The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796.[1] As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The seat of the government in Tennessee is located in its capital city of Nashville.
The Governor of Tennessee is the Supreme Executive Power set by the state Constitution. The Governor (currently Governor Bill Lee[2]) is responsible for enforcing state laws and the state constitution and is also known as the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Tennessee.
Lieutenant governor
The Tennessee Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of governor of Tennessee. If the governor is incapacitated or dies in office, then the lieutenant governor becomes the governor. The lieutenant governor is a state senator elected by the entire Senate to be the Speaker of the Senate.
Cabinet Members
The Tennessee Governor's Cabinet is an advisory body that oversees the executive branch of the Tennessee state government. Members, titled "commissioners," are appointed by the governor—not subject to the approval of the Tennessee General Assembly—and oversee the various government departments and agencies. Additionally, several members of the governor's staff serve in the cabinet. Governor-elects can, and often do, rearrange the departments, and thus the number of commissioners.
Under the incumbent Governor Bill Lee, there are 29 members of the Cabinet: 22 commissioners, 1 director, and 6 members of the Governor's staff.[3]
The state legislature is known as the Tennessee General Assembly. It consists of a 33 member Senate, and a 99 member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms, and house members serve two-year terms. Each chamber elects its own speaker from among its members. The General Assembly is a part-time legislature, typically meeting from January through April or May each year.[4]
The current Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate is Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge). He was elected on January 10, 2017, and is the second consecutive Republican to hold the office.
Tennessee's three constitutional officers are elected by a joint session of the legislature. The Comptroller of the Treasury and State Treasurer are elected for two-year terms, and the Secretary of State is elected for a four-year term.
In a unique method known as the Tennessee Plan, Supreme Court justices, like all other appellate court judges, the Governor fills any vacancies that occur, with the advice and consent of the Tennessee General Assembly, from a list of three judges compiled by a commission. At the next election in which a governor is elected, voters are asked whether they want to retain or remove the newly-confirmed justice. Retention votes are held every eight years after. If voters decide to remove a justice, the process begins again.
As required by the Tennessee Constitution, the Supreme Court regularly meets in Jackson, Knoxville, and Nashville. In addition to the regular meetings of the Supreme Court, the Court takes their oral arguments on the road as part of the SCALES program (Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students) a few times each year.
Attorney General
The Tennessee Attorney General is the state's chief legal officer and works to represent all of the state government. The Attorney General employs around 340 people across five offices around the state.
The Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the Attorney General, a method not found in any of the other 49 states. As of 2023,[update] the incumbent Attorney General is Jonathan Skrmetti.
Intermediate Appellate Courts
The intermediate appellate courts of Tennessee include the court of appeals and the court of criminal appeals. The court of appeals hears cases appealed from probate, chancery, and circuit courts, whereas the court of criminal appeals hears cases appealed from circuit and criminal courts.
Trial courts in the state of Tennessee include probate courts, chancery courts, circuit courts, and criminal courts. The circuit courts, chancery and probate courts, and criminal courts each have 31 judicial districts.
Tennessee is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties, which derive all of their power from the state. Incorporated cities and towns are those that have been granted home rule, possessing a local government in the form of a city or town council.
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