(a) A person residing in a municipality or county who believes a state governmental entity or official has violated § 4-42-103 may file a complaint in chancery court in that person’s county of residence.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 4-42-104

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • 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.
  • Official: means an agent, employee, member, or representative of a state governmental entity, but does not mean the attorney general and reporter. See Tennessee Code 4-42-102
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Sanctuary policy: means any directive, order, ordinance, resolution, practice, or policy, whether formally enacted, informally adopted, or otherwise effectuated, that:
    (A) Limits or prohibits any state governmental entity or official from communicating or cooperating with federal agencies or officials to verify or report the immigration status of any alien. See Tennessee Code 4-42-102
  • 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
  • State governmental entity: means any state agency, bureau, commission, council, department, law enforcement agency, or unit thereof, but does not mean the office of the attorney general and reporter. See Tennessee Code 4-42-102
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(b) The person filing the complaint has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation of § 4-42-103 has occurred.
(c) If the court finds the state governmental entity or official is in violation of § 4-42-103, the court shall issue a writ of mandamus against the entity or official ordering the entity or official to comply with § 4-42-103, enjoin the entity or official from further interference, and take other action to ensure compliance as is within the jurisdiction of the court.
(d) A state governmental entity or official has no less than one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of the court’s order to comply with the order. If, after one hundred twenty (120) days, the entity or official has not complied with the court’s order, the court may take whatever action necessary to enforce compliance.
(e) Upon a finding by the court that a state governmental entity or official has adopted or enacted a sanctuary policy, the state governmental entity, or the entity to which the official belongs, becomes ineligible to enter into any grant contract with the department of economic and community development. Ineligibility commences on the date the court finds that the state governmental entity or official is in violation of § 4-42-103 and continues until such time that the court certifies that the sanctuary policy is repealed, rescinded, or otherwise no longer in effect.
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