(a) Where publication is made for a nonresident defendant, the clerk of the court in which the suit is filed shall mail a copy of the complaint or, after the first publication, mail a copy of the newspaper clipping containing the publication to the nonresident defendant, directed to the nonresident defendant’s last known address; and the clerk shall make an entry upon the clerk’s docket so showing. The clerk shall mail the copy of the complaint or published notice by return receipt certified or registered mail. The return of the receipt signed by the defendant or the defendant’s duly authorized agent, or its return marked refused, evidenced by appropriate notation of that fact by the postal authorities, and filed as a part of the record by the clerk, with notation on the docket of the true facts, shall be evidence of personal notice. In the event the return receipt does not establish that it was signed by the defendant or the defendant’s authorized agent or that the notice was refused, then the court may find through independent proof that the defendant had actual notice in compliance with notice requirements. If the court does not find that the defendant had actual notice, it may order new publication on applicable grounds, or order such other and further action to be taken to give the defendant notice.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 21-1-205
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
(b) In those counties where the divorce referee mails notice of the filing of the divorce and a copy of the complaint to a nonresident defendant by certified or registered mail return receipt requested, it shall not be necessary for the clerk of the court to also mail notice. Notice to the nonresident defendant from the divorce referee shall be sufficient, subject to the requirements of evidence of notice as set forth in subsection (a); provided, that the return receipt is filed as part of the record, with notation on the docket of the true facts. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to have changed or amended requirements of the law as to venue or jurisdiction.
