Title 8, Public Officers And Employees

Unless good and sufficient reason can be shown why the particular state agency should not render such aid, any request by the comptroller of the treasury shall be honored and the agency so requested shall give full aid, support and cooperation to the comptroller of the treasury i…

(1) The comptroller of the treasury, in its discretion, may investigate an allegation of a felony that is classified as Class B or higher involving private funds if:(1) The investigation is requested by the attorney general and reporter or the district attorney general of a judic…

If the comptroller of the treasury dies, resigns, or is, from any cause, disabled from performing the duties of office, the governor shall appoint some person well qualified to act in the comptroller of the treasury's stead, who shall take the same oaths, give the same bonds, in …

(a) There is created the office of assistant comptroller of the treasury who shall serve as such during any emergency when the regular comptroller of the treasury is disabled or disqualified from performing the duties of the office. (b) If the general assembly is not in session w…

(a) In no event shall the person so appointed as assistant comptroller of the treasury serve as such except during the existence of the emergency, and the governor shall determine when such emergency exists and when it terminates and shall so declare. (b) The action of the govern…

Such person appointed or elected as assistant comptroller of the treasury shall possess all the qualifications required of the comptroller of the treasury and shall file such bond as is required to be filed by the comptroller of the treasury under the statutes, and shall take the…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Advocacy for Honest and Appropriate Government Spending Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Community grant” means federal funds made available to the state of Tennessee for administration and distribution pursuant to any of the following programs:(A) The maternal and child health block grant program;(…

The office of the comptroller of the treasury shall establish, maintain, and publicize a toll-free telephonic and web-based hotline for the purpose of receiving allegations of fraud, waste, or abuse of public funds.

(a) Throughout the period in which a state agency or community grant agency receives public funds, the entity shall display in a prominent place, a sign at least eleven inches (11″) in height and seventeen inches (17″) in width stating:NOTICE:THIS AGENCY IS A RECIPIENT OF TAXPAYE…

Through press releases, public service announcements, or other appropriate public information activities, the office of the comptroller of the treasury shall attempt to educate both private citizens and public employees of the availability of a mechanism to report, and the respon…

(a) The office of the comptroller of the treasury shall review all notifications received through the hotline pursuant to this part and shall maintain a record of each meritorious notification involving an activity related to state agency or community grant supported services. Th…

(a) The detailed information received and generated pursuant to this part shall be considered confidential working papers of the comptroller of the treasury and is therefore not an open record pursuant to title 10, chapter 7. (b) Each year the office of the comptroller of the tre…

The office of the comptroller of the treasury shall procure uniform signs, printed in accordance with § 8-4-404, which shall be available, upon request, for distribution without cost to each state agency and community grant agency.

(a) Any person who knowingly provides false information pursuant to this part commits a Class C misdemeanor. (b) Any person making an allegation in good faith pursuant to this part is immune from civil or criminal liability for making the allegation, even if the allegation proves…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Local Government Instances of Fraud Reporting Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Public entity” means any branch or agency of a county, municipality, public utility, utility district, entity created pursuant to any interlocal agreement, or any other political subdivision thereof;(2) “Public …

(a) A public official with knowledge based upon available information that reasonably causes the public official to believe that unlawful conduct has occurred shall report the information in a reasonable amount of time to the office of the comptroller of the treasury. (b) A certi…

(a) If acting in good faith, a public official, or a certified public accountant or firm, makes a report, as required by § 8-4-503, the person or firm shall not be liable in any civil or criminal action that is based solely upon:(1) The person's or firm's decision to report what …

The detailed information received and generated pursuant to this part shall be considered confidential working papers of the comptroller of the treasury and is therefore not an open record pursuant to title 10, chapter 7.

(a) There is created the office of open records counsel to answer questions and provide information to public officials and the public regarding public records. The role of the office shall also include collecting data on open meetings law inquiries and problems and providing edu…

(a) There is created an advisory committee on open government to provide guidance and advice for the office of open records counsel. (b) (1) The advisory committee shall consist of fourteen (14) members to be appointed for a term of four (4) years; provided, that the five (5) mem…

(a) (1) The advisory committee shall, with the guidance of the office of open records counsel, hold meetings to review and provide written comments, if requested, on any proposed legislation regarding the open meetings laws, compiled in chapter 44 of this title, and the open reco…

(a) The office of open records counsel shall establish:(1) (A) A schedule of reasonable charges that a records custodian may use as a guideline to charge a citizen requesting copies of public records pursuant to title 10, chapter 7, part 5. In establishing the schedule, the offic…

For purposes of this part, “small business” means a business entity, including its affiliates, that employs fifty (50) or fewer full-time employees.

