Title 5, Counties

Suits may be maintained against a county for any just claim, as against other corporations.

Suits for the use and benefit of any county in this state against any delinquent officer or such officer's sureties, for moneys or funds due such county, shall be brought in the name of the state of Tennessee, for the use of the county for the benefit of which such suit may be br…

The performance of any duty made incumbent by law upon the county may be enforced by mandamus from the circuit court, according to the nature of the case.

The different counties shall be laid off, as the general assembly may direct, into districts of convenient size, so that the whole number in each county shall not be more than twenty-five (25), or four (4) for every one hundred square miles (100 sq. mi.).

The districts already laid off in the several counties shall continue until altered in the manner pointed out by law.

(a) (1) The county legislative body shall make, or have made, a map showing civil districts of the county and shall have typed or printed a description of the boundaries of the civil districts.(2) The county legislative body shall make, or have made, a map showing the county dist…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), prior to January 1, 1982, and at least every ten (10) years thereafter, county legislative bodies of the different counties shall meet and, a majority of the members being present and concurring, shall change the boundaries of dis…

The recordkeeping role of the present civil districts shall be left undisturbed, and the boundaries of civil districts shall be preserved as they exist at the time of the apportionment of the county legislative bodies and on March 7, 1978.

The county legislative body of any county and the chief legislative body of any one (1) or more municipalities lying within the boundaries of the county are authorized and empowered to enter into any such agreements, compacts or contractual relations as may be desirable or necess…

(a) The county legislative bodies of any two (2) or more contiguous counties are empowered to enter into such agreements, contractual arrangements or compacts as they may deem necessary and desirable, in order to provide for the joint conducting or financing of any of the functio…

(a) The authority in this section is permissive and not mandatory and may or may not be exercised by a county, as each county deems appropriate. (b) If it is determined by the appropriate department or person, as designated by the governing body of a county, that any owner of rec…

(a) If the county legislative body or any agency or instrumentality thereof incorporates by reference a building code, safety and health code, or any other standardized code or document, a copy of such code or document shall be obtained and retained as a public record by the resp…

In any county, including those having a metropolitan form of government, any department, agency, or office, working in conjunction with the sheriff's office of such county, may sponsor or participate in a “sober ride program”, which may include, but is not limited to, the provisi…

(a) Counties, by resolution of their respective legislative bodies, in addition to other powers authorized by general law or private act, may exercise the following powers granted to all or certain municipalities by the following code sections:(1) Section 6-2-201(3)-(8), (10)-(13…

Counties, by resolution of their respective legislative bodies, may condemn property, real or personal, or any easement, interest, or estate or use therein, for present or future public use, either within or without the county, in accordance with the terms and provisions of title…

Counties, by resolution of their respective legislative bodies, may license and regulate dogs and cats, establish and operate shelters and other animal control facilities, and regulate, capture, impound and dispose of stray dogs, stray cats and other stray animals.

Counties, by resolution of their respective legislative bodies, may establish a monetary penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation of a rule or regulation that the county legislative body is authorized to adopt.

The powers granted to counties by this part do not include the regulation of buildings used primarily for agricultural purposes; it being the intent of the general assembly that the powers granted to counties by this part should not be used to inhibit normal agricultural activiti…

The general sessions court or court exercising the powers of a general sessions court in any county has jurisdiction of matters related to §§ 5-1-118 — 5-1-123, and has the power to enforce regulations and resolutions by which counties may exercise authority under this part. In t…

Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any county that owns and operates a hospital is authorized to enter into any contract or agreement that any privately owned hospital operating under title 68 is authorized to enter into, including, but not limited to, agreements auth…

(a) It is hereby declared unlawful for any county official or employee to purchase from the county any property declared to be surplus by the county except by bid at public auction or competitive sealed bid during the tenure of such person's office or employment, or for six (6) m…

(a) A county may require all persons prior to employment with such county to:(1) Agree to the release of all investigative records to the county for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of criminal violation information contained on an employment application; and(2) Supply a fin…

(a) No later than January 1, 2009, every municipality and county, including any county having a charter form of government or metropolitan government, shall post its charter of incorporation, as most recently revised or amended, on a web site maintained by the municipality or cou…

When a county, including any county having a charter or metropolitan form of government, is required by any law or its charter to sell surplus property by public auction, “public auction” includes the sale by Internet auction.

