Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 (2026)
Personal interest of officers prohibited
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a)
- (1) It is unlawful for any officer, committee member, director, or other person whose duty it is to vote for, let out, overlook, or in any manner to superintend any work or any contract in which any municipal corporation, county, state, development district, utility district, human resource agency, or other political subdivision created by statute shall or may be interested, to be directly interested in any such contract. "Directly interested" means any contract with the official personally or with any business in which the official is the sole proprietor, a partner, or the person having the controlling interest. "Controlling interest" includes the individual with the ownership or control of the largest number of outstanding shares owned by any single individual or corporation. This subdivision (a)(1) shall not be construed to prohibit any officer, committee person, director, or any person, other than a member of a local governing body of a county or municipality, from voting on the budget, appropriation resolution, or tax rate resolution, or amendments thereto, unless the vote is on a specific amendment to the budget or a specific appropriation or resolution in which such person is directly interested.
- (2)
- (A) Subdivision (a)(1) shall also apply to a member of the board of directors of any not-for-profit corporation authorized by the laws of Tennessee to act for the benefit or on behalf of any one (1) or more counties, cities, towns and local governments pursuant to title 7, chapter 54 or 58.
- (B) Subdivision (a)(2)(A) shall not apply to any county with a metropolitan form of government and having a population of four hundred thousand (400,000) or more, according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census.
- (b) It is unlawful for any officer, committee member, director, or other person whose duty it is to vote for, let out, overlook, or in any manner to superintend any work or any contract in which any municipal corporation, county, state, development district, utility district, human resource agency, or other political subdivision created by statute shall or may be interested, to be indirectly interested in any such contract unless the officer publicly acknowledges such officer's interest. "Indirectly interested" means any contract in which the officer is interested but not directly so, but includes contracts where the officer is directly interested but is the sole supplier of goods or services in a municipality or county.
- (c) This section shall apply to a member of the board of directors or officer of any nonprofit corporation required under § 8-44-102 to conduct all meetings of its governing body as open meetings.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1072,s 5, eff. 5/20/2016.
Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 403,s 71, eff. 7/1/2013.
Acts 1869-1870, ch. 92, § 1; Shan., § 1133; Code 1932, § 1874; Acts 1977, ch. 102, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 12-401; Acts 1983, ch. 388, §§ 4, 6; 1984, ch. 831, § 1; 1986, ch. 765, §§ 1-3; 1988, ch. 908, §§ 4, 5; 1989, ch. 366, §§ 1-3; 1998, ch. 774, § 1; 2006, ch. 923, § 4.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases, 1981–2020 · leading case: Town of Smyrna v. Ridley, 730 S.W.2d 318 (Tenn. 1987).
Town of Smyrna v. Ridley, 730 S.W.2d 318 (Tenn. 1987). “, seeking to remove the defendant from the office of May- or of Smyrna, Tennessee, and to recover a forfeiture of the sums which he has received in violation of T.C.A., § 12-4-101 et seq., which forbids conflicts of interest by public officials.”
Cassibry v. State, 404 So. 2d 1360 (Miss. 1981). “1-13-03 (1976); Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 and 102 (1980).”
State ex rel. Kirkpatrick v. Tipton, 670 S.W.2d 224 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1984). “Relying on T.C.A., § 12-4-101, 2 the District Attorney for Sullivan County filed suit in chancery court, seeking damages against Harold Tipton for the amount of the salary of $9,456.”
State v. Blazer, 619 S.W.2d 370 (Tenn. 1981). “2d 39 (1957), a member of a county school board was found guilty of violating T.C.A. § 12-4-101. He was ordered to be removed from office and declared ineligible to hold office thereafter for a period of ten years.”
City of New Johnsonville v. Kevin E. Handley & Gene Plant v. Kevin E. Handley (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 (a)(1) (2003).”
Mark Henderson v. City Of Mount Pleasant, Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “Conflicts of interest in Tennessee are governed primarily by Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 . See City of New Johnsonville v.”
City of New Johnsonville v. Kevin E. Handley & Gene Plant v. Kevin E. Handley - Concurring (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “T.C.A. § 12-4-101 (1999). In Wallen, citizens of Hamilton County filed suit against defendant Miller, alleging that he had purchased school buses in the names of others, and then, acting as chairman of the Board of Education, entered into contracts for these buses on behalf of…”
Depot Prop., LLC & Terry Cox v. Town of Arlington, Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011). “The trial court found that the Board’s decision to treat its 3-to-2 vote favoring Cox’s rezoning application as insufficient to amend the Town’s zoning ordinance was contrary to the provision in T.C.A. § 12-4-101(c)(3)(B), which states that a member of a municipal governing body…”
State ex rel. Vaughn v. Williamson, 614 S.W.2d 347 (Tenn. 1981). “This action was instituted pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 12-4-101 et seq., seeking to remove from office a public official and to require him to make restitution for violation of statutes governing public contracts.”
Charles Dallas Cauthern v. City of White Bluff, Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002). “While Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 (c)(3)(A) (1999) contains rules governing the conduct of members of local governing bodies who have a direct interest in a public contract, we can find no statute or other rule of law forbidding members of a town council who have recused…”
Ronald C. Young v. E.T. Stamey (2020). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 does not conflict with Tenn.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101(a)(1) — 1 case
City of New Johnsonville v. Kevin E. Handley & Gene Plant v. Kevin E. Handley (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101 (a)(1) (2003).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101(c)(3)(B) — 1 case
Depot Prop., LLC & Terry Cox v. Town of Arlington, Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011). “The trial court found that the Board’s decision to treat its 3-to-2 vote favoring Cox’s rezoning application as insufficient to amend the Town’s zoning ordinance was contrary to the provision in T.C.A. § 12-4-101(c)(3)(B), which states that a member of a municipal governing body…”
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