(a) The duties of the registry include the following:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 2-10-206
Candidate: means an individual who has made a formal announcement of candidacy or who is qualified under the law of this state to seek nomination for election or elections to public office, or has received contributions or made expenditures except for incidental expenditures to determine if one shall be a candidate, or has given consent for a campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures with a view to bringing about the individual's nomination for election or election to state public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
Election: means any general, special or primary election or run-off election, held to approve or disapprove a measure or nominate or elect a candidate for public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
filed: means the date actually deposited with or received by the appropriate office or the date of the postmark if postmarked and sent by registered or certified mail of the United States postal service. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
Person: means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor organization or any other organization or group of persons. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Public office: means any state public office or local public office filled by the voters. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Develop prescribed forms for statements that are required to be filed under the laws pursuant to § 2-10-205, with the objective of making the disclosure statements as simple and understandable as possible for both the person filing the disclosure statement and the average citizen of the state of Tennessee;(2) Develop a filing, coding and cross-indexing system;(3) Make each report filed available for public inspection and copying during regular office hours at the expense of any person requesting copies of the same;(4) Review all filed statements to ensure compliance with the respective disclosure laws. Statements filed with the registry for more than two (2) years shall be deemed to be sufficient, absent a showing of fraud or the existence of an ongoing investigation related to the statement;(5) Prepare and publish a manual for all candidates and committees, describing the requirements of the law, including uniform methods of bookkeeping and reporting and requirements as to reporting dates and the length of time that candidates and committees are required to keep any records pursuant to this part;(6) Provide an annual report to the governor and the general assembly concerning the administration and enforcement of the disclosure law by July 1 of each year that includes recommendations by the registry or a statement that the registry makes no recommendations;(7) Investigate any alleged violation upon sworn complaint or upon its own motion. If the registry investigates the records of any selected candidate, it may also investigate the records of all other candidates running for the same office in the same district or other appropriate geographic area;(8) Preserve all reports or statements for five (5) years from the date of filing, absent any pending investigation by the registry of election finance or any other law enforcement agency, or absent any administrative or court proceeding;(9) Notify all candidates for state public office in a state election of the requirements for filing any required disclosure statement fourteen (14) days before any fixed deadline provided for such filing; and(10) Conduct audits.(b) The registry shall notify each member of the general assembly by sending notice to the member’s home address and the member’s legislative office address in Nashville.