(a) There shall be a small business advocate within the office of the comptroller of the treasury to answer questions and provide information to residents of this state who are starting a small business or who already own a small business. (b) The small business advocate is autho…

(a) Each department and agency in state government that has any regulatory authority over business activity shall appoint a person from existing executive service personnel who shall serve as a contact person for the small business advocate when the advocate has an issue or quest…

(1) The small business advocate shall:(1) Work with each state agency and department with regulatory authority over businesses to ensure that small business owners who receive or are subject to an audit, on-site inspection, compliance assistance effort, or other enforcement-relat…

The small business advocate shall report annually to the commerce and labor committee of the senate and the commerce committee of the house of representatives regarding evaluating the enforcement activities of department and agency personnel, including a rating of the responsiven…

The small business advocate shall annually prepare a report on the advocate's activities, findings and recommendations to the governor, members of the general assembly and to the heads of affected state departments and agencies. Prior to publishing the report, the small business …

The contact information for the small business advocate shall be published on the comptroller of the treasury's website. The website shall also include the names of all contact persons for each state department and agency as provided in § 8-4-703.

There shall be a state treasurer, who shall be elected by the joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, and shall hold office for the term of two (2) years, and until a successor is elected and qualified.

Previous to the convening of each biennial general assembly, the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives may call upon the comptroller of the treasury to submit and review with them a current audit of the office of the treasurer. The speakers may app…

The state treasurer shall take an oath before a judge of the supreme, appeals, or circuit court, or a chancellor, to support the Constitutions of Tennessee and of the United States, and faithfully to execute the duties of the office.

The state treasurer shall keep office in the room assigned to the state treasurer in the capitol, and shall perform all the duties appertaining thereto by law, or which may be required of the state treasurer by resolution of the general assembly.

The state treasurer shall keep in a book or books, under distinct heads, true, faithful, and just accounts of all the money received from time to time by virtue of such office, and also of all such sums of money as the state treasurer shall pay out of the treasury on warrants rec…

The state treasurer shall keep a general ledger of accounts, into which the state treasurer shall post all of the receipts and disbursements of the office, arranging the receipts and disbursements under the appropriate accounts. The state treasurer shall open in the ledger a gene…

The state treasurer shall keep accounts in the books of the office with the individual banks in which the public revenue or money is deposited, with such balances being reconciled to the individual bank statement balances on a monthly basis, showing the amount in the bank to the …

The state treasurer shall, moreover, keep a general account, which shall be reconciled to balances maintained by the commissioner of finance and administration, in the accounts section, and with the individual banks in which the public revenue or money is deposited on a monthly b…

(a) The state treasurer is designated as the custodian of all negotiable instruments deposited as collateral with the state or any department thereof, and shall be exclusively responsible for their safekeeping. (b) It is the duty of each department head or other person in the sta…

The state treasurer shall exhibit to the governor, at least ten (10) days before the meeting of the general assembly, an exact statement of the balance in the state treasury to the credit of the state, with a summary of the receipts and payments of the state treasury during the t…

If the state treasurer diverts, misapplies, or fails to pay over any money paid, or which by law is required to be paid, into the state treasury, contrary to law, the state treasurer shall forfeit the office and be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit whatsoever in …

Whenever the office of state treasurer becomes vacant, by death, resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the general assembly, the governor shall immediately fill it by appointing some person qualified to discharge its duties. The person appointed shall, before entering u…

(a) There is created the additional office of state treasurer to serve during any emergency when the regular state treasurer is incapacitated or disabled because of illness, or other cause, and therefore cannot perform the duties of the office. (b) (1) If the general assembly is …

(a) The person so appointed or elected shall possess all of the qualifications now required by statute for the regular state treasurer, and compensation for such person shall be fixed by the governor, but in no event shall the compensation so paid exceed that prescribed by law fo…

The attorney general and reporter for the state is appointed by the judges of the supreme court. The term of office is eight (8) years. A certificate of appointment, signed by all the judges, shall be entered upon the minutes of the court at the first session thereafter at Knoxvi…