(a) (1) It is the intent of the general assembly that all appropriate actions should be taken to authorize the local legislative body in any county having a population of not less than one hundred sixty thousand six hundred (160,600) nor more than one hundred sixty thousand seven…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any contract or agreement, together with all supporting records and documentation, that obligates public funds as part of a county's economic and community development program to assist new and existing businesses and industries i…

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a county legislative body may adopt a resolution by a majority vote prohibiting term limits for persons appointed to boards or commissions by the county mayor if the appointee serves without compensation, not including reimbursement for tr…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Business” means any enterprise carried on for the purpose of gain or economic profit; and(2) “Gross receipts”:(A) Means all receipts from whatever sources derived before any deductions; and(B) Does not include tips, gratuities, or other amounts cu…

(a) As used in this section, “online marketplace” means a person or entity that:(1) Provides for consideration, regardless of whether the consideration is deducted as a fee from the transaction, an online application, software, website, system, or other medium, through which a go…

A county may regulate junkyards located within the county's boundaries, by rule, regulation, ordinance, zoning, or private act, as long as the rules or regulations are at least as stringent as those promulgated pursuant to the authority contained in the Junkyard Control Act of 19…

(a) (1) A county government shall not use a discriminatory preference in an effort to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion or establish or maintain an office, division, or department for such purposes. All mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enfor…

(a) The general assembly finds that local governments are at their most effective when the employees of the local government are the most highly qualified candidates for employment with the local government and that hiring decisions should be based on merit rather than any other …

(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (d), each department, agency, or official of a county who assesses and collects a fee related to development in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) shall maintain documentation describing the justification and cost basis for such fe…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “County” includes a county with a metropolitan or charter form of government; and(2) “Local rules of procedure” means a set of formal, written regulations adopted by a legislative body to govern the conduct of its own internal business. (1) “County…

A county mayor may order the flags flown on county property to be lowered to half-staff to honor the death of a prominent citizen of that county.

(a) The general assembly occupies the entire field of the regulation of shopping carts, including, but not limited to, their purchase, use, taxation, manufacture, ownership, sale, storage, and transportation, to the exclusion of all county or metropolitan government laws, ordinan…

(a) It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent and purpose of this part to provide for the right to charter for counties as an alternate form of county government. (b) This part shall be liberally construed as a utilization of the constitutional power granted by amendment…

(a) After adoption of a charter pursuant to this part, no right, power, duty, obligation or function of any officer, agency or office of such county shall be retained and continued unless this part or the charter of such county expressly so provides, or unless such retention and …

(a) Each county in this state may adopt a charter form of government as provided in this part. (b) Such charter when complete shall result in the creation and establishment of an alternate form of county government to perform all the governmental and corporate functions previousl…

(a) The initial step in a charter form of county government shall be the creation of a charter commission. (b) (1) The charter commission may be created by the adoption of a charter resolution by the legislative body of a county.(2) Such resolution shall be adopted by a majority …

(a) Upon the adoption of a charter resolution by the legislative body of a county or by petition of the voters, which resolution provides for an election of the members of a charter commission, it shall be the duty of the county election commission to call an election to elect me…

(a) The members of the charter commission shall hold an organizational meeting at the courthouse at ten o'clock a.m. (10:00 a.m.) on the fifth weekday following their certification of election or, alternatively, as the case may be, on the fifth weekday following ratification by t…

(a) Whenever any charter commission is established, it shall be the duty of the legislative body of the county to appropriate sufficient funds to defray the expenses of such commission, which appropriation shall be not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). Such funds shall …

(a) Each charter commission shall prepare and file the charter proposed by it not later than nine (9) months after the date of its initial meeting, or within such extended limit of time as may be authorized by resolution of the legislative body of the county. (b) The chair of the…

(a) After a copy of the proposed charter has been certified to the county election commission, as provided in § 5-1-208, it shall be the duty of the county election commission to hold a referendum election for the ratification or rejection of the proposed charter. (b) The ballots…

(1) The proposed county charter shall provide:(1) For the creation of an alternative form of county government vested with any and all powers that counties are, or may hereafter be, authorized or required to exercise under the Constitution and general laws of the state, and any a…