Attorney General Opinions 
Relating to County Government

2005 Clerks of Court

• A clerk of court cannot retain a copy of an expungement order for internal use to protect the clerk from being accused of expunging a case without an order to do so. The expungement order is a public record itself and the statute does not allow the clerk to retain any public record.  A copy of the expungement order is retained in the TBI database and this would serve to protect the clerk.  Opinion No. 05-150 (September 30, 2005).

• Under 2005 Public Chapter 195, the county legislative body may approve a salary supplement for a clerk who acts as the clerk for more than one court without also raising the salary of the sheriff and chief administrative officer of the highway department.  Opinion No. 05-147 (September 29, 2005).

• A juvenile court clerk elected pursuant to a private act which provides for less compensation than the minimum required under general law set out in T.C.A. § 8-24-102 must be paid under the general law and not under the private act. Opinion No. 05-007 (January 20, 2005).