(a) Physical evidence other than documents and firearms used in judicial proceedings and in the custody of a court in cases where all appeals or potential appeals of a judgment have ended or when the case has been settled, dismissed or otherwise brought to a conclusion, may be disposed of as follows:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 18-1-206

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • 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.
  • 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
(1) The clerk of the court having custody of the physical evidence to be disposed of shall notify the attorneys of record in the case for which the evidence was used that certain enumerated items are no longer needed by the court and that they have thirty (30) days from the date of notification to claim any of the items belonging to them or their clients. If after thirty (30) days the attorneys have not claimed and removed the items of evidence, the clerk shall dispose of the evidence in the manner prescribed by subdivisions (a)(2)-(7);
(2) The clerk of the court having custody of the physical evidence to be disposed of shall annually inventory the physical evidence and prepare a list of the evidence proposed to be destroyed with references to the case involved and the term of court in which the evidence was used;
(3) The clerk shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three (3) consecutive weeks the proposed list of items of physical evidence selected for disposition;
(4) Parties interested in the disposition of physical evidence may submit a petition to the court stating their objections to the proposed disposition within thirty (30) days of the initial newspaper publication;
(5) After the time for filing petitions objecting to the disposition has passed, the clerk shall submit the list with any filed petition to the court. The court shall approve or reject each item on the list and shall order that each particular item be disposed of in one (1) of the following ways:

(A) Returned to the owner or the owner’s attorney of record if the attorney agrees;
(B) Preserved by a specified organization for historical purposes;
(C) Sold; or
(D) Destroyed;
(6) The clerk shall deliver the order and the items approved for disposition to the custody of the sheriff or the chief of police in counties having a metropolitan form of government for disposition in accordance with the order of the court; and
(7) The sheriff shall deliver the physical evidence to the owner or owners or to the organization or organizations when so ordered, personally or by return receipt mail. When ordered to sell physical evidence, the sheriff shall advertise in a newspaper of general circulation the sales, for not less than three (3) editions and not less than thirty (30) days prior to the sales. The sheriff shall conduct a public sale and maintain a record of each sale and the amount received. The proceeds of the sale or sales shall be deposited forthwith in the county general fund. When ordered to destroy physical evidence, the sheriff shall completely destroy each item by cutting, crushing, burning or melting and shall file an affidavit concerning the destruction with the clerk of the court ordering the destruction, showing a description of each item, the method of destruction, the date and place of destruction and the names and addresses of all witnesses. In counties having a metropolitan form of government, all references to the sheriff in this subdivision (a)(7) means the chief of police.
(b) This section shall not act to amend or repeal any of the provisions of any private act or acts that provide for the disposal of physical evidence or exhibits used in any judicial proceeding in any county having a population of over six hundred thousand (600,000), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census.
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