Attorney General Opinions 
Relating to County Government

2016 Courts

• Upon entry of an order granting a petition for partial expunction, criminal court clerks must destroy public records that relate solely to offenses for which a petitioner was not convicted. When records relate to several charges, some resulting in convictions and others resulting in dismissals or acquittals, the records must be redacted. A criminal court may find that redaction is not feasible due to the intertwined nature of the charges, but the record must contain sufficient evidence to justify the finding. The type of records that should be expunged is not limited by T.C.A. § 40-32-101(j) such that only public records in the relevant databases are expunged.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 16-36 (August 31, 2016).

• The plain meaning of T.C.A. § 40-35-111(e) is that the punishments for misdemeanors set forth in that statute apply unless another statute provides for different punishments. In other words, T.C.A. § 40-35-111(e) provides the default for punishments for misdemeanors in general absent some different statutory provision for a specific misdemeanor.  Opinion No. 16-03 (February 4, 2016).