Part 1 General Provisions 29-20-101 – 29-20-113
Part 2 Removal of Immunity 29-20-201 – 29-20-210
Part 3 Claims Procedure 29-20-304 – 29-20-313
Part 4 Funding and Insurance 29-20-401 – 29-20-408

Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 29 > Chapter 20 - Governmental Tort Liability

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Appraisal: A determination of property value.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • board of directors: means the governing board of a corporation, whether denominated the board of directors or otherwise, except that no person or group of persons is the board of directors because of powers delegated to that person or group pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • board of governors: means the board of governors of an LLC electing to be board-managed or, in the case of a foreign limited liability company, its equivalent. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Board-managed: means an LLC organized pursuant to this title that elected pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Business: includes every trade, occupation, profession, investment activity and other lawful purpose for gain or the preservation of assets whether or not carried on for profits. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Bylaws: means the code or codes of rules (other than the charter) adopted pursuant to Chapters 51 68 of this title for the regulation or management of the affairs of the corporation irrespective of the name or names by which such rules are designated. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • Claim: means any claim brought against a governmental entity or its employee as permitted by this chapter. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
  • Class: when used with reference to membership interests, means a category of membership interests that differs in one (1) or more rights or preferences from another category of membership interests of the LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Contribution agreement: means a binding agreement between a person and an LLC under which:

    1. The person has an obligation to make a contribution to the LLC in the future. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
    2. Contribution allowance agreement: means an agreement between a person and an LLC, under which:

      1. The person has the right, but not the obligation, to make a contribution to the LLC in the future. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
      2. Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
      3. Court: includes every court and judge having jurisdiction in the case. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
      4. Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
      5. Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
      6. Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
      7. Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
      8. disabled: means the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve (12) months. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
      9. Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
      10. Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
      11. Dissenter: means a member who is entitled to dissent from LLC action under §. See Tennessee Code 48-231-101
      12. Dissolution: means that the LLC has incurred an event under §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
      13. Distribution: means a direct or indirect transfer of money or other property (except its own membership interests) with or without consideration, or an incurrence or issuance of indebtedness, (whether directly or indirectly, including through a guaranty) by an LLC to or for the benefit of any of its members in respect of membership interests. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
      14. Document: means :

        1. Any tangible medium on which information is inscribed, and includes any writing or written instrument. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
        2. Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
        3. Employee: means and includes any official (whether elected or appointed), officer, employee or servant, or any member of any board, agency, or commission (whether compensated or not), or any officer, employee or servant thereof, of a governmental entity, including the sheriff and the sheriff's employees and, further including regular members of voluntary or auxiliary firefighting, police, or emergency assistance organizations. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
        4. Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
        5. Entity: includes the following, whether foreign or domestic: LLCs. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
        6. Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
        7. 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.
        8. Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
        9. Fair value: means the value of the dissenter's membership interest of an LLC immediately before the effective date of the LLC action referred to in §. See Tennessee Code 48-231-101
        10. Financial rights: means a member's rights to:

          1. Share in profits and losses as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
          2. Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
          3. Governance rights: means a right to vote on one (1) or more matters and all a member's rights as a member in the LLC other than financial rights and the right to assign financial rights. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
          4. Governmental entity: means any political subdivision of the state of Tennessee including, but not limited to, any municipality, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving funds appropriated by a county legislative body or a legislative body of a municipality, human resource agency, community action agency or nonprofit corporation that administers the Head Start or Community Service Block Grant programs, public building authority, and development district created and existing pursuant to the constitution and laws of Tennessee, or any instrumentality of government created by any one (1) or more of the named local governmental entities or by an act of the general assembly. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
          5. Governor: means a natural person or entity serving on the board of governors of a board-managed LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
          6. Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
          7. Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
          8. Injury: means death, injury to a person, damage to or loss of property or any other injury that one may suffer to one's person, or estate, that would be actionable if inflicted by a private person or such person's agent. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
          9. Interest: means either or both of the following rights under the organic law of an unincorporated entity:

