Attorney General Opinions 
Relating to County Government

2011 Conflicts of Interest

• A person who serves as both county coroner and county medical examiner cannot also serve as a county commissioner.  Opinion No. 11-74 (October 17, 2011).

• A county commissioner who is also an employee of the county has a conflict of interest under T.C.A. § 12-4-101, but the effect of the conflict depends on when the commissioner’s employment with the county began.  If the commissioner was employed before being elected to the commission, the commissioner may vote on matters in which the commissioner has a conflict but must first disclose the conflict.  If the employment began after the commissioner was elected, the commissioner cannot vote on the budget that contains his salary and cannot vote on other county matters in which the commissioner may have a direct or indirect pecuniary interest because of the employment.  If a person was initially employed by the county before being elected to the commission but later changes jobs within the county (whether by promotion, to work for a different department in the county, or otherwise), the person’s employment date does not change; the person would still have been originally employed by the county prior to becoming a county employee and would be entitled to vote as long as the conflict is disclosed.  Opinion No. 11-50 (June 16, 2011).