Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-101 (2026)

Establishment - Certain counties excepted

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) There is created and established a court in and for each county of the state, except in counties having a population of not less than nine thousand one hundred seventy-five (9,175) nor more than nine thousand two hundred (9,200), according to the last federal census or any subsequent federal census, which shall be designated as the court of general sessions.

(b) It is the intent of this section to create a general sessions court in every county not expressly excepted in this section. In any county where a general sessions court has been created pursuant to the general provisions of this chapter, it is intended that the county shall always have a general sessions court unless abolished by another general statute. In counties in which there is no court of general sessions as provided in this section, references in this code to the court of general sessions are deemed to include the court having the jurisdiction of the court of general sessions in such counties.

Acts 1959, ch. 109, §§ 1, 22; 1959, ch. 255, § 1; 1959, ch. 265, § 1; 1961, ch. 30, § 1; 1961, ch. 51, § 1; 1961, ch. 188, § 1; 1963, ch. 307, §§ 1, 2; 1965, ch. 116, § 1; 1974, ch. 507, § 1; 1976, ch. 738, § 1; 1979, ch. 68, § 1; T.C.A., § 16-1101; Acts 1998, ch. 573, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2022 · leading case: Ware v. Meharry Med. Coll., 898 S.W.2d 181 (Tenn. 1995).

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Ware v. Meharry Med. Coll., 898 S.W.2d 181 (Tenn. 1995). · cites it 2× “109, now codified at Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-15-101, et seq. 3 . Tenn.”

Sexton v. Sevier Cnty., 948 S.W.2d 747 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 3× “Such a position would be untenable, for it is clear that these statutes do not apply to Sevier County, due to a population-based exclusion contained in subsection (b) of § 16-15-101, 3 which exclusion pertains to the whole of Chapter 15 of Title 16.”

Crawford v. Gilpatrick, 646 S.W.2d 433 (Tenn. 1983). · cites it 4× “Chapter 109 of the Public Acts of 1959, now codified as T.C.A. §§ 16-15-101 et seq. .Chapter 227 of the Private Acts of 1963.”

Baxter Bailey Investments LLC v. APL Ltd. Inc. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 5× “General sessions courts are creatures of statute, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-101 et seq., and their authority is derived therefrom.”

Doe v. Tennessee, State of (M.D. Tenn. 2022). · cites it 2× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-101 (a)– (b). Tennessee law vests the state’s judicial power in the general sessions courts and general sessions judges.”

Marvin Bernatsky & Patricia Bernatsky v. Designer Baths & Kitchens, LLC - Concurring Opinion (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “§ 8-21-401 (providing a “standard court cost” for appeals from General Sessions Court to Circuit Court); Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-101 et. seq. (outlining establishment, jurisdiction, and procedure in General Sessions Courts, including appeals to the Circuit Court); Tenn.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-101(b) — 1 case

Sexton v. Sevier Cnty., 948 S.W.2d 747 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997). “Such a position would be untenable, for it is clear that these statutes do not apply to Sevier County, due to a population-based exclusion contained in subsection (b) of § 16-15-101, 3 which exclusion pertains to the whole of Chapter 15 of Title 16.”

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