Title 5, Counties

The county mayor for each county may employ one (1) or more clerical assistants as may be necessary for the performance of the county mayor's official duties. The county mayor shall establish the compensation of any such assistant within the amount appropriated for such purpose b…

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “County” means a county or metropolitan form of government, including any consolidated government established pursuant to the power granted by the Constitution of Tennessee, Article XI, § 9;(2) “Energy project…

(a) (1) The duties of the county mayor in regard to any petition filed pursuant to title 7, chapter 82, are transferred to the water and wastewater treatment authority board under title 68, chapter 221, part 6 in any county that has created such authority. The preceding sentence …

(a) The county mayor for each county may appoint a fire marshal, whose duty shall be to coordinate the efforts of volunteer fire departments, enforce local fire safety regulations and assist in the prevention of fire and arson. If a county fire marshal is employed, the county may…

(a) Any law, private act or general act of local application in conflict with this chapter and chapters 1 and 5 of this title is hereby repealed. (b) Any law, private act or general law of local application not in conflict with this chapter and chapters 1 and 5 of this title shal…

Each county may acquire and hold property for county purposes, and make all contracts necessary or expedient for the management, control and improvement thereof, and for the better exercise of its civil and political powers, and may make any order for the disposition of its prope…

All deeds, conveyances or grants that have been, or may be, made to any officer or person for the use or benefit of the county, vest in such county the title as fully as if made to such county by name, but such conveyances hereafter shall be made to the county.

The county legislative body of every county, a majority of the members being present and voting for it, may purchase and hold suitable sites for offices of the county clerks, and such other county offices as may be deemed expedient by the legislative body.

It is the duty of the county legislative body to erect a courthouse, jail, and other necessary county buildings.

(a) The courthouse and all county buildings provided by the county for the county officers shall be erected within the limits of the county town; provided, that the jail and county highway department garage may be erected outside the limits of the county town but within the bound…

The county buildings are to be erected and kept in order and repair at the expense of the county, under the direction of the county legislative body, and it may levy a special tax for this purpose.

The county legislative body is authorized, but not required, to employ a competent person to superintend the construction and repair of such county buildings, bridges, levees, etc., as may be necessary; the superintendent to be paid such salary as may be agreed upon, out of the c…

(a) (1) The sheriff has charge of the courthouse, unless some other person is specially appointed by the county legislative body for that purpose, and shall prevent trespasses, exclude intruders, and keep it and the grounds attached thereto in order, reporting from time to time t…

(a) Any county mayor of any county whose courthouse is equipped with a flag pole shall have the right to request and be furnished with a flag of the state of Tennessee, which flag shall be displayed by the county authority upon proper occasions. (b) Any county mayor desiring such…

(a) The county jail shall be of sufficient size and strength to contain and keep securely the inmates confined therein, and shall contain at least two (2) apartments, one (1) for males and one (1) for females. (b) The county jail shall be properly heated and ventilated, and have …

Whenever, in the opinion of a majority of the members of the county legislative body, two thirds (⅔) of them being present, the site of a jail or public prison, or courthouse, is unhealthy, insecure or inconvenient in its location to the county or to the town, or inhabitants of t…

Any deed of conveyance of the old site of the prison or courthouse, made by the project superintendents, duly proved or acknowledged and registered, shall be effectual to vest a valid title in the purchaser.

Each county is authorized to display, in county public buildings and on county public grounds, replicas of historical documents, including, but not limited to, the Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, Bill of R…

Each county may lease land or existing buildings owned by the county to any person, corporation, partnership or association for such consideration and upon such terms as in the judgment of the governing body are in the interest of the county.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any county operating a water utility system pursuant to previous transfer or merger under the authority of title 7, chapter 82, or operating under private acts, or otherwise, may by resolution agree to transfer all or any part of…

(a) The county mayor or the county mayor's designee is authorized to establish policies pursuant to which a suitable number of persons may be employed and commissioned as county security officers. (b) All security officers employed pursuant to this section must meet the minimum c…

Notwithstanding any rule, regulation or other law to the contrary, any county, upon two-thirds (⅔) vote of the county legislative body, may dispose of real property at a nominal cost by private negotiation and sale to a nonprofit corporation, incorporated under the laws of this s…

(a) County revenue is derived from taxes on property, privileges, litigation, merchants, peddlers; from fines and forfeitures; and from money remaining unclaimed more than two (2) years in clerks' offices. (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a county is authorized to acc…

(a) Privilege Taxes Authorized. Each county is empowered to levy privilege taxes upon merchants and such other vocations, occupations or businesses as are declared to be privileges, not exceeding in amount that levied by the state for state purposes. (b) Motor Vehicle Tax — Autho…

The property and privileges that are taxable or exempt from taxation, for county purposes, are the same that are taxable or exempt from taxation for state revenue.

