Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 (2026)
Duties of commissioner
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The commissioner is the executive officer of the department of correction and has the immediate charge of the management and government of the institutions of the department, and the commissioner shall devote the commissioner's entire time and attention to the duties of the commissioner's position.
- (b) In addition to any other duties provided by law, when it appears to the commissioner, in the commissioner's sole discretion, that the available facilities and institutions of the department that are designed for the custody of inmates are overcrowded, the commissioner shall endeavor to alleviate such overcrowded conditions by contracting with local governmental entities, when possible, for the care, custody, and control in local jails, workhouses, penal farms or other such facilities, of inmates who have been committed to the department, or by any other means permitted by law.
Acts 1919, ch. 39, § 5; impl. am. Acts 1923, ch. 7, §§ 1-3, 42; Shan. Supp., § 312b7; Code 1932, § 376; impl. am. Acts 1955, ch. 102, § 1; Acts 1979, ch. 344, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 4-606.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15
cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1988–2026 · leading case: John Quincy Gillard v. Stephen H. Norris, Comm'r of the Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 857 F.2d 1095 (6th Cir. 1988).
John Quincy Gillard v. Stephen H. Norris, Comm'r of the Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 857 F.2d 1095 (6th Cir. 1988). “nt procedural due process right was violated by issuance of the written reprimands and imposition of the resulting three-day suspension; (2) that the defendants’ actions denied plaintiff his fourteenth amendment right to equal protection; (3) that the defendants denied plaintiff…”
Blackmon v. Norris, 775 S.W.2d 367 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989). “The code sections relied upon by the state, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 4-3-603 and 4-3-606 (1985), contain only general statements as to the powers and duties of the commissioner and the Department of Correction.”
Settle v. Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 276 S.W.3d 420 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “§§§ 4-3-603, 4-3-606, 41-24-110, that authority gives TDOC policy # 404.”
Jenkins v. Centurion Health Care Servs. (W.D. Tenn. 2025). “Rich, Hodge, and Nuygen have denied Jenkins medical procedures necessary to determine Jenkins’ diagnosis in violation of T.C.A. §§ 4-3-603 through 606.1 (Id.) Jenkins alleges Warden Fitz has knowledge of and is responsible for WTSP inmates and has denied Jenkins appropriate…”
State of Tennessee v. Jackie Phillip Lester-Dissenting (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 (b). However, there is no indication from the record that the Lawrence County Jail had contracted with the TDOC to house TDOC prisoners; in fact, the testimony of Lt.”
Sanford v. Armour (W.D. Tenn. 2020). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 (a). 5 “The department of correction shall exercise all the rights, powers and duties described in chapter 6 of this title and otherwise vested by law in the department, the commissioner, and the commissioner’s officers, assistants and employees.”
State of Tennessee v. Richard P. Nielsen, Jr. (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Local jails may contract to house TDOC inmates to alleviate overcrowding in TDOC facilities, see T.C.A. § 4-3-603(b), and where a defendant is sentenced to the TDOC but is housed in a local jail that has so contracted, the trial court is without jurisdiction to modify the…”
Haithcote v. Hutchinson (E.D. Tenn. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 4-3-603 , 4-3-606, 41-24-110 (all setting forth powers and/or duties of TDOC Commissioners without mentioning hearings or administrative segregation); Rimmer-Bey, 62 F.”
Adams v. Lewis (E.D. Tenn. 2022). “, Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 (a) (providing TDOC Commissioner with “the immediate charge of the management and government of the institutions of the department”).”
State of Tennessee v. Vidal Chad Bryant (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026). “16, 2025) (observing that “[l]ocal jails may contract to house TDOC inmates to alleviate overcrowding in TDOC -4- facilities, see T.C.A. § 4-3-603(b), and where a defendant is sentenced to the TDOC but is housed in a local jail that has so contracted, the trial court is without…”
Pearlie Mae Dunigan, Next of Kin/Pers. Rep. of Est. of Grover Dunigan v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013). “” Claimant argued that the prison warden is responsible for ensuring that inmates have timely access to healthcare pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 and -606, and she claimed that the warden’s duty was “over and above the healthcare provider(s).”
Jones v. State of Tennessee (E.D. Tenn. 2023). “§ 4-3-603 (a) (providing Commissioner “the immediate charge of the management and government of the institutions of the department”).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603(b) — 4 cases
State of Tennessee v. Richard P. Nielsen, Jr. (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Local jails may contract to house TDOC inmates to alleviate overcrowding in TDOC facilities, see T.C.A. § 4-3-603(b), and where a defendant is sentenced to the TDOC but is housed in a local jail that has so contracted, the trial court is without jurisdiction to modify the…”
State of Tennessee v. Jackie Phillip Lester-Dissenting (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-603 (b). However, there is no indication from the record that the Lawrence County Jail had contracted with the TDOC to house TDOC prisoners; in fact, the testimony of Lt.”
State of Tennessee v. Vidal Chad Bryant (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026). “16, 2025) (observing that “[l]ocal jails may contract to house TDOC inmates to alleviate overcrowding in TDOC -4- facilities, see T.C.A. § 4-3-603(b), and where a defendant is sentenced to the TDOC but is housed in a local jail that has so contracted, the trial court is without…”
State of Tennessee v. Amanda Hope McGill (Tenn. Crim. App. 2014).
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