District Attorneys

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Expanding Duties for District Attorneys General

This bill changes Tennessee laws to give more responsibilities to district attorneys general and their executive director, including providing legal advice and making meetings open to the public under certain conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the executive director of the district attorneys general conference to provide legal counsel and advice to district attorneys general and their staff.
• Makes all communications related to this legal advice confidential and not available for public inspection, except by court order.
• Declares that meetings of the district attorneys general conference must follow open meeting laws, but allows certain committees to hold private sessions under specific conditions.
• Specifies how meetings should be conducted when both public and private matters are discussed.
• Expands the types of proceedings a temporary district attorney can handle beyond just criminal cases.

Who It Names or Affects

• District attorneys general in Tennessee
• The executive director of the district attorneys general conference

Terms To Know

Executive Director

A person who manages and leads an organization, in this case, the District Attorneys General Conference.

District Attorney General Pro Tem

A temporary district attorney appointed to handle specific legal proceedings when needed.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how these changes will be funded.
• It is unclear what the exact impact on public access to information will be in practice.

Official Summary Text

FUNCTIONS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

This bill expands the functions of the executive director of the district attorneys general conference by requiring that the executive di
rector provide legal counsel and advice to district attorneys general and their staff. However, such counsel and advice can also be provided by attorneys employed with the district attorneys general conference.

Legal counsel and advice that is given un
der this bill, including documents or other communications made in connection with the legal counsel or advice, is confidential, privileged, and not public records. Additionally, all communications and documents made confidential under this bill are not
o
pen to public inspection, examination, or copying except in accordance with a valid and final court order as provided by law.

MEETINGS OF CONFERENCE

This bill expands the purpose of the meetings of the district attorneys general conference by requiring
all meetings to be subject to the open meetings provisions of law. However, the conference executive committee and the finance and audit committee can hold confidential, nonpublic executive sessions but only to discuss (i) items deemed not subject to pu
b
lic inspection under law and all other matters designated as confidential or privileged, (ii) litigation, (iii) audits or investigations, (iv) information protected by federal law, and (v) matters involving requests, information, investigations, proceedin
g
s, or prosecutions conducted by a district attorney general pro tem.

This bill provides that if there is a meeting regarding matters open to the public and confidential matters, all business relating to public subject matter must be discussed first and
at the end of that discussion, the chair is to announce that the public portion of the meeting has been concluded and that the remainder of the meeting will concern confidential matters and the public will be dismissed so that the remainder of the meeting

can proceed.

ACTING DISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL

Under present law, and with the consent of the district attorney general, the executive director, chief executive officer, the attorney general can specifically appoint others that are described in the bill
to conduct specific criminal proceedings, including
grand jury proceedings, which the district attorney general is authorized by law to conduct in that district
. This bill clarifies that the following proceedings may also be so conducted:
actions for rem
oval of officers; quo warranto actions; actions for abatement of nuisance; forfeiture actions; actions pursuant to the Post-Conviction Procedure Act; actions related to the regulation, care, and maintenance of cemeteries; and any other proceeding
s.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 245
By Haile

HOUSE BILL 49
By Davis

HB0049
000388
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8,
Chapter 7, Part 1 and Title 8, Chapter 7, Part 3,
relative to district attorneys general.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-7-309(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(7) Provide legal counsel and advice to district attorneys general and their staff
related to the performance of their duties. The legal counsel and advice to district
attorneys general and their staff may be provided by attorneys employed with the district
attorneys general conference.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-7-309, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(d) Legal counsel and advice provided pursuant to subdivision (a)(7) is
confidential and privileged, including any documents or other communications made or
used in connection with the legal counsel or advice. All communications and documents
made confidential by this subsection (d) are not public records as defined by § 10-7-503
and are not open to public inspection, examination, or copying except pursuant to a valid
and final court order as provided by § 10-7-505.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-7-302, is amended by designating
the existing language as subsection (a) and adding the following:
(b) All meetings of the conference are subject to the open meetings provisions of
title 8, chapter 44, except that the conference executive committee and the finance and
audit committee may hold confidential, nonpublic executive sessions to discuss:

- 2 - 000388

(1) Items deemed not subject to public inspection under §§ 10-7-503 and
10-7-504, and all other matters designated as confidential or privileged under this
code;
(2) Litigation;
(3) Audits or investigations;
(4) Information protected by federal law; and
(5) Matters involving requests, information, investigations, proceedings,
or prosecutions conducted by a district attorney general pro tem appointed under
§ 8-7-106.
(c) During a confidential, nonpublic executive session by the executive
committee or finance and audit committee of the conference, the committee shall not
consider any business other than matters described in subdivisions (b)(1)–(5).
(d) A meeting at which both subject matter open to the public and confidential
subject matter will be discussed must be conducted as follows:
(1) All business relating to subject matter that is public in nature must be
conducted first; and
(2) At the conclusion of the meeting relating to subject matter that is
public in nature, the chair shall announce that the public portion of the meeting is
adjourned and that the remainder of the meeting will concern matters that are
confidential under subdivisions (b)(1)–(5). When everyone at the meeting who is
not authorized to attend the confidential portion of the meeting has departed, the
confidential portion of the meeting may commence.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-7-106(b), is amended by deleting
"specific criminal proceedings, including grand jury proceedings," wherever it appears and
substituting "specific criminal or civil proceedings, including, but not limited to, grand jury

- 3 - 000388

proceedings; actions for removal of officers under title 8, chapter 47; quo warranto actions under
title 29, chapter 35; actions for abatement of nuisance under title 29, chapter 3; forfeiture actions
under title 40, chapter 33, or title 39, chapter 11, part 7; actions pursuant to the Post-Conviction
Procedure Act codified in title 40, chapter 30, part 1; actions related to the regulation, care, and
maintenance of cemeteries under § 46-1-304; and any other proceeding".
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.