Duties

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Public Officers and Employees
  4. District Attorneys General
  5. General Provisions
  6. Duties

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Each district attorney general:

  1. Shall prosecute in the courts of the district all violations of the state criminal statutes and perform all prosecutorial functions attendant thereto, including prosecuting cases in a municipal court where the municipality provides sufficient personnel to the district attorney general for that purpose;
  2. Shall prosecute in the federal court all criminal cases removed from a state court in the district to any inferior court;
  3. May cooperate and assist, upon the request or direction of the attorney general and reporter, in the bringing, prosecution, defense, preparation, and trial of all cases in the circuit and chancery courts in which the attorney general and reporter is required to appear for the protection of the state or the public interest;
  4. Shall give an opinion, without charge, whenever called upon by any county officer in the district, upon a question of criminal law relating to the duties of the county officer's office;
  5. Shall submit to the office of executive director for the district attorneys general conference within ninety (90) days after the end of each fiscal year, a written report specifying:
    1. Each source from which funds were received by the office of the district attorney general during the fiscal year;
    2. The amount of funds received from each source; and
    3. The disposition of such funds;
  6. Shall have discretion in the performance of duties and responsibilities in the allocation of resources available to such district attorney general, any other law notwithstanding; and
  7. Shall have authority to delegate the foregoing duties and responsibilities to an assistant district attorney general.

Code 1858, § 3961 (deriv. Acts 1823, ch. 13, § 2; 1829, ch. 43, § 1; 1833, ch. 43, § 1; 1835-1836, ch. 15, § 21; 1835-1836, ch. 28, §§ 1, 3; 1839-1840, ch. 160, § 5; 1841-1842, ch. 59, §§ 2, 3; 1841-1842, ch. 129, §§ 1, 4; 1841-1842, ch. 147, § 2; 1843-1844, ch. 103, §§ 2, 4; 1843-1844, ch. 215, § 3; 1847-1848, ch. 129, § 1; 1849-1850, ch. 247, § 3; 1851-1852, ch. 167, §§ 1, 2; 1853-1854, ch. 115, § 2); impl. am. Acts 1875, ch. 91; Acts 1899, ch. 271, §§ 1, 2; Shan., § 5768; mod. Code 1932, § 9966; modified; impl. am. Acts 1937, ch. 33, § 50; impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 14; impl. am. Acts 1963, ch. 10, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, § 22; Acts 1979, ch. 226, § 23; 1979, ch. 318, § 23; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 8-702; impl. am. Acts 1979, ch. 68, § 3; Acts 1988, ch. 913, § 1; 1990, ch. 974, § 4; 1996, ch. 996, § 2; 1998, ch. 1080, § 3.

Cross-References. Disposition of incentive payments, prohibition against agency use of payments for social and recreational purposes, §36-5-107.

Escheated property, duties, §§31-6-104,31-6-108,31-6-111.

Executive director of district attorneys general conference authorized as fiscal officer, §8-7-602.

Highways, prosecution of suits for damage, §55-7-106.

Liability for neglect of duty, §40-4-116.

Medicine, prosecutions for unlawful practice, §63-6-213.

Osteopathic violations, prosecutions, §63-9-110.

Register, failure to comply with entry requirements, duty to prosecute, §8-13-117.

Textbooks. Tennessee Criminal Practice and Procedure (Raybin), §§ 6.1, 22.32.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 3 Tenn. Juris., Attorney General, §§ 3, 4, 6, 7; 22 Tenn. Juris., Sheriffs, § 15.

Law Reviews.

The Tennessee Court Systems — Prosecution, 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 477 (1978).

Disciplinary Board Opinions.

Representation of criminal defendants by part-time assistant district attorneys who prosecute state criminal matters in the municipal courts is ethically inappropriate. Formal Ethics Opinion 2002-F-146 (3/08/02).

Attorney General Opinions. Liability of state, district attorney general and special prosecutor, OAG 99-173, 1999 Tenn. AG LEXIS 135 (9/7/99).

General sessions judge's legal authority, OAG 00-001, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 4 (1/4/00).

Representation of the state in criminal and juvenile proceedings in general sessions courts, OAG 00-042, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 42 (3/13/00).

A district attorney general only has the responsibility of prosecuting state criminal actions in municipal courts where the municipality has provided sufficient personnel to the district attorney general for that purpose, OAG 01-120, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 111 (7/31/01).

No entity or individual other than a district attorney general may prosecute state criminal actions in a municipal court vested with concurrent general sessions jurisdiction, OAG 01-120, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 111 (7/31/01).

Prosecutorial discretion as to traffic offenses, OAG 07-073, 2007 Tenn. AG LEXIS 71 (5/17/07).

A district attorney general has no authority to represent a petitioner seeking a protective order. State statutes and local ordinances do not authorize a public defender to represent an individual defending against a petition for an order of protection; however, the ordinances governing the Shelby County's Public Defender's Office do not prohibit the Shelby County Public Defender from doing so. OAG 16-06, 2016 Tenn. AG LEXIS 4 (2/10/2016).

The conflict-preemption principles that are well established in Tennessee’s jurisprudence prevent a municipality from enacting and enforcing an ordinance that allows a police officer to issue a municipal citation that carries a civil penalty of fifty dollars or community service for the offense of possession of one-half ounce or less of marijuana. Such an ordinance conflicts with the provisions of the Drug Control Act and with the prosecutorial discretion and responsibilities of the district attorneys general in enforcing the Act. OAG 16-40, 2016 Tenn. AG LEXIS 40 (11/16/2016).


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