Tennessee in the United States
Legal Materials
Lexis posts a free, unannotated edition of the Tennessee Code. Internet links to Tennessee government agencies, statutes, regulations, cases, etc. are posted by FindLaw and WashLaw. Primary legal materials are also available from Lexis, Westlaw and Loislaw. Subscription services Versuslaw and Fastcase have cases back to 1950; Google Scholar has cases back to 1950 for free. Supreme and appellate court cases are published in West’s South Western Reporter.
To check on the status of a pending bill, pull up the Bill’s page on the General Assembly website.
For a discussion of Tennessee law, see Tennessee Jurisprudence (available on Lexis) and/or Tennessee Practice (available on Westlaw).
For questions about Tennessee legal materials, copies and/or inter-library loan, try calling the Tennessee State Law Library (901-423-5849), the University of Tennessee Law Library (423-974-6571) and/or Vanderbilt University’s law library (615-322-2568).
Note: We linked the resources to archive.org in an effort to decrease the number of broken links cited.
Primary Law
For more U.S. state primary law resources, see:
Topics Covered by the Tennessee Legal Encyclopedia
Note: More detailed information about this State is provided in the Tennessee jurisdictional legal Encyclopedia, which tie together Tennessee statutory and case law.
Topics include:
- Tennessee Statutes
- TN Cases & Case Law
- Tennessee Legal Websites
- TN State Government Info
- Tennessee Counties
- Tennessee Cities
- Tennessee Legislation
- TN Court Reporters/Depositions
- Tennessee Legal Forms
- Tennessee Courts
- TN State Bar/Legal Associations
- Tennessee Law Enforcement
- Tennessee Media Sources
Resources
See Also
Tennessee: Open and Free Legal Research of US Law
Federal Primary Materials
The U.S. federal government system consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each of which creates information that can be the subject of legal research about Tennessee. This part provides references, in relation to Tennessee, to the legislative process, the federal judiciary, and the primary sources of federal law (cases, statutes, and regulations).
Federal primary materials about Tennessee by content types:
Laws and Regulations
US Constitution
Federal Statutory Codes and Legislation
Federal Case Law and Court Materials
U.S. Courts of Appeals
United States courts of appeals, inclouding bankruptcy courts and bankcruptcy appellate panels:
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Connecticut, New York, Vermont)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Alaska, Arizona, California, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming)
- Case law related to Tennessee in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Florida, Georgia)
Federal Administrative Materials and Resources
Presidential Materials
Materials that emanate from the President’s lawmaking function include executive orders for officers in departments and agencies and proclamations for announcing ceremonial or commemorative policies. Presidential materials available include:
Executive Materials
Federal Legislative History Materials
Legislative history traces the legislative process of a particular bill (about Tennessee and other subjects) for the main purpose of determining the legislators’ intent behind the enactment of a law to explain or clarify ambiguities in the language or the perceived meaning of that law (about Tennessee or other topics), or locating the current status of a bill and monitoring its progress.
State Administrative Materials and Resources
State regulations are rules and procedures promulgated by state agencies (which may apply to Tennessee and other topics); they are a binding source of law. In addition to promulgating regulations, state administrative boards and agencies often have judicial or quasi-judicial authority and may issue administrative decisions affecting Tennessee. Finding these decisions can be challenging. In many cases, researchers about Tennessee should check state agency web sites for their regulations, decisions, forms, and other information of interest.
State rules and regulations are found in codes of regulations and administrative codes (official compilation of all rules and regulations, organized by subject matter). Search here:
- Information related to Tennessee in the Alabama Administrative Code.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Alaska Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the Arizona Administrative Code, Secretary of State's Office.
- Information related to Tennessee in Arkansas Administrative Rules, Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the California Code of Regulations
- Information related to Tennessee in the Colorado Code of Regulations and the Online Register, Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Connecticut eRegulations System
- Information related to Tennessee in the Delaware's Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the D.C. Municipal Regulations and D.C. Register
- Information related to Tennessee in the Florida Administrative Code and Administrative Register, Department of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Administrative Rules, Lt. Governor of the State of Hawaii.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Idaho Administrative Code, Idaho Office of the Administrative Rules Coordinator.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Administrative Code, Illinois General Assembly, Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Indiana Administrative Code.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Iowa Administrative Code (titles) and Tennessee in the PDF content of rules.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Kansas Administrative Regulations, Kansas Secretary of State (search also Tennessee here)
- Information related to Tennessee in the Kentucky Administrative Regulations
- Information related to Tennessee in the Louisiana Administrative Code, State of Louisiana, Division of Administration
- Information related to Tennessee in Maine Rules by Department, the Department of the Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions
- Information related to Tennessee in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), Division of State Documents
- Information related to Tennessee in Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR), the Massachusetts Court System
- Information related to Tennessee in Michigan Administrative Code, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Office of Regulatory Reinvention
- Information related to Tennessee in the Minnesota Administrative Code, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Information related to Tennessee in the Mississippi Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the Missouri Code of State Regulations, Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Administrative Rules of Montana, Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Nebraska Rules and Regulations, Nebraska Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Nevada Administrative Code, Legislature Law Library
- Information related to Tennessee in the New Hampshire Administrative Rules, Office of Legislative Services
- Information related to Tennessee in the New Jersey Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the New Mexico Administrative Code, Commission of Public Records, State Records Center and Archives
- Information related to Tennessee in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
- Information related to Tennessee in the North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC), Office of Administrative Hearings
- Information related to Tennessee in the North Dakota Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the Ohio Administrative Code, Legislative Services Commission
- Information related to Tennessee in the Oklahoma Administrative Code, Oklahoma Secretary of State
- Information related to Tennessee in the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR), Secretary of State
- Information related to Tennessee in the Pennsylvania Code Online (official publication rules and regulations), Pennsylvania Reference Bureau
- Information related to Tennessee in the Rhode Island Final Rules and Regulations Database, State Archives. Four rulemaking agencies are not included
- Information related to Tennessee in the South Carolina Code of Regulations, South Carolina Legislature.
- Information related to Tennessee in the South Dakota Administrative Rules, Legislative Research Council
- Information related to Tennessee in the Effective Rules and Regulations of the State of Tennessee (Official Compilation), Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Texas Administrative Code, Secretary of State
- Information related to Tennessee in the Utah Administrative Code, Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Administrative Rules
- Information related to Tennessee in the Vermont Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in the Virginia Administrative Code, Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (LIS)
- Information related to Tennessee in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC)
- Information related to Tennessee in the West Virginia Code of State Rules, Secretary of State.
- Information related to Tennessee in the Wisconsin Administrative Code
- Information related to Tennessee in Wyoming administrative rules, Secretary of State
State opinions of the Attorney General (official written advisory opinions on issues of state law related to Tennessee when formerly requested by a designated government officer):
Tools and Forms
Law in Other Regions
*This resource guide is updated frequently. However, if you notice something is wrong or not working, or any resources that should be added, please notify us in any of the "Leave a Comment" area.
