Title 4, State Government

Except to the extent precluded by another provision of law, informal settlement of matters that may make unnecessary more elaborate proceedings under this chapter is encouraged. Agencies may establish specific procedures for attempting and executing informal settlement of matters…

(a) This chapter shall not apply to the military, the governor, the general assembly, the state building commission, the state funding board or the courts, nor shall it apply to county and municipal boards, commissions, committees, departments or officers. (b) Disciplinary and jo…

Unless otherwise provided by statute, no state board, commission or department composed of two (2) or more members or commissioners shall make any rule or declaratory rulings or finally determine any contested case, as the terms “rule” and “contested case” are defined in this cha…

(a) Any legislation that, in whole or in part, amends or repeals any provision of this chapter, or any legislation that reestablishes, restructures or otherwise delegates any type of rulemaking authority to any new or preexisting governmental entity to which this chapter applies,…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), all permanent rules filed in the office of secretary of state on or after January 1, 2023, that are in effect on May 1, 2024, and that are scheduled for expiration under § 4-5-226, on June 30, 2024, do not expire on June 30, 2024, but rem…

(a) Except where the right to petition for a rule is restricted by statute to a designated group or except where the form of procedure for such petition is otherwise prescribed by statute, any municipality, corporation or any five (5) or more persons having an interest in a rule …

(a) An agency shall precede all its rulemaking with notice and a public hearing unless:(1) The rule is adopted as an emergency rule; or(2) (A) The rule is promulgated as a proposed rule.(B) As used in this section, “proposed rule” and “proposed written rule” mean a rule that:(i) …

(a) Whenever an agency is required by law to hold a public hearing as part of its rulemaking process, the agency shall:(1) (A) Transmit written notice of the hearings to the secretary of state for publication in the notice section of the administrative register website and, if a …

(a) (1) The agency shall hold a public hearing at the time and place designated in the notice of hearing, and shall afford all interested persons or their representatives an opportunity to present facts, views or arguments relative to the proposal under consideration.(2) The pres…

(a) The agency shall consider fully all written and oral submissions respecting rules being proposed. (b) Upon adoption of a rule, the agency, if requested to do so by an interested person prior to adoption or within thirty (30) days thereafter, shall issue a concise statement of…

(a) It is the duty of the secretary of state to file the rules of each agency in a convenient and accessible manner. Each copy of a rule filed shall contain a citation of the authority pursuant to which it was adopted, and if an amendment, it shall clearly identify the original r…

No rule shall become effective unless it complies with §§ 4-5-206 and 4-5-211. No rule, unless filed as an emergency rule pursuant § 4-5-208, shall become effective until ninety (90) days after the filing of such rule in the office of the secretary of state.

(a) An agency may, upon stating its reasons in writing for making such findings, proceed without prior notice or hearing to adopt an emergency rule, if the agency finds that:(1) An immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare exists, and the nature of this danger is s…

Any reference in this code to public necessity rules shall be deemed to be a reference to emergency rules as provided in § 4-5-208. The Tennessee code commission is directed to change all references to public necessity rules, wherever such references appear in this code, to emerg…

(a) (1) All entities listed in chapter 29, part 2 of this title that establish or adopt guides to practice or that regulate professions that establish or adopt guides to practice shall promulgate rules specifying all provisions included in and relating to the guides to practice.(…

No rule shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state until such rule has been filed with the office of the attorney general and reporter. The office of the attorney general and reporter shall review the legality and constitutionality of every rule filed pursuant to this…

Prior to a rule being filed by a regulatory board, as defined in § 4-4-125(a), with the secretary of state pursuant to § 4-5-207 or § 4-5-208, the commissioner or chief executive officer of the administrative department under which a regulatory board operates or to which a regula…

(a) For the purposes of this section:(1) “Chapter” means the grouping of rules in the secretary of state's numbering system that follows the entity control number and division, if any, but is before the individual rule number; and(2) “Department” means an administrative departmen…

(a) A rule may be withdrawn by the agency proposing the rule at any point prior to the effective date of the rule. The withdrawal shall become effective upon delivery of a written notification of such withdrawal to the office of the secretary of state and shall result in the null…

(a) Prior to the effective date of the rule, the agency proposing the rule may stay the running of the ninety-day period required by § 4-5-207 for a period of time not to exceed seventy-five (75) days. The stay shall become effective at such time as the agency files written notic…

Any agency rule not adopted in compliance with this chapter shall be void and of no effect and shall not be effective against any person or party nor shall it be invoked by the agency for any purpose.

