Attorney General Opinions
Relating to County Government

2003 Courts

A part-time judicial commissioner may not practice law in the same court he or she serves as judicial commissioner. Whether a defense attorney practicing in state criminal court could also serve as a judicial commissioner in general sessions criminal court would depend on the facts and circumstances as determined by the Judicial Ethics Committee or a court. Opinion No. 03-155 (December 1, 2003).

Judicial commissioners are not judges of inferior courts within the meaning of Article VI, Section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution, which prohibits raising or lowering the compensation of such judges during their term. The county legislative body could grant the same annual salary increases to judicial commissioners as it does to other county employees. Opinion. No. 03-150 (November 17, 2003).

Public Chapter 310 of 2003 requires that the clerking duties for probate jurisdiction be transferred out of the county clerk’s office and into either the office of the clerk of the court having probate jurisdiction or the clerk and master no later than July 1, 2006. This act does not affect the jurisdiction of the court; it only applies to clerking duties. Opinion No. 03-143 (November 7, 2003).

The proper court for prosecution of a knowing violation of a condition of community supervision is the court with criminal jurisdiction in the county where the violation occurred. Opinion No. 03-127 (September 29, 2003).

The provisions of T.C.A. § 37-1-210 which require that the general sessions court clerk or the clerk and master serve as the juvenile court clerk in counties where the general sessions court is also the juvenile court do not override the provisions of a private act that provides otherwise. Opinion No. 03-122 (September 25, 2003).

A judicial commissioner appointed by the county commission to act on behalf of a city court with concurrent general sessions jurisdiction is not required to reside within the city absent some private act to the contrary. The person is still a county official and is only required to be a resident of the county. Opinion No. 03-110 (September 8, 2003).

Judges are subject to the professional privilege tax regardless of whether they are prohibited from practicing law during their tenure. All persons who hold an active law license are subject to the tax, regardless of whether they actively engage in the practice of law. Payment of the privilege tax by the employing entity on behalf of a judge would constitute an increase in the judge’s compensation in violation of Article VI, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution. The tax does not constitute a decrease in the judges’ compensation; the state’s authority to tax is not related to compensation of employees. Opinion No. 03-081 (June 24, 2003).

Process servers appointed by a judge under T.C.A. § 8-8-108(b) or (c) are not authorized to serve process outside the county of their appointment. Process servers appointed by the county clerk under T.C.A. § 8-8-108(c) are authorized to serve all process that the sheriff may serve except process requiring the arrest of a person, and they cannot be limited by the county clerk in the types of process they may serve. Opinion No. 03-078 (June 20, 2003).

Pursuant to T.C.A. § 39-15-413, a law enforcement officer may use a minor to purchase tobacco illegally as part of a sting operation if the law enforcement officer obtains the written permission of both the minor’s parent or legal guardian and the juvenile court. The juvenile judge is not required to grant such permission to the law enforcement officer. Opinion No. 03-059 (May 6, 2003).

General sessions court judges and municipal court judges may administer the oath of office to county officials, but retired judges of these courts cannot. Opinion No. 03-043 (April 15, 2003).

A criminal court cannot direct a portion of defendants’ fine and court cost payments in criminal cases to the Drug Court Fund account. However, a trial court may assess an additional fee, beyond the statutory monthly supervision fee, to a criminal offender participating in a community correction program such as a drug court program, to offset the costs of the program. Opinion No. 03-028 (March 14, 2003).