(a) Any person who willfully and corruptly swears or affirms falsely in any material manner, upon any oath or affirmation, in respect of any matter under inquiry before either house, or such committee of either house or joint committee of both houses, commits perjury and shall be subject to indictment, trial and conviction for such perjury.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 3-3-120

  • Committee: as used in this chapter , except when more particularly provided in this chapter, includes:

    (1) A committee appointed by either the house of representatives or the senate. See Tennessee Code 3-3-101
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) Any person who corruptly procures another to swear or affirm falsely in any such inquiry commits subornation of perjury and shall be subject to indictment, trial and conviction for such offense.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.
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