In addition to other rulemaking requirements imposed by law, each agency shall adopt rules of practice setting forth the nature and requirements of all formal and informal procedures available, including, where practical, a description of all forms and instructions used by the ag…

(a) Each agency shall make available for inspection and copying:(1) Agency rules, final orders and decisions;(2) Written statements of policy or interpretations formulated, adopted or used by the agency in the discharge of its functions;(3) Opinions of the attorney general and re…

(a) The secretary of state, from time to time, may adopt, in accordance with the rulemaking requirements of this chapter, model rules of procedure appropriate for use by as many agencies as possible. (b) The model rules shall deal with all general functions and duties performed i…

(a) After a rule is filed, the secretary of state shall, within seven (7) days of its acceptance, add the filed rule to the appropriate location within the portion of the secretary of state's website devoted to this chapter. The secretary of state's website shall contain the foll…

(a) (1) With respect to the publication of the administrative code to be cited as the rules and regulations of the state of Tennessee, and with regard to the publication of the monthly administrative register to be cited as the Tennessee administrative register, the secretary of …

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, in addition to other rulemaking requirements imposed by law, each agency shall maintain the following written records on each rule adopted by such agency:(A) The rule, in writing, signed by the person proposing such rule;(B) A roll…

(a) Any affected person may petition an agency for a declaratory order as to the validity or applicability of a statute, rule or order within the primary jurisdiction of the agency. The agency shall:(1) Convene a contested case hearing pursuant to this chapter and issue a declara…

(a) Whenever an agency is petitioned for a declaratory order, that agency shall:(1) Submit electronically to the secretary of state the notice of hearing for publication in the notice section of the administrative register website and, if a statute applicable to the specific agen…

(a) The legal validity or applicability of a statute, rule or order of an agency to specified circumstances may be determined in a suit for a declaratory judgment in the chancery court of Davidson County, unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, if the court finds that …

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, unless legislation is enacted to continue a rule to a date certain or indefinitely, any permanent rule filed in the office of the secretary of state shall expire on June 30 of the year following the year of its filing. (b) (1) No…

Upon filing a rule with the secretary of state, an agency may designate a date on which the effectiveness of such rule will automatically terminate. Such a designation shall be made either within the substantive language of the rule or on a form provided for such purpose by the s…

(a) On any rule and regulation proposed to be promulgated, the proposing agency shall state in a simple declarative sentence, without additional comments on the merits or the policy of the rule or regulation, whether the rule or regulation may have a projected financial impact on…

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), any new fee or fee increase promulgated by state agency rule, in accordance with this chapter, shall take effect on July 1, following expiration of the ninety (90) days as provided in § 4-5-207. (b) This section shall not apply t…

(a) (1) On July 1 of every year, each agency that is subject to review under chapter 29 of this title shall submit a list of all policies that have been adopted by the agencies in the past year to the chair of the government operations committee of the senate and the chair of the…

(a) No agency created by statute and subject to review under chapter 29 of this title shall promulgate rules or implement policies that infringe on an agency member's freedom of speech in violation of the Constitution of Tennessee, Article I, § 19, or the First Amendment of the U…

(a) (a) An agency shall not adopt a rule establishing numeric criteria or numeric limitations applicable to a contaminant, pollutant, hazardous substance, solid waste, or hazardous waste, as those terms are defined in title 68 and 69, that relates to drinking water, water polluti…

(a) All permanent rules filed in the office of secretary of state on or after January 1, 2024, that are in effect on May 2, 2025, and that are scheduled for expiration under § 4-5-226, on June 30, 2025, do not expire on June 30, 2025, but remain in effect until repealed or amende…

(a) As used in this section, “fiscal impact statement” means the estimate of the actual cost of compliance of a new or amended rule based on its projected and collective fiscal impact on the regulated community, excluding speculative, anticompetitive, or hypothetical costs, and t…

(a) In the hearing of any contested case, the proceedings or any part thereof shall be conducted:(1) In the presence of the requisite number of members of the agency as prescribed by law and in the presence of an administrative judge or hearing officer; or(2) By an administrative…

(a) Any administrative judge, hearing officer or agency member shall be subject to disqualification for bias, prejudice, interest or any other cause provided in this chapter or for any cause for which a judge may be disqualified. (b) Any party may petition for the disqualificatio…

(a) A person who has served as an investigator, prosecutor or advocate in a contested case may not serve as an administrative judge or hearing officer or assist or advise an administrative judge or hearing officer in the same proceeding. (b) A person who is subject to the authori…

(a) Unless required for the disposition of ex parte matters specifically authorized by statute, an administrative judge, hearing officer or agency member serving in a contested case proceeding may not communicate, directly or indirectly, regarding any issue in the proceeding, whi…

(a) Any party may participate in the hearing in person or, if the party is a corporation or other artificial person, by a duly authorized representative. (b) Whether or not participating in person, any party may be advised and represented at the party's own expense by counsel or,…

(a) (1) In any action set for hearing, the administrative judge or hearing officer assigned to hear the case may direct the parties or the attorneys for the parties, or both, to appear before the administrative judge or hearing officer for a conference to consider:(A) The simplif…

(a) In a contested case, all parties shall be afforded an opportunity for hearing after reasonable notice. (b) In all proceedings the notice shall include:(1) A statement of the time, place, nature of the hearing, and the right to be represented by counsel;(2) A statement of the …