Fines, amercements, forfeitures, and recoveries in prosecutions for offenses below the grade of petit larceny, shall be applied to the use of the county where they originate.

Fines and forfeitures arising in pursuance of the judgment of any judge of the court of general sessions, on any penal statute, shall belong to the county.

A book, to be called the revenue docket, shall be kept by the county clerk, in which the county clerk shall record all the sources of the county revenue, whether consisting of taxes upon property, or upon sales of merchandise and patent medicines, or on the exercise of privileges…

(a) Any revenue of a county, the use of which is not otherwise expressly restricted, and that is derived from taxes levied by the state and distributed to the various counties, from which taxes the cities likewise receive a portion thereof from the state collection, and any reven…

Counties of this state, acting through their appropriate governing bodies, have the power and are authorized to apply for, receive and disburse for public purposes grants, loans and funds from the federal and state governments or any department or agency thereof authorized to adm…

(a) (1) The county legislative body in regular session assembled, a quorum being present, is authorized to adopt a resolution to contract with a bank or banks making the highest and best bid or bids to pay interest on daily balances of the county's funds; and to appoint three (3)…

The finance committee, to carry out the will of the county legislative body, shall be vested with full power to formulate, make and sign a contract upon the terms and conditions specified, which contract shall be approved by the county mayor, and attested by the county clerk, wit…

When the contract has been signed on the part of the county, and also signed by the proper officers, on the part of the bank or banks under the seal thereof, and a good and sufficient bond has been executed by the bank or banks, for the faithful performance of the contract and to…

Upon the receipt of the notice and order specified in § 5-8-203, it is made the duty of the county trustee to place all funds in the notice in the bank or banks designated therein.

From the date of the deposit, which shall be evidenced by the bank book, the county trustee shall be released from liability for losses to the county in consequence of the contract and deposit; but should the county trustee fail or refuse specifically to obey the order specified …

Before the fifteenth of each month, each of the contracting banks shall render a statement to the county trustee, showing the balance on hand and the interest thereon due the county to the first of the month, and the county trustee shall, in the county trustee's monthly report to…

(a) (1) Every county official handling public funds shall be required to maintain an official bank account in a bank or banks within this state, and shall, within three (3) days after the receipt by such county official of any public funds, deposit the funds to the credit of such…

(a) Each county trustee may adopt a checking system for the disbursing of county funds by the county trustee as prescribed by this section by giving at least thirty (30) days notice to each official authorized to sign checks. Once adopted, any trustee may, with the approval of th…

(a) It is the policy of this state and the several counties that all idle county funds shall be invested to the maximum extent practical according to the following:(1) Idle county funds derived from bond proceeds shall be invested in accordance with subsection (b);(2) Idle county…

(a) For the purpose of carrying out § 5-8-301, the county legislative body of the several counties may appoint a committee with authority to designate the types of investments, the amounts of those investments and the maturity of those investments. (b) No liability shall attach t…

The county mayor is required, in making settlements with clerks, to ascertain what amount of money is in their hands due to witnesses and officers, that may have been collected by them from suitors, and that has been in the hands of the clerk for more than two (2) years, and such…

(a) The several clerks shall, upon oath, produce their books and papers, and point out to the county mayor the items so collected by them and remaining in their hands, mentioned in § 5-8-401; and the county mayor shall examine the books minutely, and interrogate the clerks with a…

The person to whom any money paid into the county treasury is due may apply to the county mayor for a warrant for the amount due that person, and, on presenting this warrant to the county trustee, the county trustee shall pay the amount, as in other cases, out of any money in the…

This part shall apply to clerks of the appeals and supreme courts, who are required to pay over to the county mayor of the county in which the suits originated, as other county revenue, on the first day of January, April, July, and October of each year, all moneys in their hands …