Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 1-1-108 (2026)
Substantive changes in text prohibited - Changes authorized - Effect of error in enrollment
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) In preparing the manuscript of the revised compilation (including pocket supplements and replacement volumes) for publication and distribution, the commission shall not alter the sense, meaning or effect of any act of the general assembly, but shall copy the exact language of the text of the statutes, codes and session laws of a public and general nature of the state of Tennessee, except that the commission is authorized to rearrange, regroup and renumber the titles, chapters, sections and parts of sections of the statutes, codes and code supplements and to change reference numbers to agree with any renumbered chapter or section; to change the wording of and prepare new section headings and symbols; to substitute the proper section or chapter reference where the terms "this act" or "the preceding section" or similar expressions are used in the statutes; to correct manifest misspelling and typographical errors and to change capitalization and spelling for the purpose of uniformity; to change references to governmental agencies, departments and officers when part or all of the powers, rights and/or duties of such agencies, departments or officers have, by an act of the general assembly, been transferred to other agencies, departments or officers; to omit enacting clauses, repealing clauses, severability clauses, conditional clauses, preambles, captions and statements declaring legislative intent; and to make other stylistic, nonsubstantive changes if such changes are consistent with style guidelines that have been approved by the commission and submitted to the judiciary committee of the senate and the civil justice committee of the house of representatives. Where the application or effect of a statute, by its terms, depends on the time when the act creating the statute took effect, the commission may substitute the actual effective date for the various forms of expression which mean that date - such as "when this act (or chapter, or section) takes effect," or "after (or before) the effective date of this act (or chapter, or section)." No such change shall be deemed an alteration of or departure from the enrolled statute.
- (b)
- (1) When the commission is advised by certificate of the secretary of state that a bill which is signed by the governor, or passed over the governor's veto, or otherwise becomes a public act, differs, by reason of an error in the enrolling process or otherwise from such bill as passed on third reading by both houses of the general assembly, the commission will not compile the public act for codification, but will have a compiler's note inserted in the manuscript of Tennessee Code Annotated, which compiler's note shall set forth the facts revealed by the certificate received from the secretary of state in reference to such error.
- (2) Nothing in this subsection (b) shall affect the powers granted the commission under subsection (a).
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 64, s 1, eff. 3/29/2021.
Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 345, s 1, eff. 5/10/2019.
Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 236, s 34, eff. 4/19/2013.
Acts 1953, ch. 80, § 4; 1968, ch. 442, § 1; 1970, ch. 378, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §1-108; Acts 2011 , ch. 48, §§ 1, 2.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1981–2025 · leading case: Shelby Cnty. v. King, 620 S.W.2d 493 (Tenn. 1981).
Shelby Cnty. v. King, 620 S.W.2d 493 (Tenn. 1981). “T.C.A. 1-1-108. Appellant argues reading T.”
Int'l Ass'n of Firefighters Local 3858 v. City of Germantown, 98 F. Supp. 2d 939 (W.D. Tenn. 2000). “In support of this argument, they cite T.C.A. § 1-1-108. That law, which is part of the authorization for the Tennessee code commission to publish the Tennessee Code Annotated (see T.”
Bloomer v. Wellmont Holston Valley Med. Ctr., 299 F. Supp. 2d 810 (E.D. Tenn. 2004). “Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated Section 1-1-108, the Code Commission has the authority to make such changes in the wording of an act, even to the extent of omitting certain clauses, so long as the Commission does “not alter the sense, meaning or effect of any act.”
Curtis Pierce v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2021). “(T.C.A. § 1-1-108, “the commission shall not alter the sense, meaning or effect of any act of the general assembly.”
Jamesway Constr., Inc. v. David W. Salyers, P.E. (Dissenting) (Tenn. Ct. App. 2024). “Tennessee Code Annotated section 1-1-108(a) authorizes the Tennessee Code Commission to rearrange, regroup and renumber the titles, chapters, sections and parts of sections of the statutes, codes and code supplements and to change reference numbers to agree with any renumbered…”
Alvin Dean Shaver v. Sean Phillips, Warden (2025). “]” Tenn. Code Ann. § 1-1-105 (a). In so doing, the legislature has specifically empowered the Commission “to omit enacting clauses” when preparing “the manuscript of the revised compilation[.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 1-1-108(a) — 2 cases
Int'l Ass'n of Firefighters Local 3858 v. City of Germantown, 98 F. Supp. 2d 939 (W.D. Tenn. 2000). “In support of this argument, they cite T.C.A. § 1-1-108. That law, which is part of the authorization for the Tennessee code commission to publish the Tennessee Code Annotated (see T.”
Jamesway Constr., Inc. v. David W. Salyers, P.E. (Dissenting) (Tenn. Ct. App. 2024). “Tennessee Code Annotated section 1-1-108(a) authorizes the Tennessee Code Commission to rearrange, regroup and renumber the titles, chapters, sections and parts of sections of the statutes, codes and code supplements and to change reference numbers to agree with any renumbered…”
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