            1. The right to receive distributions from the entity either in the ordinary course or upon liquidation. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
            2. Interest: means interest from the effective date of the action referred to in §. See Tennessee Code 48-231-101
            3. 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.
            4. Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
            5. Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
            6. Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
            7. Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
            8. LLC: means a limited liability company, organized under Chapters 201 248 of this title. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
            9. LLC: means an LLC whose members have obtained rights to dissent under §. See Tennessee Code 48-231-101
            10. Majority vote: means with respect to a vote of the members, if voting on a per capita basis, a majority in number of the members entitled to vote on a specific matter, or if the voting is determined otherwise, a majority of the voting interest (which may be expressed as a percentage) entitled to vote on a specific matter, and with respect to a vote of the governors, a majority in number of the governors entitled to vote on a specific matter. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
            11. Manager: means a person elected, appointed, or otherwise designated as a manager by the governing body, and any other person considered elected as a manager pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
            12. Member: means a person reflected in the required records of an LLC as the owner of some governance rights of a membership interest of the LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
            13. Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
            14. Member: includes a former member when dissenters' rights exist because:

              1. The membership of that former member has terminated causing dissolution. See Tennessee Code 48-231-101
              2. Member-managed: means an LLC organized pursuant to this title that has elected pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              3. Membership: means the rights and obligations a member has pursuant to a corporation's charter, bylaws and Chapters 51 68 of this title. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
              4. Membership interest: means a member's interest in an LLC consisting of a member's financial rights, a member's right to assign financial rights as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              5. Month: means the time from any day of any month to the corresponding day of the succeeding month, if any, and if none, the last day of the succeeding month. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
              6. Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
              7. Operating agreement: means a written agreement described in §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              8. Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
              9. Person: includes individual and entity. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              10. Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
              11. Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
              12. Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
              13. Principal executive office: means an office, in or out of this state, where the principal office of the chief manager of the LLC or foreign LLC is located. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              14. Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
              15. Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              16. Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
              17. Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
              18. 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
              19. Record date: means the date established under chapter 16 or 17 on which a corporation determines the identity of its shareholders for purposes of Chapters 11 27 of this title. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
              20. Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
              21. Registered office: means the place in this state designated in the articles as the registered office of the LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              22. Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
              23. Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under Chapters 34 37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
              24. Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
              25. Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
              26. Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
              27. Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the bylaws or the board of directors has delegated responsibility under §. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
              28. Secretary of state: means the person who holds the office of secretary of state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              29. Series: means a category of membership interests, within a class of membership interests, that have some of the same rights and preferences as other membership interests within the same class, but that differ in one (1) or more rights and preferences from another category of membership interests within that class. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
              30. Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
              31. Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
              32. Share: means the unit into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
              33. signature: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a document:

                1. To execute or adopt a tangible symbol to a document, and includes any manual, facsimile, or conformed signature. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
                2. 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
                3. State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
                4. 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
                5. Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
                6. Superseded system: means , where applicable, the Tennessee state retirement system, the Tennessee teachers' retirement system, the Tennessee judges' retirement system, the retirement system for county paid judges of Tennessee, the attorneys general retirement system of Tennessee, the public service commissioners' retirement system, and the Tennessee retirement system for county officials, any one (1) of them, or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
                7. Termination: means the end of an LLC's existence as a legal entity and occurs when the articles of termination are filed with the secretary of state under §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
                8. Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
                9. Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
                10. Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
                11. United States: includes district, authority, bureau, commission, department, and any other agency of the United States. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
                12. United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
                13. Voting group: means all shares of one (1) or more classes or series that under the charter or Chapters 11 27 of this title are entitled to vote and be counted together collectively on a matter at a meeting of shareholders. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
                14. Voting power: means the total number of votes entitled to be cast for the election of directors at the time the determination of voting power is made, excluding a vote which is contingent upon the happening of a condition or event that has not occurred at the time. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
                15. written: means any information in the form of a document. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
                16. written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
                17. Written action: means a written document signed by those persons required to take the action described. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
                18. Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105