(a) The actions of the personnel of the department, or the departments of health, finance and administration, and general services, or their successors, undertaken in the performance of their duties pursuant to §§ 36-1-125 – 36-1-138 or pursuant to § 36-2-318, or those actions of a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker when acting pursuant to § 36-1-134, within the scope of its authority shall be presumed to be undertaken in good faith and the personnel of these departments or licensed child-placing agencies or the licensed clinical social worker and the officers and agents of the state shall thereby be entitled to absolute immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. The presumption shall only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence that the actions were malicious or were for personal gain.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-1-140

  • Adoption: means the social and legal process of establishing by court order, other than by paternity or legitimation proceedings or by voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the legal relationship of parent and child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • 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.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Guardian: means a person or entity appointed by a court to provide care, custody, control, supervision, and protection for a child, and authorized by the court to adopt or consent to the adoption of the child as a result of a surrender, parental consent, or termination of parental rights. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Legal parent: means :
    (i) The biological mother of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Licensed child-placing agency: means any agency operating under a license to place children for adoption issued by the department, or operating under a license from any governmental authority from any other state or territory or the District of Columbia, or any agency that operates under the authority of another country with the right to make placement of children for adoption and that has, in the department's sole determination, been authorized to place children for adoption in this state. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Licensed clinical social worker: means an individual who holds a license as an independent practitioner from the board of social worker certification and licensure pursuant to title 63, chapter 23, and, in addition, is licensed by the department to provide adoption placement services. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • 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
(b) The absolute immunity of subsection (a) shall extend to information provided by any of the entities, their officers, personnel or agents under subsection (a) that is obtained from another source and that is either incorrect or false.
(c) No information that is released pursuant to this part concerning a biological or legal parent or guardian who voluntarily surrendered or consented to adoption of a child shall be the basis for any civil liability of the biological or legal parent or guardian.
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