(a) It is the duty of the administrative office of the courts to collect, develop, and maintain uniform statistical information relative to court caseloads in Tennessee. To assist the administrative office of the courts in this duty, the clerks of each court shall report case data as set forth below:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 16-1-117

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • 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.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Each criminal case shall be assigned a unique docket number. A criminal case shall be defined and reported as a single charge or set of charges arising out of a single incident concerning a single defendant in one (1) court proceeding. An incident shall be all criminal activity occurring on the same date. A court proceeding refers to a single level of court, such as general sessions or circuit. An appeal, probation revocation, or other post-judgment proceeding shall be considered a separate case. This definition shall not alter the practice in the Tennessee rules of criminal procedure dealing with joinder and severance of criminal cases. In addition, in courts of record, multiple incidents shall be counted as a single case when the charges are of a related nature and it is the district attorney general’s intention that all of the charges be handled in the same court proceeding pursuant to a single indictment. If a case has more than one (1) charge or count, then the administrative office of the courts shall count the case according to the highest class of charge or count for the weighted caseload study based on the formula set out in § 16-2-513(a). Nothing in this subdivision (a)(1) shall operate to deprive court clerks of any fees to which they were entitled prior to July 1, 2014;
(2) A civil case shall be defined as all motions, petitions, claims, counterclaims or proceedings between the parties resulting from the initial filing until the case is disposed. A unique docket number will be assigned to a civil case upon filing. Until the case is disposed, all subsequent motions, petitions, claims, counterclaims or proceedings between the parties resulting from the initial filing will be handled under the assigned docket number and will not be assigned a new docket number. Once a civil case has been disposed and further actions occur on the case, the original case will be reopened using the same docket number under which it was originally filed and is subject to additional court costs. All subsequent motions, petitions, claims, counterclaims or proceedings relating to the reopened case will be handled under the one reopened case docket number until disposed. Any subsequent re-openings will still use the original docket number, but will be counted by the administrative office of the courts as a new case for case-reporting purposes and are subject to additional court costs. Civil cases in courts of record shall be counted and reported to the administrative office of the courts according to this subdivision (a)(2);
(3) All general sessions courts and municipal courts with general sessions jurisdiction shall collect and provide court data to the administrative office of the courts based on the definitions for criminal and civil cases as provided in subdivisions (a)(1) and (2);
(4) All courts of record, except for juvenile courts, and all general sessions courts and municipal courts with general sessions jurisdiction shall report caseload data to the administrative office of the courts not less than one (1) time each month, so that all cases filed and disposed in one (1) month have been received by the administrative office of the courts by the fifteenth day of the following month in which the case is filed or disposed. The administrative office of the courts shall create forms to be used by each court in reporting the caseload data;
(5) The administrative office of the courts will provide written notification to any responsible party found not to be in compliance with the reporting requirements. Written notification will detail the type of noncompliance and recommend the corrective action to be taken. If compliance is not achieved during the subsequent reporting period following notification, the administrative office of the courts will no longer accept data from the office not in compliance until such time as the errors are corrected. Notification of this action will be sent to all judges, district attorneys general, district public defenders and court clerks within the district where the noncomplying office is located. Notification will also be sent to the district attorneys general conference, the district public defenders conference, the administrative office of the courts and the county officials association of Tennessee. Any periods of noncompliance will also be reported in the annual report to the chairs of the civil justice committee of the house of representatives and the judiciary committee of the senate;
(6)

(A) The clerks of those courts wherein commitments to a mental institution, as defined in § 16-10-213, are ordered or persons are adjudicated as a mental defective, as defined in § 16-10-213, shall report information described in § 16-10-213(c) regarding individuals who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or judicially committed to a mental institution. Included in the report pursuant to this subdivision (a)(6)(A) shall be the date in which such information was also reported to the federal bureau of investigation-NICS index;
(B) The clerks of courts, pursuant to the reporting requirements of §§ 16-10-213, 16-11-206, 16-15-303 and 16-16-120, shall provide sufficient information to the administrative office of the courts who shall make such reports on behalf of those clerks as soon as practicable, but no later than the third business day following the date of receipt of signed order;
(C) The information reported pursuant to subdivision (a)(6)(A) shall be maintained as confidential and not subject to public inspection, except for such use as may be necessary in the conduct of any proceedings pursuant to §§ 39-17-1316, 39-17-1353 and 39-17-1354;
(D) The administrative office of the courts shall provide written notification to any responsible party found not to be in compliance with the reporting requirements of this subdivision (a)(6) or with the reporting requirements of §§ 16-10-213, 16-11-206, 16-15-303 and 16-16-120. If compliance is not achieved during the subsequent reporting period following notification, the administrative office of the courts will no longer accept data from the office not in compliance. Notification of this action will be sent to all judges, district attorneys general, district public defenders and court clerks within the district where the noncomplying office is located. Notification will also be sent to the district attorneys general conference, the district public defenders conference, the administrative office of the courts and the county officials association of Tennessee. Any periods of noncompliance will also be reported in the annual report to the chair of the judiciary committee of the senate and the chair of the civil justice committee of the house of representatives.
(b) Any automated court information system being used or developed on or after July 1, 2003, including, but not limited to, the Tennessee court information system (TnCIS) being designed pursuant to § 16-3-803(h), shall ensure comparable data will be reported to the administrative office of the courts with respect to courts of record, and criminal cases in general sessions courts and municipal courts with general sessions jurisdiction, using the definitions and standards set forth in subsection (a). Each system shall use the Tennessee code citation on each criminal charge, and have the capability of using this information to classify the type and class of each charge.
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