(a) The duties of the Tennessee ethics commission include the following:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 3-6-106

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • 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.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Recommend guiding principles of ethical conduct for consideration and adoption by the legislative or executive branches. The commission shall publish the guiding principles on the commission’s website. Guiding principles of ethical conduct may be recommended for each of the following classifications:

(A) Members of the general assembly;
(B) The governor, secretary of state, treasurer, comptroller of the treasury, members of the governor’s cabinet, and cabinet level staff within the governor’s office; and
(C) Lobbyists and employers of lobbyists;
(2) Develop filing, coding and cross-indexing systems;
(3) Make as many documents filed available for viewing on the Internet as is reasonable based on the commission’s financial resources, and make each document filed available for public inspection and copying during regular office hours at the expense of any person requesting copies of the documents; provided, that this subdivision (a)(3) does not apply to those documents required to be confidential pursuant to § 3-6-202;
(4) Review all filed documents to ensure compliance with the laws administered and enforced by the commission. Statements filed with the commission for more than two (2) years shall be deemed to be sufficient, absent a showing of fraud or the existence of an ongoing investigation related to the statement;
(5) Accept and file any information voluntarily supplied that exceeds the requirements of this chapter;
(6) Prepare and publish on the commission’s website reports as are deemed to be appropriate and in the public interest by the commission, including quarterly reports listing alphabetically all registered lobbyists and employers of lobbyists, as defined in part 3 of this chapter;
(7) Prepare and publish manuals and guides to facilitate compliance with, and enforcement of, the laws administered and enforced by the commission;
(8) Administer ethics training as provided in this part;
(9) Provide an annual report to the governor and the general assembly by July 1 concerning the administration and enforcement of laws under the jurisdiction of the commission, including the necessity, or lack of necessity, for any additional action or additional legislation that will serve to further the purposes of this chapter;
(10) Investigate any alleged violation, upon sworn complaint or upon its own motion, as provided in § 3-6-201; and
(11) Preserve all filed reports or statements for a period of at least five (5) years from the date of receipt, or longer when there is a pending investigation by the commission or any law enforcement agency, or when there is an ongoing administrative or judicial proceeding related to the information.
(b) It is the duty of the attorney general and reporter to render opinions and give counsel to the commission upon the request of the executive director or the commission.
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