Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 (2026)
Commissioners - Appointment - Removal - Legal representation
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The state election commission shall appoint, on the first Monday in April of each odd-numbered year, five (5) election commissioners for each county, for terms of two (2) years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The five (5) commissioners shall be the county election commission.
- (b) The state election commission shall remove a commissioner who becomes unqualified and may remove or otherwise discipline a commissioner for cause.
- (c) County election commissions shall be represented in legal proceedings as follows:
- (1) If the legal proceeding names the county election commissioners as defendants and the lawsuit involves a municipal election, the municipality concerned shall furnish counsel to represent the commissioners;
- (2) If the election involved in the legal proceedings is that of a county election, the county shall furnish counsel for the commissioners and if the election involved in the legal proceedings attacks a state law or presents a question concerning a state or federal election, the attorney general and reporter shall represent the commissioners either by the attorney general and reporter's own staff or by such counsel as the attorney general and reporter may designate;
- (3) The counsel furnished, whether by municipality or county, shall be that chosen by the election commission unless the commission carries an insurance policy providing coverage of claims asserted in a lawsuit, in which case the provisions of the insurance policy control with respect to representation of the commission; and
- (4) If, in order to properly discharge its duties, the county election commission has to bring legal action against a county or municipality, the compensation for the commission's legal representation shall be borne by the county or municipality, as the case may be.
- (d) The county election commission created by this section is the immediate successor to the commissioners of elections for each county. Wherever in the Tennessee Code the commissioners of elections for counties are referred to, the term "county election commission" shall be substituted.
Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 44,s 1, eff. 3/28/2019.
Acts 1972, ch. 740, §§ 1, 7; 1974, ch. 535, § 1; 1979, ch. 316, § 3; T.C.A., § 2-1201; Acts 1980, ch. 609, § 6; 1993, ch. 208, § 2.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases, 1982–2020 · leading case: State ex rel. Vaughn v. King, 653 S.W.2d 727 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1982).
State ex rel. Vaughn v. King, 653 S.W.2d 727 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1982). “T.C.A. § 2-12-101 provides: 2-12-101. Commissioners — Appointment — Terms—Removal—Legal Representation.”
City of Memphis v. Shelby Cnty. Election Comm'n, 146 S.W.3d 531 (Tenn. 2004). “§§ 2-12-101 through 2-12-216 (delineating the duties of the Commission).”
State ex rel. Shelby Cnty. Election Comm'n v. Shelby Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 656 S.W.2d 9 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1983). “The trial court also denied the Election Commission’s motion for attorneys’ fees pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 2-12-101 (Cum.Supp.1982), on the ground that the suit was premature.”
Lisa Peterson v. James Dean, 777 F.3d 334 (6th Cir. 2015). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 . Each county election commission, in turn, is required to “appoint an administrator of elections, who shall be the chief administrative officer of the commission and shall be responsible for the daily operations of the commission office and the…”
Cousin v. McWherter, 840 F. Supp. 1210 (E.D. Tenn. 1994). “T.C.A. § 2-12-101, et seq. Defendant Steve Conrad is Registrar-at-Large of Hamilton County and has the duty of conducting elections in Hamilton County, including elections for judges.”
David Ellis v. State of Tennessee, 491 F. App'x 659 (6th Cir. 2012). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 . Because the Bradley County Election Commission members are hired, fired, and disciplined by the state election commission, Bradley County did not have the authority to hire, fire, or discipline Ellis.”
Ellis v. Bradley Cnty., 387 F. App'x 516 (6th Cir. 2008). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 . Because the Bradley County Election Commission members are hired, fired, and disciplined by the state election commission, Bradley County did not have the authority to hire, fire, or discipline Ellis.”
William Thomas McFarland v. Michael S. Pemberton (Tenn. 2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 2-12-101 , -103 (2014).”
Williamson Cnty. Election Comm'n v. Paul Webb, Mayor of Brentwood (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013). “§ 29-14-111 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 (c)(4). DISCUSSION Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issues of material fact exist, and the movant meets its burden of proving that it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”
William Thomas McFarland v. Michael S. Pemberton, 530 S.W.3d 76 (2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 2-12-101 , -103 (2014).”
White v. Chester Cnty., Tennessee (W.D. Tenn. 2020). “§ 2-12-101 ). Any vacancy on the county commission was filled by the State commission.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101(a) — 1 case
William Thomas McFarland v. Michael S. Pemberton (Tenn. 2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 2-12-101 , -103 (2014).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101(b) — 1 case
William Thomas McFarland v. Michael S. Pemberton (Tenn. 2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 2-12-101 , -103 (2014).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101(c)(4) — 1 case
Williamson Cnty. Election Comm'n v. Paul Webb, Mayor of Brentwood (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013). “§ 29-14-111 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-12-101 (c)(4). DISCUSSION Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issues of material fact exist, and the movant meets its burden of proving that it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”
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