Attorney General Opinions 
Relating to County Government

2017 Courts

• The “costs of court proceedings” for which a defendant violating the conditions of his bail may be held liable under T.C.A. § 40-11-120 include the costs of all the proceedings in the case and are not limited to the costs of the forfeiture proceeding alone.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 17-38 (September 1, 2017).

• Sheriffs and constables are entitled to be paid the fees set out in T.C.A. § 8-21-901 for services rendered.  Court clerks do not have discretion or authority to decrease or increase these statutory fees.  They may not pay less, nor may they pay more, than the fee set by statute.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 17-13 (February 24, 2017).

• Under T.C.A. § 8-21-401(b)(1)(B), court clerks are required to charge a standard court cost of $200 at the institution of a divorce case involving minor children and $125 if the case does not involve minor children.  The $75 filing fee in T.C.A. § 8-21-401(b)(1)(E) is a standard court cost for specific lawsuits filed for child support enforcement and modification and requests for modification of parenting plans; this $75 fee does not apply to the filing of motions in pending divorce actions.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 17-04 (January 18, 2017).