State Resources
Tennessee
No statewide case search, and a public records law that runs only to Tennessee citizens. The business search is free and good, and three counties cover a third of the state. Plan around the residency wall.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State — TNBear | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Secretary of State — UCC | Fee for official searches | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Department of Commerce and Insurance | Free | Yes |
| Property and land records | County register of deeds and property assessor | Free online in most counties | By county |
| Court records | 95 county clerks; no statewide search | Free in the large counties | By county |
| Criminal records | Tennessee Bureau of Investigation | Fee | Yes |
| Vital records | Department of Health, Vital Records | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | State Treasury | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | Secretary of State — GoVoteTN | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Tennessee
The Public Records Act is citizens-only
Tennessee limits its Public Records Act to citizens of Tennessee. An out-of-state requester has no enforceable right to compel a Tennessee agency to produce anything.
Agencies may answer anyone as a courtesy, and many do. But they aren’t obliged to, and a refusal on residency grounds leaves you nothing to appeal. Tennessee sits with Virginia and Arkansas on this.
What the wall doesn’t touch: court records, register of deeds records and Secretary of State filings are open to anyone under separate rules. Those are the bulk of what an investigator wants anyway.
Tennessee does have an Office of Open Records Counsel in the Comptroller’s office. It issues guidance and informal opinions free, and it’s a useful first call when an agency is being obstructive rather than flatly refusing.
Three counties, a third of the state
Tennessee has 95 counties and no unified case search, but the population concentrates usefully.
Shelby (Memphis), Davidson (Nashville) and Knox (Knoxville) together hold roughly a third of Tennessee, and all three publish free online court records. Add Hamilton (Chattanooga) and Rutherford and you’re approaching half.
The court structure has tiers to watch. Circuit court handles civil and criminal; some counties split criminal into a separate criminal court. Chancery court handles equity, divorce and land disputes — a genuinely separate court that a circuit search won’t touch. General sessions handles misdemeanors, small claims and detainer warrants, which is Tennessee’s term for eviction.
A complete county search is therefore circuit, chancery and general sessions — three dockets per county, not one.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business search →- Held by
- Secretary of State — TNBear
- Cost
- Free to search
Free entity search returning status, formation date, registered agent and principal office, with filed documents viewable.
Tennessee requires an annual report, so an entity in good standing has been refreshed within the year. The annual report lists officers or members, which makes this more useful than a bare registration.
UCC filings
Open Business Services →- Held by
- Secretary of State — UCC
- Cost
- Fee for official searches
UCC financing statements filed centrally with the Secretary of State. A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral, and the secured party is usually a lender.
Professional licenses
Open Commerce and Insurance →- Held by
- Department of Commerce and Insurance
- Cost
- Free
Most Tennessee professional and occupational licenses sit under Commerce and Insurance, with free verification returning name, status, dates and disciplinary action. Health professions are licensed separately through the Department of Health.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County register of deeds and property assessor
- Cost
- Free online in most counties
No statewide property search. The county register of deeds holds documents and the property assessor holds ownership and value across 95 counties.
Shelby, Davidson and Knox are the deepest online and all free. Tennessee also publishes a statewide property data viewer through the Comptroller that’s useful for confirming a parcel across counties.
Court records
Open Tennessee Courts →- Held by
- 95 county clerks; no statewide search
- Cost
- Free in the large counties
No statewide public case search. Shelby, Davidson, Knox, Hamilton and Rutherford cover a large share of the population and publish free.
Search circuit, chancery and general sessions separately — see above. Detainer warrants in general sessions are where evictions live.
Criminal records
Open TBI →- Held by
- Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
- Cost
- Fee
TBI provides background checks. A name-based check is available and returns Tennessee conviction data; a fingerprint check returns more and needs the subject.
TBI also publishes a free public sex offender registry and a free felony offender lookup through the Department of Correction, both worth running independently of the paid check.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- Department of Health, Vital Records
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces from the state office. Tennessee restricts certified copies to people with a direct interest.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- State Treasury
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address.
Voter and resident records
Open GoVoteTN →- Held by
- Secretary of State — GoVoteTN
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup confirming status and county. Tennessee sells the bulk voter list to qualifying requesters.
Public records requests in Tennessee
- Statute
- Tenn. Code §§ 10-7-503 et seq. (Public Records Act)
- Response deadline
- Seven business days
- Appeal to
- Chancery or circuit court; Open Records Counsel advises
- Appeal window
- No fixed deadline
Citizens of Tennessee only. An out-of-state requester has no enforceable right. See above.
For those covered, an agency has seven business days to produce, deny in writing, or explain why more time is needed.
The Office of Open Records Counsel in the Comptroller’s office issues free guidance and informal opinions, and publishes a model policy and a schedule of reasonable fees that agencies are expected to follow. Citing the fee schedule is an efficient way to shut down an inflated estimate.
The remedy is a petition in chancery or circuit court. A court may award attorney fees where the refusal was wilful.
What Tennessee will not give you
- Agency records, if you aren’t a Tennessean. The Public Records Act runs to Tennessee citizens only.
- Expunged records. Removed from the public index and from TBI responses.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Juvenile records. Not public.
- A statewide case search. Does not exist. 95 counties, three court tiers each.
Course
The Ultimate FOIA and Public Records Course
Every state page here tells you what the law says. The course shows you how to write the request, what to do when it comes back gutted, and how to appeal without a lawyer — the part that decides whether you actually get the records.
See the FOIA courseRelated
- Kentucky — the AOC sells a statewide record report
- Georgia — GSCCCA covers all 159 counties for land and liens
- Virginia — the other citizens-only records law
- Property records: finding the owner
- A FOIA request letter that works
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.