Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112 (2026)
Judgment of infamy - Right of suffrage - Competency as a witness
✓ current as of May 2026
Upon conviction for any felony, it shall be the judgment of the court that the defendant be infamous and be immediately disqualified from exercising the right of suffrage. No person so convicted shall be disqualified to testify in any action, civil or criminal, by reason of having been convicted of any felony, and the fact of conviction for any felony may only be used as a reflection upon the person's credibility as a witness.
Code 1858, § 5226 (deriv. Acts 1829, ch. 23, § 71); Shan., § 7199; mod. Code 1932, § 11762; Acts 1941, ch. 64, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 11762; Acts 1953, ch. 194, § 1; 1972, ch. 740, § 4(70); 1981, ch. 342, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-2712; Acts 1996, ch. 675, § 33.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 44
cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: May v. Carlton, 245 S.W.3d 340 (Tenn. 2008).
May v. Carlton, 245 S.W.3d 340 (Tenn. 2008). “" Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-20-112 (1991). Although the legislature directed that this statute be applied retroactively, see Tenn.”
Cole v. Campbell, 968 S.W.2d 274 (Tenn. 1998). “A majority of the Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on the basis that “a person convicted of any felony is infamous,” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-20-112, and therefore not a “citizen” for filing an action under the Public Records Act.”
Wesley v. Collins, 605 F. Supp. 802 (M.D. Tenn. 1985). “T.C.A. § 40-20-112 (1982). Accordingly, all persons who have been convicted of crimes which at the time of conviction were defined as infamous are disenfranchised and no longer have the right to vote in Tennessee.”
Kelli Jo Griffin v. Paul Pate, in His Off. Capacities as the Sec'y of State of Iowa, & Denise Fraise, in Her Off. Capacities as the Cnty. Auditor of Lee Cnty., Iowa, 884 N.W.2d 182 (Iowa 2016). “§ 1-3-19 (offenses punishable by death or confinement in penitentiary); Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112 (West, Westlaw through the 2016 2d Reg.”
Gaskin v. Collins, 661 S.W.2d 865 (Tenn. 1983). “That provision is now found at T.C.A. § 40-20-112. Chapter 345 of the Public Acts of 1981 amended the election code to provide that the right of suffrage shall be denied those persons convicted of infamous crimes as defined in T.”
William Chandler v. Otie Jones & Attorney Gen. of the State of Tennessee, 813 F.2d 773 (6th Cir. 1987). “Included among the enumerated offenses are those classified as “infamous” under the predecessor statute to Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-20-112. 3 Offenses classified as infamous include burglary, larceny, robbery, and felonious breaking into a business house.”
State v. Johnson, 79 S.W.3d 522 (Tenn. 2002). “Specific disability statutes include the loss of the right to vote, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-20-112 (1997); the loss of the right to hold public office, see id.”
State v. Vasser, 870 S.W.2d 543 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1993). “”); T.C.A. § 40-20-112 (“Upon conviction for any felony, it shall be the judgment of the court that the defendant be infamous .”
State v. Wallace, 664 S.W.2d 301 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1983). “§ 40-2712 (now replaced by T.C.A. § 40-20-112). Under Evans v. State, supra , the Supreme Court held that a conviction for a crime against nature could be considered a triggering offense only if the acts involved in the offense would have constituted sodomy or buggery at common…”
Davis v. Sundquist, 947 S.W.2d 155 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997). “The chancery court dismissed their petition seeking a declaratory judgment that Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-20-112 is unconstitutional because it encompasses more than one subject in contravention of article 2, section 17 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.”
United States v. Stone, 139 F.3d 822 (11th Cir. 1998). “See Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 40-20-112 through 115. Convicted felons are also barred from receiving or maintaining professional licenses of various kinds.”
Tenn.Conf. of the NAACP v. William Lee, 105 F.4th 888 (6th Cir. 2024). “2023); Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112 . It has also started to treat federal and out-of-state felonies as disenfranchising if they would qualify as felonies under Tennessee law.”
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