(a) It is the duty of the clerk of each of the courts to:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 18-1-105

  • 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
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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
  • 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
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Sign all summons, writs, subpoenas, executions and process issued from the clerk’s court, and endorse on the back thereof the date of issuance;
(2) Keep the several dockets required by law in the respective courts, and keep a rule docket, in which shall be entered the names of complainants and defendants in full, the names of attorneys, a minute of the date of issuance and return of process, with return on process, and a note of all orders and proceedings made at office;
(3) Not change the style of any cause, or papers in the cause, without permission of the chancellor or judge presiding, after the cause has been docketed;
(4) Keep an execution docket, in which shall be entered, within the time after the adjournment of each court prescribed for issuing executions, all judgments or decrees, in the order of their rendition, with the names of all the plaintiffs and defendants in full, the day and year of rendition, the amount of the recovery and the amount of costs, the character and number of the execution, the date of its issuance and to what county issued, the person to whom delivered and the date of delivery, the date and substance of the return and the dates and amounts of money paid into and paid out of the clerk’s office;
(5) Keep a well-bound book, in which shall be entered the minutes of each day’s proceedings during the session of the court, in the order in which they are made;
(6) Record in well-bound books, within six (6) months after the final determination of any suit or prosecution, such proceedings as the clerk is required by law to enroll;
(7) Make and keep indexes, direct and reverse, for all books and dockets required to be kept by the clerk;
(8) Keep all the papers, books, dockets and records belonging to the clerk’s office, with care and security; the papers filed, arranged, numbered and labeled, so as to be of easy reference; and the books, dockets and records properly lettered; and allow parties to inspect the records free of charge;
(9) Attend court during the session of the court, with all the papers belonging to the term, so filed as to be of easy reference; keep in the courthouse, during the session, the execution docket for the two (2) preceding terms; and administer all oaths and affidavits in relation to causes or proceedings pending therein;
(10) On application and payment of the legal fees for a transcript, make out and deliver to any person applying for the transcript, a correct transcript, properly certified, of any paper or record in the clerk’s office;
(11) Perform such duties in regard to the state and county revenue as are prescribed by law under this code;
(12) Issue execution within the time prescribed by §§ 26-1-201 – 26-1-203; and
(13) Perform such other duties as are, or may be, required of the clerk by law.
(b) In the place of well-bound docket books as required in subdivisions (a)(5) and (6), the clerks may, in the alternate, subject to the approval and under the direction of the judges of the respective courts, use a file card system whereby a card would be kept in a loose-leaf file drawer under lock and key, upon which card the necessary entries required by law to be put on the docket would be made.
(c)

(1) Any information required to be kept as a public record by a clerk of any court may be maintained on a computer or removable computer storage media in lieu of docket books or other bound books; provided, that the following standards are met:

(A) The information is available for public inspection, unless it is a confidential record according to law;
(B) Due care is taken to maintain the information as a public record during the time required by law for retention;
(C) All daily data generated and stored within the computer system shall be copied to computer storage media daily, and the newly created computer storage media more than one (1) week old shall be stored at a location other than at the building where the original is maintained; and
(D) The clerk can provide a paper copy of the information when needed or when requested by a member of the public.
(2) Nothing in subdivision (c)(1) shall be construed as requiring the clerk to sell the media upon which the information is stored or maintained.
(d)

(1) Install and maintain the Tennessee court information system (TnCIS) as provided by the administrative office of the courts (AOC) or a functionally equivalent computer system. The implementation of TnCIS in the offices of the court clerks shall be determined by the TnCIS steering committee and shall be based on the availability of adequate funding. The TnCIS software shall be made available to all offices of court clerks, including those offices previously automated and those offices within Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton counties.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any court clerk office having a significant investment in an existing computer system shall not be required to acquire a new computer system, or to modify or convert an existing system to utilize the TnCIS software; provided, that those court clerk offices shall maintain a computer system that will report electronically all data required under Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 11, § II, or otherwise statutorily mandated; and the AOC shall provide for the necessary data transfers with other state agencies as defined by the AOC or as statutorily required.
(3) The AOC shall provide each court clerk in a county that has not installed TnCIS with a list of the data that is required under Rule 11, § II of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee or state law. The AOC and court clerks shall coordinate efforts to ensure that the court clerks submit the required data by January 1, 2022, and in an ongoing manner thereafter, pursuant to procedures established by the AOC.
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