throughout the state, except as provided in § 4-8-201, the parking lot adjacent to the Supreme Court Building in Nashville that is utilized by the personnel employed in the Supreme Court Building, and the underground parking facility adjacent to the War Memorial Building in Nashville. Such regulation shall include, but not be limited to, issuance of parking stickers to state employees, assessment of civil penalties in the manner provided in § 4-8-203, and removal of unauthorized vehicles. Such regulations shall not be applicable to tourists with out-of-state tags;
  16. Supervise the supplying of utilities to the state-owned buildings under the department's control and implement a system for monitoring and controlling the cost of such utilities;
  17. Provide state vehicle energy management life-cycle (operational and maintenance) cost analysis;
  18. Define and implement an energy efficiency code for state procurement of equipment and appliances;
  19. Administer the state employee van pool program;
  20. Prepare an annual report on the activities of the department concerning the definition and implementation of an energy efficiency code for state procurement of equipment and appliances. The department shall publish the report on the department's web site and submit the report to the governor, the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives, the chairs of the government operations committees of the senate and the house of representatives, and the chairs of the energy, agriculture and natural resources committee of the senate and the agriculture and natural resources committee of the house of representatives, or their successor committees. The report shall include savings realized by the state as a result of the office's activities expressed in both units of energy saved and monetary cost-avoidance;
  21. Implement and administer the procurement of energy-efficient motor vehicles as provided in this part; and
  22. Impose a reasonable real estate transaction fee on all real estate transactions when the transaction is processed through the department of general services and to grant a fee waiver when deemed appropriate by the department. Said fee structure and waivers shall be subject to approval by the state building commission.


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